Golf: Waste of time or path to enlightenment?

[Perknose]

After caddying for rich guys as a kid for money but never getting to play, my Dad took up golf in his early sixties.

Despite starting late, he got pretty good at it. He won a bunch of basically no-account, local Senior tourneys, and managed four holes-in-one, for which he had the trophies, certificates and bar tabs as proof.

I once played "chip and putt" golf (all holes par 3, no hole over 90+ yards and they only give you a putter and a 9 iron) with him on a beautiful Sunday morning while still tripping more than a bit on acid from late the night before.

The greens were shimmering and very slowly rotating in clockwise swirls. I felt quite at peace and shot perhaps my best (duffer class) game. I was as one with my dented and crappy clubs, in awe of the green beauty surrounding us, and that wonderful little white sphere just flew where I bid it to. :biggrin:

 

[moshquerade]

"Golf is a good walk spoiled."
-- Mark Twain

 

[Papagayo]

"Golf is a good walk spoiled."
-- Mark Twain

I enjoy Golf, keep mind clear. If you suck at anything, you won't enjoy it.

Shopping is a good walk spoiled.

 

[moshquerade]

I enjoy Golf, keep mind clear. If you suck at anything, you won't enjoy it.

Shopping is a good walk spoiled.

I power walk through the mall, good exercise.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

Yeah, well, I think Mark Twain said "golf is a good walk spoiled." He was probably pretty awful at golf, of course.

"Golf is a good walk spoiled."
-- Mark Twain

Little late mosh...

 

[JohnnyGage]

I play when and wherever I can. I play early and often, it's a path to enlightenment for me. I enjoy it more than just about anything and wish I could do it more. The one caviat is that I was once in the line of thinking it was boring, slow and for old people. But once you hit a good shot or one that goes where you planned, you're hooked and those shots bring you back everytime.

 

[moshquerade]

Little late mosh...

doh!

 

[krunchykrome]

My wife and I gave it a fair shot...we bought golf sets, took professional lessons, practiced at the range.

We couldn't get into it; we ended up selling our equipment.

 

[Kyle]

I love it- always have. Hard to explain why to someone who doesn't like it

 

[bfdd]

1 beer per hole makes golf really fun

I thought that was one of the rules? I've honestly never played golf any other way. I have an insulated bag so I can put like a cold 12-16 beers in to carry around a course. I normally just play small shit though because golf to me is just a reason to get drunk and go have lunch with my friends.

 

[Perknose]

I thought that was one of the rules? I've honestly never played golf any other way. I have an insulated bag so I can put like a cold 12-16 beers in to carry around a course. I normally just play small shit though because golf to me is just a reason to get drunk and go have lunch with my friends.

I'll bet the foursomes behind you guys often hate your guts. Less drinking, more playing!

 

[SphinxnihpS]

Golf: Waste of time or path to enlightenment?

It really depends on what courses you play.

For instance, if you live in say, Toledo, you'll want to play on courses that generally face East, but if you live in LA, you want a West-facing ocean course. We're not talking the clubhouse here either. God doesn't care about your address! West facing courses will have a greater number of holes aligned in an East-West fashion, with the greatest number of tee boxes facing West. This ensures the maximum number of good vibes will be saturating your soul-being, bringing you more quickly to enlightenment than those who play on courses with North-South orientations.

Some caveats:

Playing from the gold tees will net you between 100 and 1000 karma points depending on wind.

Drinking very dry martinis can help your soul-being reflect some of the more intense but short-lived downer vibes set off by house-wives, bridge players, 10 handicappers, and that etiquetteless foursome of old codgers cutting into your afternoons with secretary time.

Playing in rain won't bring any extra karma, but it will allow you some solitude to reflect on and come to terms with past triples.

 

[Muse]

It's stupid as hell, but I might just be saying that because I spent a buttload on new clubs a few weeks ago and had a terrible week at the range.

Watching golf is, seriously, the worst thing ever. My brother did nothing but watch the TV guys gush over Rory all of Saturday and Sunday and absolutely nothing exciting happened. Shoot me now.

The coverage over the weekend (NBC) of the U.S. Open was often pretty nauseating, particularly as the weekend went on, but I watched the whole thing (2 hours on Th and on Fri, and 6 hours Sat, 6 Sun). I always time shift and skip almost all commercials. I started getting rather sick of them going over all the records that McIlroy was setting. I started skipping past some of that stuff, I wanted to see good golf and learn, not be inundated with a ton of statistics. They stopped making note of the fact that the course was especially easy for a U.S. Open. NBC's golf crew really sucks compared to CBS's, who do most of the OTA golf coverage, pretty much weekly.

Watching golf is for golfers. If you don't play golf half decently, it doesn't really work for you. However, if you are very into golf, watching it done by the pros on TV with expert commentary by people who played professionally themselves before becoming TV announcers is very instructive. I've learned a lot of golf by watching the pros and also by taking in the observances of knowledgeable announcers. IMO, the announcers in golf, particularly CBS's are way better than the announcers of most any other OTA sports. Last weekend's coverage was pretty lousy a fair amount of the time, though.

