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What Floats Your Boat

fairwaynut

fairwaynut

Bettinardi Aficionado
Albatross 2024 Club
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There have been many threads I've seen since joining THP that ask what is it about golf that drives your passion. For everyone it is different, what is it drives your passion for this crazy game. As I get get older I'm finding that different things matter more than what may have been say 20 years ago. Nowadays the things about golf that bring me enjoyment are probably the people I play golf with. I retired about a year and a half ago, since then I've had the opportunity to play a lot of golf. Along the way I've met some very wonderful people who now I play alot of golf with. They have have become very good friends also. Shooting a good round of golf also brings me enjoyment, but I've found that even if I'm not playing well, that the people I play with still bring a special kind of enjoyment even if my golfing stinks. Getting out on a gorgeous day when the weather is perfect also contributes to the enjoyment. One of the other factors is when I'm out on the course and playing is the trail and tribulations that that little white ball causes me, the highs and the lows and mood swings are crazy. You forget about all your troubles and about 4 1/2 hours when on the course.
So, what drives your passion for this crazy game we all love. In other words, what floats your boat? ;)
 
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For me, it is and always has been the challenge of the game. No matter how good you get, you can always get better and even when you think that youve got it all figured out, golf knocks you down and shows you that you dont know anything.
As a Buddhist, theres a lot of things for me that golf and Zen have in common. In many ways, my zen practice and my golf practice are no different.
 
I like a lollipop in my mouth and a stick of butter in my a**, but that's just me, I'm a simple man.



This is a joke, this is only a joke, it is a quote from Boogie Nights
 
The people I've met and not yet met through the game, that one shot that keeps you coming back, the challenge of doing the best you can when you aren't on your game, trying to get better, hoping one day I have all phases of my game working at a high level, just to name a few. There are so many things that drive my interest. I don't think I realize until I try to determine what it is the one thing that does it.

Great question.
 
For me it's simple - I love the camaraderie, the competition (and wagers/money games) and the rare moments of mastering the game (even if the moment only lasts for a single shot).

Last month, I had a moment that just captured it all for me at once. I was playing in a scramble tournament at our home course Atascocita in Humble, TX. It was actually a memorial tournament for Fred Lange Sr. who had passed away earlier this year. The Lange's are no less than family to me, and we also called Big Fred by another name for years: "Dober"; this because his ears would perk up like a Doberman Pinscher whenever someone would mention "golf" - he had 11 aces over his lifetime and shot his age 94 times in 2017. He was 84 when he died.

Anyway, at the tournament, I was playing with good friends including my college roommate (also family to me and the Lange's). I had just solo-birdied the 2nd hole on Pinehurst with a big draw 3-wood from the tee to get around the dog-leg, leaving me 117-yards from the middle of the fairway. I then hit my 53-degree wedge to 2' and went up by myself to clean up the putt. When I got back to the cart, I took a pull from my Clamato/Coors Light on ice, had a puff from my Backwoods Honey cigar and just felt the moment... complete bliss!

God, family and friends are far and away the most precious things to me on Earth. Golf is the only thing that even comes close to making that list!
 
It is very similar in a lot of ways to my other hobby of bass fishing. It also seems to be popular among bass fisherman. I took up golf in preparation for retirement as an alternative sport to occupy myself. We are retiring in a community on a lake and golf course so it seemed fitting.

What I’ve found is so much more. I’m having way more fun and honestly saving a ton of money by fishing less. My wife seems to like that part, and I’m home more now.
 
The challenge, you against the course is all it is. Who will get the better of the other on any given day.
The other is seeing a well struck 7 iron with just a hint of a baby draw floating toward the pin and just get one hop and stop dead. :cool:
 
ApexFan said:
It is very similar in a lot of ways to my other hobby of bass fishing. It also seems to be popular among bass fisherman. I took up golf in preparation for retirement as an alternative sport to occupy myself. We are retiring in a community on a lake and golf course so it seemed fitting.

