Why do You Want to Be Good at Golf?

[mattthegolfer]

Why do you want to be good at golf?

 

Impressing your buddies? Beating an old rival? Just not embarrass yourself on there?

What drives you?

 

 

[pganapathy]

I am a golf addict.  I want to play because I love being out there.  I have golfed so many times straight after work finished early morning, slept two or three hours and gone back to work

[DFW75]

For me - played off and on through the years / ebbs and flows - but never really took it serious. Just liked to get out and play. 

Then I went with my father in law (avid golfer / league player) a few years ago at a reunion and played a round - wasn't too terrible. But then I didn't play at all (got into other things). Saw him this past June and played a round, and it looked like I hadn't played in 3 years. Was horrible. 

So came back home and started over - upgraded clubs and took a lesson. My driving force was just to play with him again and at least look capable. Been playing pretty steady 3-4 times a week / either rounds after work or range. Then, I started getting better and better. Hitting more pars and even some birdies. 

Now I'm in the VGA and I'd like to get into the middle of the pack for my division (handicap) - so that's my current driving force. 

Edited February 7, 2022 by DFW75

[darthweasel]

I need regular activity to be happy. With back and joint issues, the years i can play basketball are gone, softball no longer is enjoyable, the days i can play tennis and racquetball are declining, pickleball doesn't scratch the itch, biking is okay but sometimes my knees have regrets. But pop a muscle relaxer and some pain meds and I can walk 18, so I can play golf for a long time.

But I do not enjoy things I am not good at. Now, what "good" is, for me that is subjective. I am "good" compared to where I was and that is enough for me, and having a path laid out to get where I want to be, that is enough. 

So to answer your question, I want to be good at it because there is a certain level of competency I expect from myself in everything I do. With that said, I will never be scratch...I don't care enough to do the minutiae of the level of practice required to get there. I am happy shooting mid 80s (when I was shooting mid 90s and above couple months ago, was not happy...went out, did the work to get better and now am where I am happy) because for me, that is good enough for being one of the 3 sports I routinely play. 

[Zippo]

For me, I used to do amateur brain surgery - though I had a difficult time convincing my friends that a good lobotomy would greatly increase their joy of life. But then, I got old. It got to where I'd get confused between femoral and temporal or aneurism and embolism and I realized that most of my friends were idiots (almost like they'd had a poorly done lobotomy). I thought about bowling but that requires more beer drinking than I'm wanting to do these days and those dang balls are heavy!

Golf, on the other hand, provides me the opportunity to make precision swings on a small object. It's still imperative that I put the right instrument in the right place at the right time. It's true I no longer get to snort a bit of anesthesia now and then when no one's looking, but a bit of fresh air mixed with exhaust fumes from the golf cart almost make up for it. Strangely, though, my friends still won't let me play with them, but I don't care too much. Keeps them from drooling on my golf ball.

[Piz]

I grew up around the game.  Developing the skills, and mentality, to put together a decent round was a rite of passage.  

[Bucki1968]

I don't think I really set off to be good at golf. I just always liked to play (and did it a lot) so I just got better. I do, however, like beating my  buddies. Nothing makes me happier than watching them take out their wallet. The beer I buy with their money always tastes a little better and is a little colder.

[Club Rat]

On 2/6/2022 at 11:16 PM, mattthegolfer said:

Why do you want to be good at golf?

Where's the "POLL" ??? 

It's actually a good question which I've never consider asking myself or addressed why I have played for over 40 years. And honestly, I knew from the very beginning that I could never ever be as good as I would like to be. LOL

But in reality, from the very beginning, I became a "Student of the Game". I liked conversations with golf buddies to learn about rules, equipment, swing technics, golf courses, our favorite Pro's, our local competitions, etc.

Probably like everyone, I did have expectations to become better. While I had good skills and practiced, practiced, practiced, I eventually became a good player. 

But I did become an "unhappy golfer" when I was playing at my best golf level ever.
I was unhappy after great sub-par rounds, started having temper tampering's which was not my typical behavior.
At that point, I had a long conversation with myself and started the enjoyment of playing again.
I've been a Happy Camper since then and thankful for golf. It has given me the opportunity to meet many great people, some who have become longtime friends and I've have had so many great times.
It's been an enjoyable lifetime journey of the game. Golf has been GOOD for me. 🙂

[mcanadiens]

For me, it's the same as it always has been.  I'm chasing that sight, sound and feeling of hitting a well-struck ball or making a putt. 

Maybe if I were a better player these things would be routine enough that they'd lose their luster. If so, we aren't even close to that yet.

[NM Golf]

So I can compete and beat other golfers. I play golf because I like the competition, I play very few non competitive rounds, so I work on my game and try to be the best I can be so I can win...simple as that.

[iacas]

5 hours ago, Club Rat said:

Where's the "POLL" ??? 

Tough to create a good actual poll when you can't anticipate all of the answers that are likely to be given.

[ChetlovesMer]

7 minutes ago, iacas said:

Tough to create a good actual poll when you can't anticipate all of the answers that are likely to be given.

I think that was a reference to the title of the thread. "Poll: Why do You Want to Be Good at Golf?"

[iacas]

16 minutes ago, ChetlovesMer said:

I think that was a reference to the title of the thread. "Poll: Why do You Want to Be Good at Golf?"

Yes… and so re-read what I wrote: it's tough to create a poll when the answers to that question could be a list a hundred long. How do you create a poll when you can't anticipate all of the answers? The poll is the open-ended question.

[TourSpoon]

Playing well is better than playing poorly. It is that easy. 

[ChetlovesMer]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

Yes… and so re-read what I wrote: it's tough to create a poll when the answers to that question could be a list a hundred long. How do you create a poll when you can't anticipate all of the answers? The poll is the open-ended question.

Dude, I think what @Club Rat is saying is not to add a poll but to remove the word "poll" from the title of the thread. 

[iacas]

Just now, ChetlovesMer said:

Dude, I think what @Club Rat is saying is not to add a poll but to remove the word "poll" from the title of the thread. 

You can poll people without creating a specific poll with voting options.

[ChetlovesMer]

Just now, iacas said:

You can poll people without creating a specific poll with voting options.

It's cool. Just when we see Poll in the title, some of us kind of expect to see a poll. That's all. No biggie. 

1 hour ago, TourSpoon said:

Playing well is better than playing poorly. It is that easy. 

I've said it a lot. "Life is good when you are hitting the driver well."

Don't get me wrong. I like to hit all the rest of the clubs well. But the enjoyment of the round is most closely tied to the driver. ... For me anyway. 

[Ty_Webb]

I remember reading a long time ago that the difference between pros and amateurs (obviously this is a vast generalization) is that amateurs come back for the good shots and pros come back for the bad shots. 

For me, the driving force behind my desire to improve is wanting to get into some events. There's a team event I play in every year that is a team of ten and I want to stay good enough to be one of the ten for as long as possible. Then last year I got to play at the Bridge and Friar's Head by qualifying for an event. If I had been a shot worse I would not have qualified for either one. That's quite compelling. This year, the event that was at the Bridge is going to be at Baltusrol, so I'd really like to qualify for that again.