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Do older golfers end up quitting cold turkey or just slow up?

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Papaw

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I find myself playing less often the past year or so. This is mostly due to the few people I usually play with play less frequently. I also don’t get around like I used to and not near as flexible. I’m wondering if most older golfers just quit playing cold turkey (like some drug and tobacco users) or just slowly back off (like their sex life). I honestly have found that playing less often has resulted in better scoring when I do get to play - wish I could say the same for the sex life.
 
Papaw said:
I find myself playing less often the past year or so. This is mostly due to the few people I usually play with play less frequently. I also don’t get around like I used to and not near as flexible. I’m wondering if most older golfers just quit playing cold turkey (like some drug and tobacco users) or just slowly back off (like their sex life). I honestly have found that playing less often has resulted in better scoring when I do get to play - wish I could say the same for the sex life.
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Old golfers never quit, they just lose their balls! lol

I play over 10 times a month. Being retired gives me more time to do honey dos and less golf. lol

Seriously, I try to play as much as I can. I have actually played more golf being retired then I did while working. I hope to never slow down, but there will be a day that I have to.

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I think it goes in waves to be honest. I used to play 2 times per week and then in December I took a bit of a break. Life has gotten in the way recently so I am looking forward to some opportunities to play more in the next few months.
 
Papaw said:
...This is mostly due to the few people I usually play with play less frequently.

I also don’t get around like I used to and not near as flexible.
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It sounds like you need to find some more folks to play with. You might have to join up with a younger crowd. One that matches your desired golfing activity level. (Just because your piers are slowing down doesn't mean it's the correct thing for you to do.)

DON'T worry about the flexibility. Take a water aerobics class, take a ti-chi class even a seniors yoga class. Play less holes and take a cart.

I'm 65, one of the guys from church is 84. If he gets tired on the 12th hole he rides along and enjoys the day and the banter.

Don't let anyone tell you it's time to quit other than your doctor. (Just my opinion.)
 
J-Pin said:
Old golfers never quit, they just lose their balls! lol

I play over 10 times a month. Being retired gives me more time to do honey dos and less golf. lol

Seriously, I try to play as much as I can. I have actually played more golf being retired then I did while working. I hope to never slow down, but there will be a day that I have to.

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I'm in this camp.
I'm 60 now and will probably retire at 62.
I'm hoping to play a lot more golf then than I do now.
To prepare for that I've really been trying to nail down a swing I can "own".
I want to be playing a lot...and not spending as much time trying to find a swing that works for me....
 
My grandfather played as long as he could until his health started to fail. But at 78 he still went out 2 times a week for 9 holes each time and he died at 79.
 
Most of the guys I play with on the weekend are 60+, carry 18 Saturday & Sunday and then spend 45 mins to an hour on the range after the round. A couple of guys have slowed down and only sparingly but their health was becoming an issue, heck a good friend said he was scared his pace maker would quit during the round.
 
I have an 81 year old playing partner who has a really decent game but he has lost some of his distance. In order to compensate he started out several years ago by moving up to the mid tees which are about 6000 yds. Now this year he has moved up to the front tees which are about 5500-5700 yds. even though he still does well from the mid tees. He loves golf and shows no signs of wanting to give it up.
 
I will be 61 later this year and am still working 40-50 hours a week.
My golf schedule has gone up over the last couple of years to where I am playing up to 63 holes in a week.
I don't have plans to retire for another 4 or 5 years and I hope my golf schedule continues to climb as my handicap continues to drop. :golf:
 
Id say that if anything, older people play more because they have the time and money to do so. I think that they just adjust their expectations to where their enjoyment of their time on the course is less dependent upon actual par and more on what they are capable of.
 
I can’t say from personal experience “I’m 32” but A really good friend of mine that is in his 70s has expressed to me that he is losing interest in playing because he is really struggling to hit the ball with any amount of power and distance. He was once a 6-8 handicap and in the last two years he struggles to break 90 because he says that most of the par 4 holes are now par 5 holes and the par 5s take him at least 4 shots to get on the green. Not sure what has happened to him other than age, but I can see being frustrated. I tell him when we go that I just enjoy being out there with someone who has so much golf experience.


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My dad at 84 still plays once a week - he just plays nine in a power cart - he was never great just loves hitting golf. We have other friends where he is in his 70s and very frustrated with the decay in distance. I think we all have to look at stretching - Gary Player was saying that is now hitting it further than Nicklaus - something he never could do in his prime.
 
