What does golf mean to u?? How important is it in your life?

[Moppy]

I was just having a dream that my golf clubs were missing/stolen and it was so disturbing that it woke me up in the middle of the night...no kidding.  In the dream, I was racing around trying to find out what happened to all my irons and finally found all of those but was still missing my wedges, driver, and hybrid.  Whoever had stolen them had swapped their stuff with mine so I was going to take the driver to the police for fingerprinting to find out who did this atrocious act.

Holy cow! That is pretty funny.

[jsgolfer]

I'm with most of the others, I think about golf 24-7.  I pretty much plan my life around golf, if I was able to retire and play golf every day, that would be perfect..  Every trip I take revolves around golf, I'm trying to come up with a plan to play golf in all 50 states.  I've become even more addicted as I got older and have the money to keep up my addiction.

[rkim291968]

Hmm, some of you definitely need to expand your horizon beyond golf.   It's unhealthy to be obsessed about one thing.

As for me, I practice or play every day except interrupted by guests, emergencies, etc..   Play 2 - 3 rounds on weekend.  Golf occupies 13% of my yearly budget, highest after mortgage.  Half of my garage is occupied by golf bags, clubs, practice net, balls, club workshop, ... Otherwise, I have a perfectly normal life, job, family, etc..   If something else comes along, I can quit golf on a dime.   I can.  Really.

[9424tm]

Hmm, some of you definitely need to expand your horizon beyond golf.   It's unhealthy to be obsessed about one thing.

As for me, I practice or play every day except interrupted by guests, emergencies, etc..   Play 2 - 3 rounds on weekend.  Golf occupies 13% of my yearly budget, highest after mortgage.  Half of my garage is occupied by golf bags, clubs, practice net, balls, club workshop, ... Otherwise, I have a perfectly normal life, job, family, etc..   If something else comes along, I can quit golf on a dime.   I can.  Really.

I honestly went into a small rage when I read your opening line. Not kidding. But you brought me back down.

I truly thought that I may have to see a therapist about my obsession (I use that word in the literal sense) with golf until I found this site years ago and realized that there are more just like me and I'm not alone

[Patch]

Well playing golf is not a life or death thing for me. Even when I am not playing well, suicide is never an option. I am a out of doors person first and foremost, so playing golf fits right in with that. I also fish, hike, and build stuff. The importance of golf for me is that it's one of the toughest things I have ever done, that still gives me both physical, and mental exercise.

Fishing is not that physical. Hiking only requires putting one foot in front of the other, a camera, walking staff, and a GPS. Building stuff is more of a safety thing when using power tools.

A while back, after being released from the hospital, my rehab person asked me what my physical goal was. I told her to walk, and play 18 holes of golf. She was supportive, but she really did not think it would happen. I was really messed up.  We made a bet that she would caddy for me when I played in my first, local charity tournament.  I figured if I could get back in shape enough to walk, and play 18 holes, that I had recovered from my injuries more so than most folks thought I could. (I have a wheel chair still in it's unopened box in storage) Playing golf was important to me because my swing requires me to use most of my repaired body parts.  The fact that I shaved quite a few strokes off my handicap over the past several months is another plus. BTW, my rehab lady, was and still is a fine bag lady. She has even taken up the game herself.

[DrvFrShow]

For me it gets me out in the sunshine and that's very important. Sunshine creates vitamin D. Vitamin D fights depression and helps make strong bones. Plus it's good exercise walking the course. Golf courses are like a little bit of nature. There's an eagle nest in one of the trees. There's squirrels that take your nutrition bars. There's a river or creek that runs through the course.

It's one of the few sports I can play at my age.

I like being active. I even like to play in the afternoon when it's warm out because it gets me out of the house when it gets hottest in there. By the time I get home, the house is starting to cool off.... unless I play in the morning on league days.

I hate winter. I hate winter. I hate winter. I hate winter. I hate winter.

[sk1dm4rk]

Golf means a lot to me.  I look forward to the decompression.

I manage a team of IT security professionals that run 24x7x365.  I am always on call and look forward to getting away from the stress for a few hours.

[rkim291968]

Golf means a lot to me.  I look forward to the decompression.

I manage a team of IT security professionals that run 24x7x365.  I am always on call and look forward to getting away from the stress for a few hours.

Let's test how much golf means to you.   Do you answer the phone when you are playing?

[sk1dm4rk]

Sometimes, yes.  Being disturbed is seldom, but I will answer depending on what is going on at work.  New clients onboarding, training new members of the team, etc...  Minimizing distractions on the course starts with hiring the right people and training them well.

All of that said: while golf means a lot to me, there would be NO golf if I am unable to remain gainfully employed.  I do what I must.

[mailman]

I keep telling my wife that it's not golf she should be worried about but the next thing I obsess over!!! :) I love golf. I could play it all day long every day! But it's more than an obsession. Golf was a fundamental part of my battle against life long obesity. Golf gave me a way of exercising without feeling like I was exercising! if I could hit straight it would only be a 8 mile walk however as I can't hit straight my rounds turned in to a 12 mile route march! :) Thanks to golf I've been able to drop nearly 80lbs and counting! I've never felt fitter and healthier and absolutely love getting out with my friends on our local course. regards Mailman

[Ferguson]

Golf is part of my life, almost like religion but a scant divergent. I’d like to cover this request by the philosophical approach.

As a golfing human being, you have no choice about the fact that you need a golf philosophy. Your only choice is whether you define your golf philosophy by a conscious, rational, disciplined process of thought and scrupulously logical deliberation—or let your subconscious accumulate a junk heap of unwarranted conclusions, false generalizations, undefined contradictions, undigested slogans, unidentified wishes, useless DVDs, training kits, swing tools, poor advice, doubts and fears, thrown together by chance, but integrated by your subconscious into a kind of mongrel philosophy and fused into a single, solid weight: SELF DOUBT, like a ball and chain in the place where your mind’s wings should have grown. That’s where golf through self-talk comes in.   When life has you behind the eight ball, you need to see golf as a release.  Just go and play and have fun they say?   Don’t be weighed down by the anger from a poorly hit shot.  Instead, feed that energy and transform it to your personal hitting zone.  Develop your own swing methodology to maintain a clear view of the game.  And wear good shoes if you like to walk.

Fergsuon