We've launched the new forums! Read more here

Golf Therapy?

VA_Park_Ranger

VA_Park_Ranger

New member
Joined
Sep 1, 2013
Messages
123
Reaction score
0
Location
Green Bay, VA
Handicap
20
Why do you play? I've been in and out of playing golf for over 35 years. Each time I wonder why I find so much relief in it. I've had my divorce , custody , work, alcohol, and depression problems, but whenever I get to the lowest, I pick up my sticks and it totally changes my outlook on life.

My last absence was over 13 years. I have raised a lovely daughter and about 6 months ago, she decided to pursue the things teenage girls like... leaving me with lots of spare time. I went to the basement, and dug out my clubs that I havent looked at in 13 years, bought a bag of wiffle balls and some shags, and began to hit again. The next day I was at the driving range, looking like a fool skulling shots and gathering stares when I was hitting WOODEN WOODS thanks to the sounds coming from my poor shots.

Six months, and about 1000 dollars later, im back to being hooked again. I found myself on the putting green the other day, wearing my comfy golf shoes, and just enjoying the whole feel of it. Just stopping and loving it. I am a marginal player at best, and dont hold out much hope for improvement, but playing golf is like therapy to me. I walk and carry, so i get exercise, but besides that, it is one of the most renewing things I have ever done. And it has been that way since i was like 11. 2.5 hours of golf is good for the mind, body and soul I believe. I've never found any activity that centered me like whe I'm playing my typical lousy game of golf.

I'll never be scratch, never win a tournament, but I owe the game my sanity and serenity.

So why do YOU play?
 
It started out as a sport I knew I could play my whole life, rather than the others that I would have to give up.
I quit for 10 years when I got started in my career, but as soon as I came back to it, I was hooked.
Now its because I get to play with THPers in events all over the country.
 
I honestly don't really know what it is but I know that I'm am just absolutely in love with this game. The sights, the sounds, and the company are always amazing. I think it might be the fact that for 5 hours the stresses of everyday life just do not apply. Also, no matter how good or bad you are at golf you are always just one shot away from an extreme high.
I started out in hockey and paintball and with hockey it's just too darn competitive and nuts up here, the ice times are terrible, and after every game I'm battered and bruised. In paintball almost everyone I encountered was a stuck-up douche.
 
It is an escape for me. When I'm on the course, all of my worries and troubles go away. It calms me and makes me feel a little better about how everything is going.
 
For me it started out as a bet. My uncle and my cousin told me I could tease them as much as I wanted as long as I tried it once. After that first time I was hooked! Later it became a way for me to measure myself against others (big mistake). Golf was a great way for me to escape during hard times. There was a time when this game infuriated me so much I left it for a while.

Now, golf is like an old friend to me that I have just found after a long time away. It allows me to enjoy nature and being with good friends. It gets even better when I'm with THP'rs too! Golf still teaches me and excites me. I don't think I would call it therapy for me, but rather a trusted traveling companion as I weave my way through the complicated maze we call life.

JM
 
for me its the stress relief of being in nature hanging out with friends, or just quiet time to myself as I walk the course alone planning my way to the green. It's the way I deal with life and work frustration for at least a few hrs on the course or at the range.

I played this game as a kid, left it to play soccer, college and work. Picked it back up because of work and finally got serious about playing and improving because of THP.
 
Golf is Therapy, it's the one thing that I have that really keeps me grounded. It started when I was a young kid trying to just find some kind of approval from a man that I used to hold up on a pedestal. My dad was a successful business man, and I never really thought he had much time for me. So I took it up as a way for me to try and gain his approval. Through the years I've used my time on the course for many things, time to get away from it all, a time to reflect on life, and it was instrumental for me battling PTSD from my military days. Since then I've used it to strengthen the bond I have with my wife and son who both play golf, and gain some life long friends through this amazing place. So golf isn't really therapy for me. I feel like I live it like the motto says.
 
I play golf because.................

Well, I've never really asked myself why. I'm not very good at it, and it makes me act like a raving lunatic if I don't act proactively and talk myself off the ledge before I get there in the first place. Which kind of implies that golf is important to me somehow. So.........

Well, I guess it boils down to this: I play golf because I find it difficult and I refuse to quit, just because I find it difficult. I guess I'm trying to prove something to myself? Seems like a bad reason to play........

