One of the Great Things About Golf

[billchao]

2 hours ago, iacas said:

True story. I never did drills or anything unless I was forced to, like in team practices or whatever. I never did anything on my own to improve my skills, like shooting pucks into my dryer 

Kind of funny to think about now, considering how much work I put into golf.

[Fairway_CY]

I miss football and everything that went along with it.  The summer two-a-days... the tackling drills... the weight room... the feeling and smell of the grass while stretching prior to a game... the sounds.  The day I played my last football game, a little piece of me died.  

I took up golf my freshman year after my baseball coach passed away.  It was a different game and I enjoyed the serenity of it.  It still didn't compare to football (to me) at that time.  I'd obsess over football.  I'd draw up plays of my own.  I'd put together the neighborhood game and then ruin it because I was trying to run it like an actual game and not a pickup game.  

As time went on, and as I realized football wasn't in the cards for me beyond high school... I got more into golf and the little things that made it so difficult.  The fact that I could be off by only 5 degrees and it could make such a HUGE difference blew my mind.  

Once I graduated... I realized that I was going to turn golf into my new obsession.  I think about golf way more than I am capable of playing or practicing.  I'll never be as good at or knowledgeable about golf as I was football... but I love the fact that I can compete.  My wife dislikes my competitive nature.  Golf is my outlet and will be for as long as I'm able to swing those sticks and chase the ball around an immaculately maintained pasture.

Great post.

CY

[boogielicious]

1 hour ago, billchao said:

True story. I never did drills or anything unless I was forced to, like in team practices or whatever. I never did anything on my own to improve my skills, like shooting pucks into my dryer 

Kind of funny to think about now, considering how much work I put into golf.

I’m the opposite. When I got into a sport, I would go all out. Cycling consumed me. I ran track in HS and college even though I wasn’t that good. I played rugby in college too.  Even when coaching soccer, I would do all the drills that I expected my players to do. 

Golf is what I call a life sport. Any age, gender, can do it a some level and have fun at it. Cycling is like that too, but it is easier to compete with golf because of the handicap system.

[Buckeyebowman]

11 hours ago, Foot Wedge said:

I like that no matter how big or strong you are, golf is an equalizer.  If you have the technique, you'll hit the ball far enough and be accurate enough to play well.  I'm 5'9" and hang right in there in length with my friend who's 6'5". On the flip side my dad gives up a few yards to me, but he still scores well...

 

This is a great quote. There a local radio talk guy who has done his radio show from the Cleveland Browns charity golf outing at the Quail Hollow resort east of town. One time he interviewed Mike Pruitt, RB for the Browns, who lamented the state of his golf game. He related that, in high school, he played football, basketball, ran track, and played baseball, and was all State in every one!

But when he came out to play golf he was helpless. As he told the host, "That little ball just sits there, and I can't hit it! This game humbles me!"

I'm also reminded of something a sports columnist wrote about Pro athletes finding the game. He wrote, "Sooner or later, they all come to golf!"

[JonMA1]

I like the fact that win or lose, better or worse, I own the results. Ultimately, how close I get to my potential is on me, solely because of my decisions and effort with how I learn, practice and play.

[DaveP043]

I'm a little like @billchao, I played pick-up everything as a kid, but never put the work in to play any of them particularly well.  And now, in my 60s, golf is the only thing I play.  But over the last few years I've practiced more, just because I enjoy it, and I've played the best golf of my life.  And now, having taken some instruction, and (hopefully) understanding how to practice more effectively, I'm looking forward to playing even more good golf.  But no matter how far I go, I can still have a great day with a beginner, or compete fairly with a player of almost any level.  Golf may be the only sport that a person can really play for an entire lifetime.