Is golf supposed to be fun?

[SiberianDVM]

Rhetorical question for most of us here, as we all seem to be totally hooked on it, but........is golf really fun for most of us?

I'm talking about real golf, actually playing a complete 18 holes of golf, not just hitting the ball around on the range.

I know that when I need to relieve some stress, one of the best ways for me is to go to the range and beat a bucket or two of balls. When I am done, I am tired and sweaty and my mind is much clearer.

Playing a round of golf, on the other hand, leaves me more frustrated than when I started. Poor shots, missed putts, and above all, the aggravating influences of other people, seem to be robbing me of the joy I once got out of the game.

Yesterday, I got so angry that I actually walked (well, drove) off the course after 9 holes. Not angry at my game, as I wasn't playing that badly, but at other people.

I was playing at Ft. Gordon's Gordon Lakes course, a 27 hole Robert Trent Jones design. The course is run by Non-Appropriated Funds, which means they have to break even at least or they will be closed down. So they allow civilians to play there. They have a nice range, carts with GPS, a new clubhouse complete with grill, everything except nice people on the course.

Most of the people that play there are retired military and they act like they own the place. Yesterday, the course was crowded, and my group was keeping pace with the 4some in front of us, who was keeping pace with the 4some in front of them, etc, etc. On #6, a guy drove up from behind us to ask why we didn't let them play through!! This jackoff had his name on his bag (Chuck Winters, wherever you are, you're a dick) so I guess he thought he was a pro. We told him there was no way we could as the course was backed up all the way. On #9, the marshall showed up and asked us what our problem was!

That's when I completely lost it. Must have been the heat. I'll admit that I went off on the guy. Then I got in my cart, drove to the clubhouse, found the manager, and went off on him, too.

Then I put my sticks in my car, and drove to a range where I could beat balls without being aggravated.

I think I will be playing much less golf in the future.

[chollyred]

Yes, Doc. Golf is supposed to be fun. It's a game. Just like baseball and basketball are games. It's fun for us to be competitive, against other players, or simply pitting our skills against the skills of the course designer. However, if we take it too serious, it ceases to be a game and becomes a job (or obsession). If it gets to that point, it's not fun anymore.

When you hit a couple of bad shots in a row, do you go ballistic? Or laugh at yourself? (even though frustrated, I can laugh at myself.)

Sorry you had such a bad day at the course. It sounds like you either need to find a friendlier course, or some other distraction. Some courses seem to breed certain attitudes and players tend to gravitate to the type of course that suits them. My home course is very informal and laid back. Everyone there just takes it in stride when holes back up. I played a course in Myrtle Beach where the locals won't play because of the surly attitude of the staff. The general attitude there is "we're better than anyone else". That stuffy attitude of the staff carries over to many of the players there. I'll play there while on vacation, but it wouldn't be my first choice.

If it ain't fun, it ain't worth doing!

[SilverUberXeno]

I'm going to disagree with Chollyred. Fun is not the single attribute that makes golf what it is to us avid golfers. Nor is fun what made basketball so great for Michael Jordan. Nor is fun what made calculus and realtivity so great for Einstein. Golf is entirely reality, just as basketball and math is. You KNOW that if you strike the ball correctly, it will go where you want it to. It is a competition. WINNING is fun. Playing well can be fun too, but NOT playing well makes you angry. It's not fun to fail, not for anyone doing anything.

Golf is a game, but it's much deeper than tic-tac-toe. And it's very clear Doc, that you, like I, have a real love for the game, and we both HATE to have things interfere with it. I would've reacted the same way you did to that situation, but I probably would've stolen a pull-cart or something too.

Golf taunts us by allowing us to hit SOME great shots, and that's where the fun is. I wouldn't say that golf is, at its core, meant to be FUN. It's meant to be fulfilling. Being good at golf is something you can be seriously proud of. And it's very hard to score well because you're lucky. If you're good at golf, you're good.