On the other hand, I just drove 37 hours (round-trip) to play golf in Des Moines with a bunch of THPers I've never met, played my worst golf in 3 years, and still had a blast. So maybe I really enjoy the game despite my struggles?

Man, I never thought "why do you play golf" would be such a tough question. My best answer is "I'm not really sure, but I seem to like it".

I will also say that I have had a fascination with the game since I was quite young, so I may well be acting on a very old and simple motivation. I think I will stick with it despite all the little frustrations that come with it.
 
I took up golf this year because all of my co workers played and I felt a little left out. I promptly found a new job and no one golfs there.
I had always wanted to play but was really frustrated that I was terrible on the two times I went out. I decided to give it another shot and take some lessons. The first lesson totally changed golf for me. I was able to hit the ball straight and had a swing that looked something like it was supposed to. Golf is challenging, it's fun, it's outdoors and there's nowhere more beautiful than a golf course! I can play by myself or with others, but mostly play alone. I love and play golf for a multitude of reasons, but I think the thing I like most about it is feeling I get when I play golf.
The feeling is peace. It's me against myself. It's me against the course. It's another universe where no other part of my life exists other than the course, the ball, my swing and the challenge of the next shot. When I look up and around I see heaven. Green fairways and Willow trees.
That's why I play golf.
 
I started golfing for fun with a friends. Once I started working steady after school I started buying better clubs and playing a little more regularly. Which lead to buying more clubs, which lead to playing better still, all the while going home to an ice bag and liniment for my low back so I could get back to work the next Monday.

Then came the summer I went from 210 pounds down to about 130 and was sick as a dog for several months, only to find out I had Addison's Disease. By the time I got back on my feet my back was getting to the point it was hard to play and still make it to work. Eventually I gave up playing.

About 10 years later I found a chiropractor who got my back fixed up and as it improved I started thinking about trying to swing a club again. Amazingly I played the first pain free rounds of golf I played since my teens.

Now four years later here I am, hooked on THP and golf. For me enjoying golf is about the social aspect of the game, the enjoyment of being on the golf course, the challenge of improvement, and giving back to the game by volunteering for my local golf association.
 
Last edited:
It is just so relaxing. Even on "bad" days when I'm not playing good golf, I get to BS with buddies, swap stories, puff on a few cigars, enjoy the scenery and weather, and forget about the "worry du jour." I guess that is therapy, and much cheaper than going to a shrink.
 
I play for the challenge. No matter how well you play and how low you shoot, there's always room for improvement. It's a never ending quest to better your game.
 
To start off my post, my addiction to this intoxicating sport began when my girlfriend took me to the driving range just as something to do. I had a great time and really enjoyed it all. Well after that I was beginning to take more interest and soon after got my own set of clubs. They were a set of Dunlop's from Driver to Putter. Somehow my addiction began as I came back so frequently that the manager and workers on the range knew my name. I wanted to get better so bad and that was something I took to heart. I feel the equipment, clothing, courses and atmosphere completely hooked me in. I love knowing that you will never be perfect in your game. There is always something you can improve on and it feels so awesome when you can do what your trying to achieve. Every bit of success you have on the course will be about 99.9% of your skill. There really is no better feeling to me than knowing you can do what you previously tried before so hard, but failed to do. This game has brought me so many emotions, along with relationship trouble, financial issues and a mind that has always felt blocked due to my constant strive to get better. But I've learned to manage all those problems with management. To think back on it all, I would do it all over again for every experience that I've ever taken in. I love this game with so much heart & passion, and plan to never stop playing should my life permit me to. I'm so glad to have found THP were all my addictions could be matched with other people throughout this world.
I play Golf for the enjoyment, strive to get better, time for myself and to get better in everyway possible. This game has my soul...Forever!
 
I started playing because I saw golf on TV one day, thought it looked like fun and bought a set for $200 at Wal-Mart. Now, 15 years later Im more into golf than ever.
For me, golf is my escape from the day to day stresses of life. When Im on the course, I leave everything else behind for a few hours and all Im focused on is golf. I love how golf is such a mental game and that it requires so much mastery over one's self. All you have to do is hit the ball. It just sits there and no one tries to stop you from hitting it or defends the hole. It sounds really simple, right? We all know its not and I love that this game messes with your head and challenges you at every turn.
 
My parents divorced when I was 10, dad moved to California. We would visit him for a month each summer. One of the things he did with us was take us to a local par 3 course a couple times each week. I was hooked from the first shot.