I'm 64 and just started playing again after a 10 year hiatus. Lost a bit of distance.

Used to play 3 times a week and hit balls at range 2 more. I started just hitting balls at range to find some semblance of a swing. Last 2 weeks I've played 2 nine hole rounds a week. Hope I can keep my interest up.
 
I am just starting to get senior rates at 57, but I am playing more now than I ever have. I do not have the clubhead speed I once had, but am still long enough to play most any course from the tips. After a 7 year hiatus, I have been playing again for just over two years and am playing about as well as I ever have. I surely get more stiff now than I did, but am trying to stave off losing distance through stretching, speed work, etc. I hope to keep playing well for another ten years at least.
 
I'm 65, retired and usually play two, three times a week. I get to the range once a week but that is more social than actual practice most of the time. I don't care if I am losing a little distance, I moved up to the white tees a few years ago which helped a lot. A lifetime of a variety of sports has left me pretty beat up but stretching everyday and the occasional Alleve keep me on the course!
 
I can speak from experience. Not too long ago really, I was a single digit handicap player but as you get older the main difference (for me at least) is the distance lost. So I really don't have those expectations that I'm somehow going to miraculously get an extra 20 or more yards by changing equipment, I'm very satisfied by being consistent and having the ball in play. I still have my touch from inside of 100 and my 21 yo Scotty when I hit the green. True my handicap has slipped, but I still play 4-5 times per week(9 holes), we have a pot game twice a week(18 holes) and I generally play on Sunday with my buddy for beer and bragging rights for the week. If it's a long course, I'll play from the forward tees otherwise I play from the whites (middle) tees. I absolutely have no problems playing golf with younger guys, they have their game, I have mine. I remember when I was a younger player, the worst kind of golfer that I wanted to play against are the seniors that can hit the ball dead straight every time. So to answer the OP, I have NO plans on giving up the game cold turkey or even slowing up.
 
In the fall of 1993 I made my first trip to Myrtle Beach. 24 guys went and I was 41 at the time. We played 36 holes a day - fierce, competitive golf followed by fierce nights on the town. Next day we'd be up and do it all over again. And we did this every year since 1993.

This year - our 25th anniversary - and last I heard only 7 going. I think most of the reasons were covered very succinctly in the posts above. In our case, its LIFE. We are all now mid 60s to early 70s. At 70 years old that sharp game they played at 45 is just a memory, so a few have given up the game or play only occasionally because their game declined and it bothers them that they can't play as they used to. A couple can't play due to health. Many have grandchildren and family obligations. Finances are keeping a few guys from coming. For two guys the trip from the west coast that was once a breeze is no longer worth the trouble. Two do not come due to their wives having serious illnesses and cannot be left alone.

About 10 years ago we cut back to 27 holes, and then a few years ago we changed to 18. Over the years we moved from the blues to the whites and some of the group now play the senior tees. After dinner we return to the condos early - to avoid driving in the dark!!! Funny, 25 years ago some of these same guys would roll in as the sun was coming up, grab a hot coffee and head out the door!

So to answer your question, I'd say most of my friends just slowed up and reduced their play due to energy, family, and $$$ (this is not an inexpensive game) although a few have given up the game entirely for various reasons.
 
I'm 62, with a few more years of work ahead of me, and I'm looking forward to wearing out multiple sets of clubs in retirement. I don't see myself getting terribly frustrated with declining abilities, because as every two-year old knows, you can't fall off the floor.

My father-in-law is 86 and played until last June. In March we played 18 at a course in central Jersey, and I was surprised he had the stamina to do it, but he did. Turns out 18 was his last hole of golf. He was part of a group of 80+ {3 men and a woman) who had an arrangement with a local public course to play the nine hole executive course Tuesday mornings with carts. He went there for their first week, hit his tee shot, stood over his ball, felt faint and collapsed. They took him to the hospital, where we was diagnosed with dehydration, then he needed a heart valve replacement, and now he's living on a single floor of their home. He used to watch the PGA every weekend, but now doesn't have any interest. I'll bet, though, on a good day he would tell you he played for as long as he could and wouldn't have had it any other way.
 
My group consists of myself (almost 71), another who is 70, a 79 year old and one who will turn 60 in a month. The only reason any of us miss a weekday is either due to weather, a health issue, doctor appointments or some other reason that demands our presence elsewhere. We basically have a standing 2nd tee time Monday through Friday. As a foursome, on our slowest days we are done in about 3:15.
 
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