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Can you Accept Good, Not Great?

This is something I struggle with. I truly love playing golf, but I am also a very competitive person, so I have been trying to accept the reality that I don't have the time to get my game where I feel like it could be.
 
I think good and great a truly personal distinctions. In my opinion great golfers are on tour.

That being said as long as I continue to try and get better and I never lose that passion to always try to do better then the day before then I will be happy.

I'll never be a great golfer. I'll never have the time. I just want to keep getting better.


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Johnny mojo said:
I saw this question last night and it started a serious ponder. Before I left golf the first time, I could not accept good (at my level) and wanted to be great (at my level). The trouble was that I never put in the real work required, took myself too seriously and was, more often than not, frustrated. When I fast forward to present THP and returning to golf, I have found that golf has been so much more rewarding. When I put in the requisite practice for the MC, there was a marked improvement in my game and I was producing the best consistent golf of my life. Lately though, there has been a lot going on and the practice time is just not there. The game suffers and the frustration level goes up.

Recently I find myself taking me and my game/ability too seriously. Far too seriously...... Yesterday I had a really bad day off the tee box and really had a talking to myself because I could see myself slipping into a bad mood. I was with friends, the weather was decent, we were playing golf for crying out loud and there were still lots of good shots happening. I'll take "good" golf at my level and be happy with it, because unless I become independently wealthy any time soon, I won't be great. The great friends, great times, great places golf takes me and the great shots I am able to pull off from time to time will just have to do :act-up:. And I'm cool with that. Thanks for the kick in the pants Fuppy! May not have been your intention, but it's just what the doctor ordered.

JM
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Just remember who your friends are if that independently wealthy things happens for you. We will be teeing it up at the RTJ at the Kickoff Classic in a few weeks, so having fun won't be an issue there.
 
HaHa! You know it. The fun will happen and there will be good and bad shots aplenty! This I KNOW to be true. Winning the lottery and becoming independently wealthy? Will, that still remains a low percentage shot! :alien:

JM
 
I am endlessly searching for consistency, which if found would make golf great for me. I'm great on the range, struggle to be good on the course, and as others have expressed in this discussion, often let that inconsistency inhibit my enjoyment of the game. Golf is the most challenging game I've ever played and I am determined to figure out how to bring my range game to the course. Most importantly, I need to always remember that I play the game recreationally,. Regardless of how I score, I should always enjoy the experience, the camaraderie, and the opportunity. Even with it's challenge, if I manage that, then golf is great.
 
I consider myself a good golfer, and am content with that. At my age, I think "great" is not attainable any more. If it is I don't have the energy, inclination or health (arthritis, bad back, etc...) to put the time and practice into becoming "great."
 
I personally don't feel like I have achieved "good" yet - I shoot low 80's when I play well, high 80's/low 90's on average. I'll consider myself "good" when I'm consistently shooting no higher than mid 80's and getting the good scores in the mid to high 70's.

As to the original question, yeah I'd probably be happy with that going forward given the time I'm able to commit. I'll always be looking to improve, but even "good" would be a solid improvement for me at this point so I'm not sneezing at it.

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Fup you play the game well and are one heck of a ball striker.

I asked myself this late last year numerous times and I came to the conclusion that I wasn't happy where I was playing at and I'm gonna continue to work to get better because beating myself besides playing with thpers is why i play.
 
Time wise, I am where I can be. I'd love more time to improve but right now in life it just won't happen. So I have to accept good


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I learned to accept the fact that I not that good and was never going to be that good a long time ago. Scratch players are 1 in 1000. Golf is hard.
 
HoosierGolfer said:
I learned to accept the fact that I not that good and was never going to be that good a long time ago. Scratch players are 1 in 1000. Golf is hard.
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This is true too. Golf is hard


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I know I will never get to scratch level. I'm too old to do that. I will consider myself very lucky if I get to single digit, and fortunate if I start to shoot in the mid 80s.
 
I can accept it. I don't have anywhere near the time to get great. Heck, being good isn't a given!
 
I'll never be great at golf, it's not in my dna. Getting back to true single digits is just fine with me. :)
 
I've learned to accept being good instead of great. I just realize that I don't have the time to be great. For me, it took hitting balls 2-3 times a week and also working on putting and short game in those sessions. That is the difference between me being in the mid-high 70's and low 80s versus consistently being in the low to mid 70s.

I still hit a lot of really good shots, but I don't score around the greens nearly as well as I used to. I've had a couple rounds in the last few months where I struck the ball well enough to break 70 but shot 75-77 because my putting was terrible.


But, it is what it is. I love to play, and I have more fun playing than getting frustrated that I'm not great at it.


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I'm not even 100% sure I'm "good" quite yet, but I've found that since I've started pressing so much, and taking the bad shots as they come, I've been playing better. There's always room for improvement, but it's important to manage expectations - not every shot is going to be perfect. That's not even the case for the pros.
 
I have accepted that I am a better than average golfer and while I am considered a very good golfer by some, I am only slightly better than average by others.
 
I've come to peace with the fact that having a family I am not going to have the time I need to become the golfer I want to be. If I can stay in high single digits for my handicap I will call that extremely successful at this point in life.
 
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