[chollyred]

S.U.X.

I guess the difference is that in the 30+ years I've been playing, I learned a long time ago that I can't play and practice enough to ever be really good at golf. I love the game. I love the experience. But if I got p.o. for every bad shot or ran into a jerk on the course, I wouldn't play. Now don't get me wrong. Nobody can be more competitive than me. You're absolutely correct that winning is fun. Beating the course is fun. Beating your handicap is fun. Beating yourself up over a bad shot is not fun. Learn to let those go. They're going to happen.

[15andlife]

I love golf its suppose to be a game so I may get frustrated on the course but I play one shot at a time so it doesnt really bother me, I dont go home and worry about it.

[SiberianDVM]

I kind of agree with both of you.

I learned not that long ago. not to get mad over my bad shots. As I read somewhere, Arnold Palmer once told an amateur in a pro-am: You're not good enough to get that mad. I took that to heart.

What I haven't learned (yet) to not let make me angry are the outside influences: surly staff, overcrowded courses, obnoxious players, etc.

I'm kind of sorry (today) that I went off on the marshall and the manager, but in a way, I'm not sorry. They need to realize that there is a kind of "Mafia" on that course that is making it miserable for other players.

And I chose to vote with my wallet and my feet. I won't be back there for a long while.

[Sandy]

Personally, I can relate to what the Doc is saying here. Being not only new to the area but new to the country when I first started playing golf I found it really hard to go out onto the course for a long time, and had some really bad experiences when I did. While I was down on the range I was in my own little world inside my booth, and could hit balls however I wanted with no consequences but still a great feeling of accomplishment when I hit one well. I really did ask myself a lot during that first year whether I'd be just as happy taking regular range sessions like that and rarely going out onto the course at all.

Even now I manage to get out and play more regularly, thanks entirely to Greydawg and his pals, I find it hard to get motivated to go out and play as a single around here, solely due to all the crap I know I'll get dragged into down at the local courses. If I play up here in northern NJ now I'll only go out if I know I have someone to play with, or if I'm pretty certain I'll be able to go out as a single onto a fairly empty course, which means I end up picking my courses and times very carefully.

I used to have the similar problems when I played cricket and soccer competitively, in that I would be an absolute bag of nerves the night before I played a match, usually questioning why I was putting myself through this and whether I really wanted to be playing the next day, but thankfully once I was out there I was fine and afterwards would feel great. But I'd stiull go through the whole process the following week!

[twogreen]

Originally Posted by SiberianDVM

Snip, snip, for brevity.

Most of the people that play there are retired military and they act like they own the place. Yesterday, the course was crowded, and my group was keeping pace with the 4some in front of us, who was keeping pace with the 4some in front of them, etc, etc. On #6, a guy drove up from behind us to ask why we didn't let them play through!! This jackoff had his name on his bag (Chuck Winters, wherever you are, you're a dick) so I guess he thought he was a pro. We told him there was no way we could as the course was backed up all the way. On #9, the marshall showed up and asked us what our problem was!

That's when I completely lost it. Must have been the heat. I'll admit that I went off on the guy. Then I got in my cart, drove to the clubhouse, found the manager, and went off on him, too.

Yes Doc, in theory, it is supposed to be fun; but theory is not always truth. I suppose we all have those days, for whatever reason, where we wonder if it is all worth it.

Your comment about the retired military members caught my attention, since I retired with 28 years of military service. I believe what you experienced may have been partially due to what I call the "betrayed attitude". During my active duty years, I always thought of the Army/military as a very large fraternity. Military members were always aware that our pay was sub-standard when compared to the civilian segment; and that the job requirements were often harsh and not conducive to a "normal" family life. OTOH, there were certain benefits that we perceived as justification for enduring the hardships of the life we chose. Free medical care, PX, commissary, club systems, and well- maintained military recreational facilities were the norm; and most importantly, would still be available to us upon retirement. One by one, those benefits started to disappear; and morale started to disappear with them. In civilian terms, this would have been perceived as a breach of contract. To the military mind, it was perceived as betrayal...thus, the attitude.

