Is Golf a Serious Game for You?

[False hopes]

Please only reply to the question. 

For me, I concentrate on every shot and try to play to the best of my abilities.  In that sense I take this game seriously.  However I really don't care what I shoot, I'm not good at golf and it definitely doesn't affect my mood at all.  So I would say I'm not serious about this game.  Getting out and playing 18 is reward enough for me.  What are your thoughts? 

[Vinsk]

7 minutes ago, False hopes said:

Please only reply to the question. 

For me, I concentrate on every shot and try to play to the best of my abilities.  In that sense I take this game seriously.  However I really don't care what I shoot, I'm not good at golf and it definitely doesn't affect my mood at all.  So I would say I'm not serious about this game.  Getting out and playing 18 is reward enough for me.  What are your thoughts? 

I go back and fourth really. Some days I’ll play and just can’t find a swing to save my life. I’ll admit it’ll ruin my mood and often my day is kinda shot. Other times I’ll have a good playing partner, have some beer and just kinda play the round without much thought.

Of course my bad days usually involve the shanks. Nothing, I mean nothing, can make me enjoy a round when those sons-a-bitches are the star of the show.

[Darkfrog]

I take golf serious enough to satisfy my drive for improvement, but not so serious that I'm not having fun.

 

[Edsland]

I agree with Darkfrog, to me any hobbies needs to be fun

[Carl3]

8 hours ago, Vinsk said:

shanks

You really need to find an alternative way of communicating this horrifying word such as "hitting too close to the hosel". Like the N-word, the S-word need not be spoken/written.

[StuM]

I take it serious.  By that I mean I focus on my shots, play when ready and adhere to the rules but none of that prevents it from being fun. I enjoy the challenge but do not get ticked off when I stink.  It is not a job, it needs to be fun.

I have seen some who, after a bad round, are so pissed they cannot stay around to have a beer with the guys.  I do not want to be “That Guy”.

[boogielicious]

I take improving seriously, as I do with my other activities and did with my work. I always  want to be better. That is my personality. But I also have fun doing it. There is a warm satisfaction to doing something better than you did before.

I’m also a class clown. So there is humor involved, but no face paint or oversized shoes.

[mcanadiens]

33 minutes ago, StuM said:

I take it serious.  By that I mean I focus on my shots, play when ready and adhere to the rules but none of that prevents it from being fun. I enjoy the challenge but do not get ticked off when I stink.  It is not a job, it needs to be fun.

I have seen some who, after a bad round, are so pissed they cannot stay around to have a beer with the guys.  I do not want to be “That Guy”.

Wow. No beer after the round? Now that's seriously pissed off.

My emotions can get the better of me on the course, but as soon as the clubs are in the trunk, I always down for the old 19th hole. Sometimes its the only hole I get right all day.

[TN94z]

I started taking it pretty serious about 6-12 months ago. I had taken some time away from the game. I was playing pretty solid before I quit but had some swing flaws that had been there for years. When I came back to the game, I decided I wanted to clean my swing up to become more consistent. So I pretty much get a lesson every 2-3 weeks. I want to make sure the old habits don't creep back in slowly. My end goal is to get good enough to be competitive in the club championship and maybe even play some state tournaments. Try to qualify for the Mid-Am, etc...my instructor plays a lot of tournaments and has given me the itch to want to compete some. I tend to get OCD about things and just go all in...it's a good and bad trait..haha

[iacas]

Golf is many things to me. So, so many things.

Coaching
I take my instruction and coaching very seriously. This doesn’t mean that lessons are somber affairs - we have a lot of fun. But I’m constantly thinking, constantly self-evaluating, constantly weighing what to say and how and when to say it. Even after the lessons. I’m constantly evolving, and my learning is important and serious, too.

Natalie
I take this both seriously and not. I think I’ve been pretty good (I’ve made mistakes, of course) about striking the right balance of what to take seriously versus what to not take seriously with Nat. She became a scratch golfer this year, and that’s without still really totally fixing her putting. 🙂 I hope she looks back on this phase of her life and understands all that she did, all that I was able to help with, etc. I tried to take this part of golf as seriously as possible while still keeping it in perspective. Sometimes I think I wanted things more than she did, but most of the time, she showed through her actions that she was taking it seriously, too. I don’t have regrets here, but that’s not to say I wouldn’t have done things differently. We’ve also landed at a scratch golfer likely going into the golf industry and a nationally ranked team (albeit DIII, though with multiple DI and DII scholarship offers).

Television/Tour Golf
Not at all serious. I enjoy watching, and I’ll root for or against people, and I like to see the guys I’ve worked with or the guys my instructor friends work with do well, but otherwise, I don’t take this seriously at all.

My Own Game
I take it both seriously and don’t. What I mean by that is that I take it seriously when I am practicing and playing, but with a good perspective, I think. If I can shoot 69 at Whispering Woods, I feel good. But a 77 doesn’t ruin my day. It’ll give me some insight into what to practice, but more often than not I just laugh at a bad shot. I get frustrated, but rarely on the golf course - my frustration is mostly in practice, and it’s often because I’m telling myself I’m an idiot because I’m going too fast or too long. 🙂 Five S words, dumbass! 😄 I think I can play with anyone and they won’t think after the round “man, that guy wasn’t having a good day and that wasn’t fun.” Even if I’m not having a good day, I still think I’m good to play with. And more importantly, when someone else is having a bad day, I still think I’m good to play with. 😉

Even in tournaments, I think I do a good job of keeping on a pretty level keel. I will back off a shot if I’m not comfortable instead of just hitting anyway like in casual play, and some other things, but nothing grumpy or off-putting. I realize that, at my level, my life will not change one iota if I earn $0 for finishing 23rd out of 30 or if I earn $800 for finishing second or something. I’ll feel temporarily good, almost never really “bad,” and then the next day I’ll wake up and do what I’m passionate about all day: golf stuff.