FF to High School, I had to quit the basketball team due to problems with my heart, and doctors felt it was too risky to play contact sports and practice at an intense level. The only sport I got the OK for was Golf, so I walked onto the HS team and I like to joke, I was the 6th man on a five man team. I never got into an actual match, but got to play practice rounds and go with the team. It made me feel part of something.

That carried over into my work career as some guys at the office played, and we started up a weekly game. it became the highlight of my week. Not just playing but the camaraderie with friends.

To this day, that's the best part of playing for me, a chance to get to spend 4 to 5 hours with good friends, and celebrate each others success, and laugh at each others failures.

So it may not be therapy perse, but outside of being with my Fiance, it's my biggest source of enjoyment.

Great topic by the way VA!!
 
Great story, I play because I LOVE the game and know I can play for all my life


Tapping from my IPhone
 
I play because I just love the game. I also love to beat the few holes at my club that give me hell every time and along with beating my playing partners.

BTW, where are you a ranger in VA?
 
I played originally because it was a way to spend time with my dad, grandpa, great grandpa and brother. I kept going because I wanted to hit better shots. Once I started hitting better shots I kept playing because I wanted to hit the better shots more often. I kept going because I wanted to beat my friends. Kept going because I wanted to win tournaments. Kept going because I wanted to see just how good I could get and if I could play in college.

I play now because I enjoy seeing if I can make improvement on a regular basis on my swing. I still want to see how good I can get. I want to get that 2nd hole in one. I want to win a golf tournament again.

Back in college I would go out and walk a few holes by myself just before dark so that I could spend time with God. I still like doing that. Wish I could do it more often.
 
Good thread, I took up golf reluctantly, in late 2010 my two best friends and I were without work, it had been the first time all three of us did not have a job since we got out of high school, so here we were in our mid 30s with nothing to do blaming the economy for our unwanted free time, one day one of them decides he is going to the driving range to beat up some balls, he likes it and calls the other two to go with him the next day, I refused to go because golf was just something that was not on my radar to ever even try, I even criticized them for going golfing, they kept calling me to go with them and by now they were playing actual rounds of golf not just driving range, it was late September when I finally said "what the heck", I went with them and got hooked by one single semi good semi straight shot, I remember thinking that felt good and I wanted more.
Almost exactly 3 years later my buddies no longer golf, I have a regular foursome with really good guys, my handicap has lowered to about 17 and looking to improve yearly.
 
I have played sports all my life with golf thrown in here and there. The last few years I stopped playing some of my other sports (Ice Hockey, Softball, Flag Football) and have now focused my time and attention on Golf.
 
BIRDOG said:
Good thread, I took up golf reluctantly, in late 2010 my two best friends and I were without work, it had been the first time all three of us did not have a job since we got out of high school, so here we were in our mid 30s with nothing to do blaming the economy for our unwanted free time, one day one of them decides he is going to the driving range to beat up some balls, he likes it and calls the other two to go with him the next day, I refused to go because golf was just something that was not on my radar to ever even try, I even criticized them for going golfing, they kept calling me to go with them and by now they were playing actual rounds of golf not just driving range, it was late September when I finally said "what the heck", I went with them and got hooked by one single semi good semi straight shot, I remember thinking that felt good and I wanted more.
Almost exactly 3 years later my buddies no longer golf, I have a regular foursome with really good guys, my handicap has lowered to about 17 and looking to improve yearly.
Click to expand...

Really neat story.
 
I started playing when I PCS'ed to a new base and found out there was nothing to do in that town but play golf. With four full courses and at least seven par 3 courses I decided to give it a try. After three years I am hopelessly addicted to this frustrating game. I use it to escape the realities of life for 5 hours, no matter how bad the round went it is always worth it to be outside in the sunshine and fresh air than in the house or the office. Not to mention there is nothing better than hitting a object that doesn't move with a large stick to get rid of some stress.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
I'm the same way. I'm always ready to get out and practice or play. Most folks don't understand how I can enjoy hitting putt after putt or chipping ball after ball in my spare bedroom. It calms me. I'm not sure why. I"m not sure how. This game can be insanely frustrating....Yet I'd do anything I could to get out and play if the opportunity presented itself. I think the whole reason I love THP is for the fact that folks like me are everywhere I look. Golf is hard...It's mentally exhausting at times. But it is amazing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top