 

[Muse]

Golf is a married mans game. I've been to a few different courses now and I would much rather spend my Saturday drinking alcohol with women in the sun, opposed to playing with sticks, balls and old dudes. Maybe 10% of the people there were female, including employees, married women, and ugly married women.

These are good points. It's not necessarily a married man's game, but there aren't a lot of women who play, particularly women who aren't old.

One of, if not the only, unmasterable sport. For those with even a sliver of competitiveness in them, the alure is too great.

This is the salient characteristic of golf. It's impossible to totally master it. Ben Hogan (one of golf's legendary "masters," for you who don't know) said he knew he was going to hit 2-3 bad shots per round and coming to peace with that helped his overall performance. Golf, like a lot of other things, is much more fun when you are pretty good at it.

I play when and wherever I can. I play early and often, it's a path to enlightenment for me. I enjoy it more than just about anything and wish I could do it more. The one caviat is that I was once in the line of thinking it was boring, slow and for old people. But once you hit a good shot or one that goes where you planned, you're hooked and those shots bring you back everytime.

When I took it up I was ravenous, hitting a large bucket of balls at the range and practicing my putting every day. This was at a course that I have recently been told was the busiest public golf course in the U.S.A., Rancho Park, in L.A. It was very difficult to get a tee time there and when I did, I could barely sleep for the excitement. This lasted maybe a year, with an interlude. Then circumstances changed and I didn't get a chance to play for decades. I play now 1/2 the year at a course near me, and it's way easier to get tee times. But I still get pretty excited before rounds a lot of the time.

 

[RPD]

best excuse i have to get out for 4-5 hours in the sun with friends and to drink.

This. Shoot the shit, drink, enjoy the outdoors.

 

[Away]

I've been playing off and on for the past 18 years and my feelings change on the game based on what score I shot that day. :biggrin:

 

[ArizonaSteve]

Certainly not a waste of time, but I wouldn't go as far as to say it's a path to enlightenment.

Still, it's a fun way to kill a Saturday morning.

 

[Muse]

Shoot the shit, drink, enjoy the outdoors.

I've never understood how people can drink and play golf. Not that it wouldn't be fun and all, it's just that if you are trying to improve your play the last think you'd want to do is ingest something that reduces your coordination and reflexes (i.e. alcohol).

 

[Arkaign]

It has 100% zero interest to me, but to those that enjoy it, more power to em. As casual 'sports' I prefer fishing, hell even bowling, to golf. But that's why we're individuals. Some cold beer and good conversation makes it fun anyway.

 

[ctark]

Most boring game ever invented. Likewise, 8 foot tall basketball players ruin the sport. I think they should max out the basketball players to 6 foot tall. Then it becomes a sport with talent. How much talent is there in an 8 foot tall player dropping a ball in the basket? The height of the basket should be proportionate to the height of the players. Sports have not changed much in many years. We need to add some flavor!

We should kill everybody under 6 foot so they cant breed. Then everybody playing basketball will be on a more level playing field.

 

[spidey07]

I've never understood how people can drink and play golf. Not that it wouldn't be fun and all, it's just that if you are trying to improve your play the last think you'd want to do is ingest something that reduces your coordination and reflexes (i.e. alcohol).

I play better after a beer or two. They don't call it "swing oil" for nothing.

A good golf swing is relaxed, smooth and without thought of the swing. So you can see why a few beers can help. Now I have been so buzzed that it affected my play but don't do that much anymore.

I will say that Golf has been somewhat of a path to enlightenment. I used to get pissed on the course after bad shots, but then made a conscious effort of "why are you mad? It's nice out, your with friends, and it's beautiful". So I never get mad on the course more of a "oh well, let's focus on the next shot". And that attitude has carried into life where I don't stress the things I can't control.

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

Waste of time or path to enlightenment?

Neither. Just a good excuse to get some sun and have a few beers.

 

[SolMiester]

I love golf, Im probably obsessed with it TBH.

 

[SolMiester]

After caddying for rich guys as a kid for money but never getting to play, my Dad took up golf in his early sixties.

Despite starting late, he got pretty good at it. He won a bunch of basically no-account, local Senior tourneys, and managed four holes-in-one, for which he had the trophies, certificates and bar tabs as proof.

I once played "chip and putt" golf (all holes par 3, no hole over 90+ yards and they only give you a putter and a 9 iron) with him on a beautiful Sunday morning while still tripping more than a bit on acid from late the night before.

The greens were shimmering and very slowly rotating in clockwise swirls. I felt quite at peace and shot perhaps my best (duffer class) game. I was as one with my dented and crappy clubs, in awe of the green beauty surrounding us, and that wonderful little white sphere just flew where I bid it to. :biggrin:

LOL, something funny about our forum lord talking about golf on acid....must remember to put hat one down for the bucket list!

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

I love golf, Im probably obsessed with it TBH.

Does it have a restraining order on you? No? You have work to do...