Know Any Really Good Golfers That Completely Quit Due to Frustration?

[Todd Ruggere]

I have a golf friend that is into golf more than anyone I've ever met. He plays in leagues, inner clubs, and then when he's not golfing he's studying his rounds, and inputting his rounds into a golf website. Then when he's not doing that he's watching golf. You get the point. I haven't spoken to him in about a year so i went onto GHIN to see his handicap. Last time i checked he was a 2. He is not registered in GHIN anymore. So i checked the Inner Club Tee Times and i saw he wasn't signed up. This is horrible, but my first instinct is that he was dead. THere is no way he wouldn't have a GHIN card. I texted him and he wrote back " I quit last august. Every ball I hit was a shank so F it". I've never seen anyone so into the game just quit like that! I know the "S word" can be very frustrating.

[cipher]

I have a golf friend that is into golf more than anyone I've ever met. He plays in leagues, inner clubs, and then when he's not golfing he's studying his rounds, and inputting his rounds into a golf website. Then when he's not doing that he's watching golf. You get the point. I haven't spoken to him in about a year so i went onto GHIN to see his handicap. Last time i checked he was a 2. He is not registered in GHIN anymore. So i checked the Inner Club Tee Times and i saw he wasn't signed up. This is horrible, but my first instinct is that he was dead. THere is no way he wouldn't have a GHIN card. I texted him and he wrote back " I quit last august. Every ball I hit was a shank so F it". I've never seen anyone so into the game just quit like that! I know the "S word" can be very frustrating.

I have not seen it, but I can see how it could easily happen.  You put in all that time, hard work and dedication and then eventually hit a wall and burn out.  I think generally it stems from the frustrations over how good someone thinks/hopes they can be and how good they actually can be.  A lot of times that wall comes in the low single digits.  I think the key to avoiding this is learning to enjoy the game for what it is more than the outcome.  You can still have some ambitious goals, but at the end it is just a game.

[CarlSpackler]

No, but like I always say, you've gotta love the game for what it is, not what you score. Good scores are nice, but golf is more.

[Reval14]

Probably it depends on how bad or good your game really is. When you're just shanking the ball or the shanks frequently appear during your rounds it really can be devastating. Fun and frustration are often very close together in that tough game...

[vangator]

I knew a guy that was a 2 or 3 handicap. Excellent player. He quit because of slow play. He's in prison now for bribery.

[David in FL]

No, but I'm this close....... :~(

[whatwoodtigerdo]

I am not that good but I quit about 4 years ago for a year. My playing partners could not believe it. One day I just said I can take this s**t no more and didn't touch a club for a year. Something was always falling apart and no matter how good I felt things got the scores weren't reflecting it because something was always not working. This game can be frustrating. As a matter of fact, even though I have been shooting the best golf of my life and feel I am starting to get it and have a real chance to become scratch, last Thursday morning I went with my wife and my camera to the range to record my first slow motion swings to post on here. I couldn't hit anything. Push, pull, shanks, sky balls, chunkers, skulls....you name it and I had it. For the first time in a couple years I muttered I can't do this anymore. I can't go through a full retool of my swing again to figure it out. If it doesn't come back quick I am done playing. I hit 90 bad balls with no pattern, hence why no "my swing" thread. Next day I went golfing and figured it out. It was one simple adjustment. That is golf in a nut shell.

[flopster]

I have a golf friend that is into golf more than anyone I've ever met. He plays in leagues, inner clubs, and then when he's not golfing he's studying his rounds, and inputting his rounds into a golf website. Then when he's not doing that he's watching golf. You get the point. I haven't spoken to him in about a year so i went onto GHIN to see his handicap. Last time i checked he was a 2. He is not registered in GHIN anymore. So i checked the Inner Club Tee Times and i saw he wasn't signed up. This is horrible, but my first instinct is that he was dead. THere is no way he wouldn't have a GHIN card. I texted him and he wrote back " I quit last august. Every ball I hit was a shank so F it". I've never seen anyone so into the game just quit like that! I know the "S word" can be very frustrating.

It is possible other things could be going on also, Some time ago while going through a rough spot in life I decided it was best to put the clubs away for a while until things improved, I just wasn't enjoying it at all and would find myself getting mad about shots that were not even that bad but also I didn't seem to enjoy the good shots nearly enough either. Personally I don't feel golf as being very therapeutic if things in life are not going very well, that's probably because I'm very competitive most of the time and if there are other things not right it just turns it into a task.