What I’ve found is so much more. I’m having way more fun and honestly saving a ton of money by fishing less. My wife seems to like that part, and I’m home more now.
Click to expand...

How big was the bass shown in your avatar? That fish looks almost as big as you. :cool:
 
Golf is a social event and also it's a game that can last a lifetime. I play and have always played (now more than 45 years) because I enjoy it and I want to do the best I can. In psychology there is a theory that describes this known as competency motivation. People are attracted to participation in activities in which they feel competent or capable. This can explain the desire to participate and to exert effort to become competent or better.

For me it began with watching golf on TV as a child and knowing that my older brothers and our neighbors all played. I wanted to play golf and the desire to be better at it necessarily followed.
 
I love the challenge, to work at my game and put it to the test. The personal relationship with the equipment also feels very good to me. And I love the landscapes and shared experience with other people.

There is an additional aspect I have not referenced before. Golf is a type of life therapy. I am able to focus and let all the other crap in life go away for awhile. When I golf I am at peace. This is a huge benefit to me.
 
I love getting outdoors. More now in the fall, than in heat of the summer. Came back to the game in the middle of the summer and I powered through the 100 degree heat and played no matter what. Being outdoors for sometimes 4-5 hours at a time really gives time to think about things and just detach from other stuff that is going on. I also try not to take the game very serious. I want to have fun on the course. Happy to hit a great shot, and internally contemplate when I hit a bad one and how I can improve the next one.

Once I start something I get somewhat obsessed and absorb as much information as I can in my attempt to get better at the game. I do know that as I progress and learn, I can play and be a bit competitive, but, I realistically know that I am not gonna be a scratch golfer. :ROFLMAO:

My other passion is bowling, and while I do still bowl, I think I have gained an appreciation of not taking things so seriously. I cut down on one night of bowling per week as I knew I will want to continue to golf every weekend that I had the opportunity to.
 
#1, I enjoy playing with my buddies, but also I want to hit the ball solid. Score is not my #1 priority nowadays, as long as I'm hitting the ball consistent, the score will take care of itself.
 
I still get as excited to get onto the course as I did when I started 41 years ago. Golf is one of the few activities that make me feel like a kid again. :)
 
There are so many reasons, most of which have been mentioned.

Throughout my life, I've had activities that I was passionate about... football, fishing, tennis, hunting...

Even golf rarely matches the excitement that our weekly pick-up game of football brought about. Even though I played the sport well into my 40's and even a couple times at 50, as my foot speed slowed and the body became a bit less resilient to hard hits, there came a point when it was just stupid to play.

Then there's deer hunting. In two days, I plan on being in my ground blind in the middle of the Manistee National Forest for opening day of firearm season for whitetail deer - a day I still consider to be sacred. I can go years without bringing home any venison, but getting that close to deer without getting "busted" still gets my heart beating. It's still a fun activity and I hopefully have another decade left before the longs walks and hours of sitting in subfreezing temps will become "something I used to do".

But I can't help but think golf will be different. I see folks in their 80's out on the course who still have that passion in their eyes.

And why wouldn't they?

There are so many things to be excited about. No matter how many bad shots I might hit, there will be that perfectly rolled putt on a tough green, that chip that hits exactly where I planned. The approach shot that I'll follow with my eyes even though I knew as soon as it was struck it was on target. There's the flushed, online 5w from off the fairway, or the drive that carries the tall maple guarding the dog leg corner.

Heading out for a round of golf, I know some of these things are going to happen. And when they do it's one of the coolest feelings in the world. If you've ever wondered how someone can be so bad at golf and yet continue to go out - these small successes are the reasons.

And even though it's a rarity, these things can occur on days when the normal bad golf doesn't rear it's ugly head. I'll shoot a low score... maybe even a personal best. While driving to the course, the thought that today may be one of those days inevitably pops into my head, even if that thought evaporates by the 7th hole.

If at 15 someone would have told me golf would get my heart going, I'd have thought they were crazy. Now I look back and realize how crazy I was for missing out on such a wonderful game.
 
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