[cipher]

I try not to be too serious. I've learned some valuable lessons over the years on the subject. I try to take my swings seriously I guess, the results...not so much.  

Good reminder here:

Spoiler

Also this headcover is on my 3W and that thing is a joke! 🤣

[Zippo]

12 hours ago, False hopes said:

Please only reply to the question. 

For me, I concentrate on every shot and try to play to the best of my abilities.  In that sense I take this game seriously.  However I really don't care what I shoot, I'm not good at golf and it definitely doesn't affect my mood at all.  So I would say I'm not serious about this game.  Getting out and playing 18 is reward enough for me.  What are your thoughts? 

I'm not really sure what you mean by "Is golf a serious game for you". I take the pleasure I get from golfing very seriously. I take the pleasure I get from petting our cats very seriously, too. Do I slam the club into the ground and curse loudly when I blow a shot? Not at all. How about when I blow three shots in a row? Nope. Would I cheat so that I could "beat" the folks I'm playing with? Not a chance. Do I care when everybody laughs when I make the fastest, smoothest swing ever seen, only to have the club whizz by an inch above the ball? Heck no.

But for some luck, a quick thinking spouse, and some pretty remarkable technology I would not be here now. So, for me, every shot I make - or miss - is one I might not otherwise have had the chance to make - or miss. And I'm enjoying each and every one.

[DaveP043]

Work is serious, yet I have fun at work.  Golf is for fun, yet I'm serious at times on the course.  I do my best to be serious for the 10 or 20 or 30 seconds it takes to plan and hit a shot, and no more.  Of course I try to hit each shot as best I can, but in general I can accept my failures and laugh them off.  At least I can after a few seconds of well-earned irritation.  

I do play what I call "serious golf" at times, competitions that matter to me.  They might be club tournaments, interclub matches, even something as important as the Newport Cup!   But I'm not making a living from these, just getting to compete is fun.  

[phillyk]

You can’t have serious golf without first knowing why you are out there, aka having fun. I’ve seen a number of people put away the clubs recently because they didn’t know why they played. They took it so seriously to get better that they lost themselves a bit. Especially with kids, i try to make their playing and learning of the game as fun as i can. 

In my game, I almost never look like I’m having fun, but there’s no place I’d rather be than out on the course. The one exception, like Monday, is when its 40 degrees, windy and raining an inch in 4hrs. Ill sit that out next time. 😂

[TN94z]

9 minutes ago, phillyk said:

You can’t have serious golf without first knowing why you are out there, aka having fun. I’ve seen a number of people put away the clubs recently because they didn’t know why they played. They took it so seriously to get better that they lost themselves a bit. Especially with kids, i try to make their playing and learning of the game as fun as i can. 

In my game, I almost never look like I’m having fun, but there’s no place I’d rather be than out on the course. The one exception, like Monday, is when its 40 degrees, windy and raining an inch in 4hrs. Ill sit that out next time. 😂

Agreed. I take my 5 year old with me almost every time I go and when she is with me, it's all about having fun period. I want to lead by example that when you hit bad shots, no big deal...just move to the next shot and go from there. At her age, she will only hit about 5 shots per round and generally spends her time playing in the sand. But the most important thing right now is that she associates the golf course with having fun.

You can still have a blast on the course while taking it serious. As @DaveP043 stated, be serious with the pre shot routine and anything associated with the shot and then go back to having fun. That's the way I try to play.

[DeadMan]

Yes, but because golf is not my job, I want to have fun while taking it seriously. You can do both, pretty easily, in my experience. And, for me, golf tends to be more fun when I take it seriously.

[dennyjones]

I tease my wife and tell her that golf is my job.   I enjoy the challenge of competing against myself each time I venture out.   If I shoot well for me, oh well, great.   If I shoot poorly for me, damn, I'll play better next time.   I've never let a round or the game define me.   I'm pretty even tempered and golf although it excites me to play and play well,  is just a game.   I enjoy being with friends (although I play alone quite a bit), outside enjoying nature and realizing that what I'm doing is making me happy.  

[GolfLug]

6 hours ago, StuM said:

I have seen some who, after a bad round, are so pissed they cannot stay around to have a beer with the guys.  I do not want to be “That Guy”.

Hey, at least they finished the round... lol.

I made the mistake of inviting wife's best friend's husband who couldn't break 100 on a putt-putt course aaaaannd happened to have the ego of the size of a soccer ball (compared to a normal size of a golf ball..😄). Long story short he just couldn't take how much he sucked throughout the day and when we got to the 17th hole snatched his bag of the cart without nary a good bye, thank you, sorry, whatever... and walked straight to the parking lot, threw his bag in the trunk and drove home. Didn't hear from him for two month until we met again for another social. Also, found out he had told his wife, he 'lost' (there was no competition.. only the one in his head) the round because I cheated. Amazing. 

Point is, taking the game seriously one thing but some folks need to do themselves and others around a favor by catching up to their actual age.