I will freely admit that I was initially pissed-off when I heard that Fort Benning had opened the golf course to civilians. I don't have anything against civilians, per se. Hell, I even like some of them and will occasionally have one or two over for dinner. I suppose I was bothered more by the perception that this was just one more example of lost privileges for the military community.

Doc, I hope you don't take my comments as defending the rudeness you experienced at the course. That is certainly not my intention. I recognize that the military community has its fair share of a**holes...just as my civilian home course does.

[warbirdlover]

Doc,

I would have let them play through and then harass the group in front of you etc etc

They eventual might have "got the picture".... Then you could get the ranger to go and ask them "what's their problem?"..

I would choose to fight back in some fashion...

[Horseballs]

Agree totally. Chuck winters is a dick. He always tries to pull that crap with me, but I'm all, "Chuck, you are such a dick" then he backs down a little, but next thing you know he pulls a "Hey, Horseballs, why don't you let me play through?", but then I just usually hit him up with, "No way, dick" and that sets him straight. Except this one time when he was really annoying to me, I had throw out a "Hey, Chuck, STFU dick!" and I yelled it too. I was really on that day...

[SiberianDVM]

twogreen, what I didn't put in there, because I don't think it is REALLY relevant, is that I did 6 years in the Army National Guard, and ever since 9/11 I have been an unpaid volunteer in a medical company in the Georgia State Defense Force, which is part of the Georgia DOD and a reserve unit of the Georgia Army National Guard. The only "perk" is get is a "active duty military rate" at the Ft. Gordon golf course. So much for that.

Nobody is shooting at me (except on the golf course) and I didn't retire from the Army, but the last time I checked, you're only allowed to wear civilian clothes on the Ft. Gordon golf course. One of the guys I was playing with was an active duty E3, the other was a former enlisted servicemember.

The guys that act like they own the place are retired guys who pay about $600 a YEAR for membership and play there every damn day. Pretty good deal, if you ask me. This infrastructure would cost at least $20 million in the real world, and I guarantee memberships would cost way more that that.

I guess what really pissed me off is that in the 30 or so rounds I have played there in the past, I have NEVER seen a marshall on the course. And to have one called on me for no reason was just more than I could bear.

Warbirdlover, they never caught up with us, EVER!!!! They had to wait on the tee on the 2 par 3s, maybe 5 minutes!!! Isn't that kind of a normal wait?

twogreen, when you have civilians over for dinner, how do you have them cooked?

[King Par]

Originally Posted by SiberianDVM

Arnold Palmer once told an amateur in a pro-am: You're not good enough to get that mad. I took that to heart.

Lee Trevino told that to some guy too at the Pro-Am that my grandpa played in...my grandpa got a big kick out of that.

When I start to get frustrated over something, I just calm down and tell myself that I'm not making a living playing it, so theres no reason to be mad.

[twogreen]

Originally Posted by SiberianDVM

twogreen, when you have civilians over for dinner, how do you have them cooked?

Well, if they're golfers, I usually just parboil them.

I can't believe I said that. I'm trying to work up the courage to hit the submit button.....oh hell, why not?

[Eracer]

There are a$$holes everywhere you go, and that includes golf courses. Fortunately, golf attracts more non-a$$holes than most every other sport. Focus on the good - ignore the bad.

[JEFF4i]

Golf is fun when I play well, that's it for me. I don't deny it, and I don't take try and change that. It's just the way it is.

However, there are two things to be noted. On new courses, especially expensive ones, or ones I don't play much, I have fun irregardless, because I know I'm out there more of the experience. Doesn't mean I don't get frustrated, but I don't try and improve the game as much, I just let it go.

But for regular rounds, it isn't fun if I'm not playing well. *shrug*

Lastly, even if I am playing aweful, I never, ever, question if I should be out there.