What Does Golf Mean To You ?

FixdePitchmark · 09-07-2020 12:30am #1

Ok time for another odd thread.

Have been contemplating on a few things over the last few months (covid etc)

I've realized that for some- golf is a bit of craic, a game , a laugh.

For others, Something they want to get good at - break 90 / 80 - be a single figure golfer

For some - get involved in a club - create a social circle

For some - their day to day life, full time job

For others their professional life.

I suppose - the thread is - what is golf about for you ?

finglashoop · 09-07-2020 12:52am

Took up golf at 28 as i couldnt play football due to my work pattern and needed something. Played 7 years casual golf against mates and one year in a club, regret not joining sooner to be honest.

Mainly its the challenge i like. The mental challenge of besting myself more than others and since joining a club last year the competitive golf has upped that even more. In saying that i dont take it too serious.

Ive never had a lesson and dont think i ever will as i like to figure things out myself and see how low i can get.

16 at the moment but have set a target of 14 and breaking 80

padmcv · 09-07-2020 8:53am

Always had an interest in Golf & watched a lot on TV. Didn't play properly until I finished playing GAA last year but got hooked straight away. For me, it's about the challenge to play better, shoot lower scores & get my HC down. Most of my rounds are solo as I'm not too bothered about the social side of things.

slave1 · 09-07-2020 9:28am

A break, simple as that

redzerdrog · 09-07-2020 10:48am

Its about competing!

Against myself, against others, against the course, against the conditions, against my hcap.

It's an outlet to still have that competition as the body slows down and doesn't allow me compete in other sports

blue note · 09-07-2020 10:52am

I like it from a few different angles.

I like getting out in the fresh air
I like the social side
I like the challenge of improving
I like the competitive side

Danny dyers double · 09-07-2020 8:26pm

Great question really.
For me lately it's become an obsession.
Im 36 now but I start playing in my early 30s but just before the lock down I was still involved in a football club. So with 2 nights training and a game the weekend and throw in 2 young boys, I didn't have alot of time for my golf.

Since I start playing I was hooked but that turned into an obsession to get better now iv more time to put into it. With lock down and golf club restrictions iv only been able to play one full round since lock down. But iv had a good few nights at the range.

Playing in our first society outing back this weekend and I'm living for it. Never felt like this the week of a match, coming to the end I used to be hoping games would be called off.

Benny Cake · 09-07-2020 8:54pm

Its my escape. Played sport all my life, came to golf late, and not sure anything beats puring an iron pin high from a tight lie...
#heaven

fred funk }{ · 09-07-2020 10:05pm

Golf in a huge part of my life, probably too much TBH as I tend to plan my life around golf.

I love competitive golf and love trying to improve and become the best golfer I can be, with in reason.

I love playing with my mates for a fiver every Sunday morning and the little bit or ribbing that goes on when its tight and we're a couple of holes to go.

My only regret is not joining a club earlier.

Golf is my Game · 09-07-2020 10:23pm

Well, let me tell you something, posters. Ya know that little card, the one that says "So and so Golf Club"? Well that may not mean anything to you, but that means a lot to me. One whole hell of a lot. Sure, go ahead, laugh if you want to. I've seen your type before: flashy, twirling your club, putting backspin on the ball. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. What's this guy making such a big stink about a sport? Well, let me give you a hint, Scratchman. Maybe we can live without golf, people like you and me. Maybe. Sure, we're too old to change the world. But what about that kid, teeing it up, waggling his driver, right now, at a local course. Doesn't he deserve better greens? Look. If you think this is about penalty shots and missing putts, you'd better think again. This is about that kid's right to hit a shot without someone yelling mashed potato. Or, maybe that turns you on, partner; maybe that's how you get your kicks. You and your good-time golfing buddies. Well I got a flash for you boom boom: party time is over. You've got seven days to get out on a course and play golf. That is: one week.

CalamariFritti · 09-07-2020 10:24pm

A break, a challenge, the mates, the satisfaction from a (rare) well hit golf shot, the sheer fun of occupying yourself with a ballgame for a few hours. I just love it.

Break80 · 09-07-2020 11:28pm

I played soccer to a high standard until my body gave out in my late 30s. I was ultra competive always getting upset with myself and team mates when things weren,t going well.
Looking back I don,t know if I really enjoyed it that much.
I took up golf expecting to reach a good standard easily. 20 years later and I am still crap at this crazy game and I love it.
I love the whole occasion of playing new courses. meeting new people. away trips with friends, the wind up for the fiver in the bar.
No matter how I play I am looking forward to the next game as soon as I put the clubs in the boot of the car. By Thursday I am like a child waiting for Santa getting excited for my game at the weekend.
SAD ISN,T IT ?

Rikand · 09-07-2020 11:52pm

had 4 birdie putts from inside 6 feet on Sunday from the 4th to the 7th. Missed them all. But curled in a beauty of a 30 footer across the green on 17 for a two!

It ****ing drives me insane sometimes, but i ****ing love it too

RoadRunner · 10-07-2020 12:57pm

The dichotomy of it all. Hitting a ball with a stick. That it can be both the most simplest and tricky of things imaginable.

Perfectly executed shot; bad bounce.

Perfectly struck chip & perfect line; however wrong landing point on green.

A four hour round; ball in contact with clubface for <1 second.

Swing harder; mish1t ball and it goes shorter.

DON'T want to go left? Aim right; Boom. You've just provided the perfect conditions for an exaggerated hook.

Perfectly weight putt; poor read. 3 putt bogey.

Then, mess up on the read, pick wrong line, overestimate pace, rush the hit without thinking, leading to a poor strike of the putt; ball goes in the hole. How can so many wrongs make a right?

Then, sometimes you get everything. absolutely. right. There's the magical feeling through your body when you middle that strike, perhaps this is the non-chemical drug that hooks :cool: us all? If you believe in a soul, then the vibration surely has resonated to it through the arms and spine. The 1 thousandth of a second ball-contact is followed by 8 special seconds. The perfect strike, you swung so hard the follow through has twisted you over with your arms behind you. You've did everything right. Picked correct club, judged the lie and slope well, factored the distance to and length of the green, the hardness of the green and trajectory of the ball. Even factored in air temperate -once it carries that bastard bunker this ball WILL stop. You judged the wind and controlled your spin right. This doesn't happen all the time! The ball hangs in the air and is getting noticeably smaller now, still bang on line. It doesn't matter what your score. Now, surprisingly, you hear yourself shouting after your ball as it's still in the air descending. Are you shouting the correct thing? Maybe it's way over the bunker and it actually needs to get down, and you've shouted at it to go further? Why shout, you think, you've done everything right surely?

What Does Golf Mean To You ?

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