[TRichardon]

No, but like I always say, you've gotta love the game for what it is, not what you score. Good scores are nice, but golf is more.

Couldn't have said it better myself. I always enjoy hitting the links, even when I shoot terrible, because I have fun playing with my friends and family. Now, that's not to say there aren't some REALLY frustrating times out there :)

[Pretzel]

I know the last time I got a bad case of the shanks I stepped away from golf for a couple weeks to a month. The funny thing is, once I came back ready to fix the issue it was gone.

[Strandly]

I don't know anyone that has quit out of frustration.

[suchjosh]

I know the last time I got a bad case of the shanks I stepped away from golf for a couple weeks to a month. The funny thing is, once I came back ready to fix the issue it was gone.

I think taking a couple of weeks off when frustrations reach a climax is probably normal and good for our sanity. And, as you said, it can often be good for your game.

[Todd Ruggere]

I went to the course last night and asked some people about him. They said he had the shanks for a year!! It got so bad he wouldn't hit irons. If he had it for a year that means he took the winter off and came back in the spring and still had them. Brutal!

[RH31]

I don't know any that have completely quit due to just their frustrations with how they play. I know plenty of players, myself included, who at one time or another were playing poorly and combined with other factors, decided to cut way back on how much they play.

For me, and a lot of players I know, golf was just not fun anymore. My play had slipped somewhat. I really didn't like the course

I had joined or playing at 7;30 on the weekends. It became more of a chore than anything fun. The low point for me was about 5 years ago when I played 1 time all year and that was an outing fundraiser. I still enjoyed watching golf on TV just didn't want to play.

Gradually, I've gotten back into it and joined a club this year. It's been really tough getting my game back though, almost like starting over completely.

[mikeylikesgolf]

I quit for 25 years only to come back 2 years ago.

I remember the comment my friend made on the 10th hole of a very mediocre round 25 years ago- "This is crazy, grown men hitting white balls around in fancy cow pastures". It hit me as crazy too.

I picked up my golf ball in the 10th fairway and walked away. I thought I was done forever, but I came back.

I guess I was taking myself too seriously. Golf is just a game.

I have experienced several serious health problems in my time off from golf. I also worked in the ICU of our hospital for 9 years.

What I learned is every day is what I make it to be.

A bad day on the golf course (or anywhere) is better than a day in the hospital.

Maybe that last ball hit into the water is better than trying to get another IV going or waiting for results from a medical test!!!!

Life is good with or without golf!!!!!

[hilmar2k]

I enjoy golf for what it is. I always say that it's the hardest thing I do voluntarily. Good scores are great, and I tend not to get too frustrated on the course. I just thoroughly enjoy being out there playing.

Going from a 2 handicap to shanks for a year, would be rough, though.

[theworldengine]

Anthony kim

[Bjans1]

I would probably qualify for this.

I was an excellent high school player who improved rapidly from one year to the next. I went from a high 70's shooter to playing to a scratch by the start of my senior year. I was obsessed with golf and my summers were spent working at a course and then when I wasn't working I was playing or practicing. I was determined to play Division 1 golf. I had a bunch of offers from smaller schools and D2 schools but I didn't give them a whole lot of thought. I picked a D1 school I wanted to attend and play for, and thats the only place I applied. The coach gave me a long look and said "hey kid this is Big Ten golf, nothing is promised. Let's see how you play in walk-on tryouts." The front nine I shot a 4-under 32. The back nine I shot 45 and didn't make the team. That was the last round of golf I played for nearly 7 years. I was a huge Mickelson fan in high school and went crazy when he won the '04 Masters, when he won the '06 Masters I left my dorm room while my roommates watched. Golf went from something I was crazy about to a constant reminder of something I had failed at.

I took up the game again last year at a pretty crappy point in my life. My first round out I shot 96. I laughed at the bad shots and enjoyed the good ones. I enjoyed the weather, being outside, and spent many nights walking twilight rounds by myself and just thinking about my life and the direction I wanted it to go from there.

I am more hooked now than I've ever been. I'm playing better, too. Playing my first competitive round since I was 18 years old in about a week and a half in my State Amateur qualifier.

What a beautiful game:)