Unpopular opinions you have about golf?

[mvmac]

4 hours ago, Gunther said:

It ain't that hard if you have time and money, desire and passion tinged with some athletic ability.

So it's easy unless you have 3 things that most people don't have 

The 3 things you listed are part of what makes golf so hard!

[jbishop15]

14 minutes ago, mvmac said:

So it's easy unless you have 3 things that most people don't have 

The 3 things you listed are part of what makes golf so hard!

Oh come on, Mike: how rare is it for people to have large disposable incomes, copious amounts of free time, and also be a good athlete?

Also, lmao at: "there's thousands of professional golfers, it can't be that hard." Jesus Christ. 

[Gunther]

24 minutes ago, mvmac said:

So it's easy unless you have 3 things that most people don't have 

The 3 things you listed are part of what makes golf so hard!

Easier than other sports, yes.  Can't say it about basketball, hockey, football or even baseball, which require other elements that most golfers don't possess such as size, speed, strength, agility, etc.  You don't need any of those traits to be an adequate golfer, although all can help to some degree.

Because I happen to fall within the top 10 or 15% of all golfers worldwide based on hcap, I don't tend to pat myself on the back about it cuz I think many others could do it with time, money and desire.  Again, that simply is not the case with other sports.

[iacas]

So… your previous points are thoroughly destroyed, and you just ignore that - after going so far as to say your points weren't even addressed - and state more of your opinions as if they're facts. Cool.

24 minutes ago, Gunther said:

Easier than other sports, yes. Can't say it about basketball, hockey, football or even baseball

Sure you can. "Other sports require time, money, and athletic talent to succeed." There, I just did it.

24 minutes ago, Gunther said:

Easier than other sports, yes.  Can't say it about basketball, hockey, football or even baseball, which require other elements that most golfers don't possess such as size, speed, strength, agility, etc.

Golf requires those things too. Golfers who lack them are at a disadvantage.

24 minutes ago, Gunther said:

Because I happen to fall within the top 10 or 15% of all golfers worldwide based on hcap, I don't tend to pat myself on the back about it cuz I think many others could do it with time, money and desire.  Again, that simply is not the case with other sports.

@Gunther, despite the time and money you've spent on golf, you're not all that good at it.

[JonMA1]

For anyone who thinks golf is easy than other sports, I've always found football much easier.

How do you rate ease or success with other sports as compared to golf? Is there a scale you use such as someone with a index of 10 is equal to someone who started on a high school basketball team, for example?

Also, how do you rate athletic ability with golfers? People are quick to dismiss intangibles such as hand-eye coordination and balance as athletic abilities. I knew a guy in high school who was one of the fastest and strongest athletes in the county (track and powerlifting). He sucked at running back and had hands of stone when it came to receiving. He didn't even start. 

Did Emmitt Smith gain all those yards because of extraordinary athleticism - speed and strength - or some other ability that most don't have? Or was it Dallas' offensive line?

Finally, if golf is so easy, why do so many retired pros from other sports who do have the time and money, struggle to get to low single digits. It should be easy for them, right?

[Gunther]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

So… your previous points are thoroughly destroyed, and you just ignore that - after going so far as to say your points weren't even addressed - and state more of your opinions as if they're facts. Cool.

Sure you can. "Other sports require time, money, and athletic talent to succeed." There, I just did it.

Golf requires those things too. Golfers who lack them are at a disadvantage.

@Gunther, despite the time and money you've spent on golf, you're not all that good at it.

My points were not destroyed, you didn't like them.  My point about time, money, desire and a little ability is that those qualities are all it takes to play adequate golf, takes something else to play any other major sport.  I know golfers much better than me who have none of the other elements I mentioned, 80 yr old men.  It ain't that hard although I concede it's harder than horseshoes or bowling.

And your attempted insult again a miss, I've always considered myself a hacker, and I've oft written about it here.  Although it's undeniable that I'm amongst a pretty select few (million) who play this game.  And given that, it just ain't that hard.

[Ernest Jones]

3 hours ago, Gunther said:

All my fans came out of their hovels for this one.  Lol

HOVEL?? I'll have you know that in my haste to respond to your idiocy, I nearly spilt my 1947 Chateau Baron all over my hand crafted, Italian loafers as I leapt up from my solid gold, tv watching divan, which, incidentally, I bought from my close friend, The Donald, at a quite reasonable price, because he's a great guy, truly, we're tight, I gotta tell ya, no, really, fantastic guy...as are you. Cheers! 

 

Ps. I'll be sending you a bill for the loafers. 

[iacas]

1 hour ago, Gunther said:

My points were not destroyed, you didn't like them.

No, they were pretty well destroyed. None of my responses - or those of others - had to do with not "liking" them.

