Young kids and a 5-6 month season at best makes for perhaps 10-12 rounds a year.
It has to be possible , because yes I watch plenty of sports I donāt play. Golf can be boring to watch - but I think most of that is how many putts are shown. Show me the drive and approach - I donāt care if itās on tape delay. Just please stop showing so many putts. Anyone who doesnāt play watches golf and says āomg he missed a 15 footer, whatās wrong with himā. Over and over.
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Maybe Iām just too new to golf or too āwokeā, but Iām experiencing more burnout with the structure and conversation around golf more than the actual act of playing it. And hey I will gladly accept that maybe I will change my mind if I could get more involved or not looking at it the right way.
I just feel like more than any other sport I get this feeling Iām being mandated to like certain things and if I donāt then I am just the biggest idiot on the planet. And then sometimes it just seems like I canāt appreciate two sets of ideas. ex if I loved the idea of playing the Tourist Sauce Scotland courses when they are all baked out and brown iām 100% woke, but on the other hand if I maybe like some of the Tour Stops then all of a sudden I donāt understand width and angles and GCA.
I get tired of if I post a picture of myself or someone else playing a round in the summer when itās 97 degrees and Iām on hole 16/18 of the day that in one picture a portion of my shirt came untuckedā¦then when I post the picture the conversation canāt get past the fact my shirt is untucked.
I get tired of being told that I must appreciate all of the US private courses that there is seemingly no chance in my lifetime Iāll ever get to play and if I were to ever even consider picking a public/affordable/fun place as my favorite over one of those then it just irks people beyond imagination.
I get tired of being told over and over I need to keep score. Yet when I play 15x or less a year and itās rarely if ever back to back or with any amount of time to practice and commit to it.
All of this at once makes it seem like well why donāt you just pick another sport?..What I enjoy definitely outweighs the stuff I get frustrated with by a mile and I do a decent job I liking what I like and ignoring the rest.
Idk again maybe Iām just looking at all wrong?
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Agree. Lowering the mindless rounds and playing a bit of tournament golf is a good way to stay engaged. Overall much fewer rounds but more excitement.
Direct formula.
Good stuff here TriStar. If golf is not making you happy then itās not worth playing. I think itās finding the little things that are fun about a sport and keying in. For me, itās the competition. Even if itās third flighters fighting to break 90, thatās competition. So itās not the frequency any more, but the quality of the golf experience.
And listening to NLU also shows me that I donāt have to always play golf to enjoy golf.
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My story is like many in here. Played a lot when I was younger (Dad dropped me off at the club on his way to work and I rang when it got dark to get picked up). Mid-late teens I got more involved in my church and summer teams which saw a slight dip in playing time. Still played a fair bit.
Now though, family (2 toddlers) and work (Presbyterian minister) mean time to play is very limited. May get 6 round a year if fortunate. Would love to play more and think over the next few years Iāll get playing a bit more but maybe a few times a month at most.
Not taking the game as seriously makes it more enjoyable when I do get out and I still aim to break 80 anytime I tee it up. NLU helps me get my golf fill even though Iām not on course as much and for that Iām very thankful!
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I found that even with an 18 month old at home, if I need to find a way to play, I play. Early am 9 holes, driving range on lunch break, par 3 course while heās napping, bribing my wife with steak and wine for a full Saturday 27 the following weekendā¦ So while my rounds have in fact decreased some, since I donāt really have any other āregularā hobbies like another sport, I find a way to play since itās my outlet.
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This was my hang up here before I started posting. And Iām right there with you in that sentiment - but after engaging in discussion with people here I think most people on here are actually like you and I .
Elitism in golf is the worst. We are all playing the same dorky game. To me- Public/affordable golf is the real āwokeā. Untuck that shirt with me brother
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Kids/work/money. I live just outside Toronto so the tracks are limited and pricey. Also my buds whoād golf with me are in the same boat. I played a bit when I was in my late teens the moved to Scotland and only managed a round per year. Once I hit 40 the golf nut gene kicked in and itās all I can think about. Rub of the green.
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Toronto has so much great golf around. The price is tough to stomach a lot of the time though. Itās definitely a barrier to me playing more
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Wow. Iām assuming from your username youāre not Gentle Ben from Strapped Louisiana. Not sure if heās on here, but what are the odds of two Presbyterian ministers hanging around here??
Glad to hear it!
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It is encouraging to hear the amount of dads that are prioritizing family over golf, but still maintaining some kind of āgolf sickoā status.
Iām a twice a week golfer that just canāt get enough. I always thought golf would be an addiction that I couldnāt kick, but now that my wife and I expecting a little one this fall, it just seems so natural that golf will slide back on my to-do list. Of course I will golf my balls off this summer and will try to sneak in a round here and there when my child is born, but I donāt want to miss a single minute as a dad. Iām already in dad mode before actually becoming a dad. Feels good. Feels right.
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Good perspective here. Iām telling ya tho, the pods do come in handy when holding a baby in middle of night. And keeps you excited about golf without playing. Good luck with fatherhood!
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Iām not Gentle Ben (who is in here somewhere).
Two Presbyterian ministers from two different countries (Northern Ireland here).
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This is definitely interesting but I hate for you it is sapping your enjoyment of the game. I may be in the camp where I would disagree with your course preferences but that is anybody. We like what we like and I shouldnāt ridicule you for what you do.
If anything, I definitely hope you can find some way to ignore all these unnecessary frustrations so you can play more!
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Thatās really cool. And now I have two names on my list for when our minister retires! 
Totally get that! Also I hate to make it sound like I hate all private courses and Iām just butt hurt because I canāt play them or something lol. I donāt hate them, and in fact love studying their history, seeing their pictures, and hearing the stories about them. Currently doing a fun design project for basically all of them. It was just like let me come to a conclusion about whether or not I like it haha and if I donāt care for one itās okay.
I think half of the frustration just came from deep diving into golf and following a million different accounts all at once, and it taking a little bit to find the right accounts and filtering out all the rest.
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To be clear, I didnāt take it as coming across that way. People like what they like. For me, I like a lot of what you would call āwokeā courses but I also like some Fazio courses.
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