1 hour ago, Gunther said:

My point about time, money, desire and a little ability is that those qualities are all it takes to play adequate golf, takes something else to play any other major sport.

That's not the point to which I was referring, because that's just an opinion. One I do not share. One many of the game's best athletes have repeatedly said they do not share.

1 hour ago, Gunther said:

And your attempted insult again a miss, I've always considered myself a hacker, and I've oft written about it here.  Although it's undeniable that I'm amongst a pretty select few (million) who play this game.  And given that, it just ain't that hard.

That wasn't an insult.

So we're clear… you realize that you're saying that after tens of thousands of hours and dollars spent, you're still only an 8.2, and millions of golfers are better than you, and that is your proof that golf is easy? Okay, dude.

---

Since your opinion seems to be pretty much "golf is easy because I say so," cool, we'll leave it at that.

[Hacker James]

strange thread. title says, Unpopular opinions, then some go on and on about how unpopular a particular set of opinions are. Surely, one would expect that if they list an opinion that is unpopular, they should expect others to agree. That being said, why argue about it? Why get defensive if someone does not agree with said opinion?  Oh, I understand that offering up rationale about why they deem the opinion unpopular is a means of justifying ones ratification that the opinion is indeed unpopular.  OTOH, if someone simply said "Yes,  your opinion is unpopular and leaves it at that, there would be no reason for any further follow up and discussion. What is the fun in that?   Vicious circle it is...sez Yoda

[Gunther]

42 minutes ago, iacas said:

Since your opinion seems to be pretty much "golf is easy because I say so," cool, we'll leave it at that.

Whew, that was much harder than it needed to be.

[iacas]

3 minutes ago, Hacker James said:

strange thread. title says, Unpopular opinions, then some go on and on about how unpopular a particular set of opinions are. Surely, one would expect that if they list an opinion that is unpopular, they should expect others to agree. That being said, why argue about it? Why get defensive if someone does not agree with said opinion?  Oh, I understand that offering up rationale about why they deem the opinion unpopular is a means of justifying ones ratification that the opinion is indeed unpopular.  OTOH, if someone simply said "Yes,  your opinion is unpopular and leaves it at that, there would be no reason for any further follow up and discussion. What is the fun in that?   Vicious circle it is...sez Yoda

There's a difference between unpopular and unfounded or incendiary.

---

To get this thread back on track, and from an instructor's standpoint…

• The mental game as it's commonly discussed is a very small contributor to success on the golf course.
• Not everyone - even those between the ages of 20 and 40 - have the ability to get to scratch golf, regardless of how much time they spend trying to get there.
• If you're an 11 and you're not like 80 years old, you're not a good ballstriker.
• Putting is easy.
• It wouldn't necessarily be the worst thing if there were fewer golfers. Sometimes thinning the herd can lead to overall positive results.
• This one's not new to anyone: every golfer is consistent. Some are just consistently bad.
• Golfers look for too much information on the Internet. It's to their detriment.

[inthehole]

19 hours ago, iacas said:

I would say that you're close to competent (still not there, though), but you've got a long ways toward playing golf "well."

Indeed.  But I still enjoy the hell out of golf, being a lowly, incompetent 11 hcp....

[colin007]

On 12/21/2016 at 8:40 AM, inthehole said:

 I could practice guitar 8 hours a day & never be as good as Eddie Van Halen (relatively speaking I'm better at guitar than I am at golf) ...

i disagree, i think you could easily reach eddies competency with all that practice. doing simple finger speed and dexterity exercises and youll get there.  you may never write something as cool as he has, but youd be able to play it easily.

12 hours ago, iacas said:

• If you're an 11 and you're not like 80 years old, you're not a good ballstriker.

aaaaand...theres the single most depressing thing ive been told all week.

[cutchemist42]

FWIW

http://www.espn.com/espn/page2/sportSkills

[krupa]

3 minutes ago, cutchemist42 said:

FWIW

http://www.espn.com/espn/page2/sportSkills

I've seen this list before and don't think much of it.  It's like comparing different fruit and having a sourness category (strawberries get 0!) and saying something is more fruity because it is or isn't sour.

[Gunther]

1 hour ago, cutchemist42 said:

FWIW

http://www.espn.com/espn/page2/sportSkills

Did my post really get deleted?  Man, that's some sour grapes.  Buck up rangers, all is well.  Lol.

[sg92]

My unpopular opinions on golf:

1.  The rules book should be simplified for everyone.

2. The flag should be left in the hole.

3. Golf will always be perceived as being a elitist game, even if we try to grow the game. 

[iacas]

7 minutes ago, Gunther said:

Did my post really get deleted?

No. That study's been discussed before. It's hardly new.

As stated above, time to move on…