I was always into sports growing up as a kid, having two working parents made me fall to the wayside dealing with all the politics of team sports and All-Star teams. Started playing at 12 and loved everything about the game, the equipment, the competition, the courses and every facet revolving around trying to achieve perfection and how that it’s defined differently for anyone whoever picked up the game. I am so thankful that I turned my obsession into a career helping people enjoy this game just a little bit more.
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The challenge, the beauty of the places, and the social element. A great lifelong game.
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I think golf brings such a vast array of thoughts, emotions, and feelings that touch your inner being. Peace, chaos, simplicity, difficulty, solitude, camaraderie, joy, anger, excitement and disappointment just to name a few. It makes you feel and deal with yourself. I can’t get enough.
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I came to golf later in life. And although I dabbled with it in my younger years (I’m mid 40s, for reference), I didn’t take it seriously at all. It was mostly something I did with other friends once a year, at best. After meeting my wife nearly 4 years ago, and her showing off her golf skills (she’s a single digit handicapper) the first time I went back with her to her parents house in Lincoln, Nebraska, I knew that it was something I wanted to do more often. Playing a few times with my father-in-law and other relatives brought great joy to me. I discovered that the camaraderie formed between us on the golf course, translated also off the golf course. Because of golf, I became close with them in a way that I’ve not been close with other families in life - including my own parents and family.
Fast forward nearly 4 years, and golf is a huge part of my life. My wife is my number one supporter and encourages me to play and pursue it as much as possible. I’ve discovered that its a huge outlet for me with the stress of frustrations of my job. Whenever I come home and am disgruntled about something at work, my wife encourages me to do something related to golf.
With golf, I’ve met people I would have never met otherwise. I would have never had the opportunity to meet people who have access to world-class golf facilities and clubs, and to see that those people are just like me: everyday folk with a passion for golf and building connections.
With golf, I’ve discovered that I can be good at something that doesn’t have to do with wine. Ha! I’ve also learned that I can be good at something with effort, and that I can probably be really great at this game with a lot of effort and hard work.
But most of all, I love that golf allows me to unexpectedly find places like The Refuge, where there are others like me who have a lot of the same interests as me. I’ve interacted with so many people from The Refuge already, and even met @Not_Fleetwood in real life at a beer hall last week! That was fun! I’m sure I will meet more of you in real life pretty soon. That is something I look forward to greatly. I did not expect that I would be in an arena such as this professing my love for golf, and everything that golf brings to my life.
And to think, this all started with a podcast recommendation that a friend made to me months back. He knew that I was a fan of Bill Coore, and recommended me listening to the NLU episode with him where he talks about my in-laws home course in Lincoln, Nebraska.
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Great write up man. I love seeing and reading stories on how this frustratingly beautiful game has changed peoples lives. It helps you have a great player for a wife! Looking forward to meeting you one day and teeing it up fella. Craic on.
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First off I am a terrible golfer with a real drive to improve my game which I feel I am doing but without the consistancy to make any real dent into my average round scores.
That being said nothing beats the feeling of seeing the actual shot you have been trying to pull off finally come into fruition, even lifting your head up after a drive and seeing the ball disect the fairway is a tremendous feeling. I may hit 1 good shot in 20 but its that 1 good shot that will always bring me back next time!
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At first i loved the fact i could play and drink beers at the same time with friends. Then it slowly moved into getting better and enjoying the views on course seeing new places meeting new people. The art of getting better now fuels my love and traveling to see new courses. I have made many friends on course.
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Golf is ancestry for my family - our history can be told through the game. My great grandpa was one of the first true good players in the area where I grew up. His sons all played including my grandpa who came back from the war with a bronze star, one eye and a system to judge yardage without having any depth perception. Our best family stories - the ones you tell over and over - come from a golf course. My dad turns 70 this year and we still play every week. He can still go low as long as we’re playing under 6,800. Golf feels as familiar as home. It basically is.
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I like golf for several reasons.
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Family: I grew up playing golf with my family, my parents, my grandfather, uncles, aunts, brothers, nieces, and nephews all know how to swing a club. I play on a regular basis with my father and it’s kind of a bonding thing. We are both not the most talkative people when it comes to emotions but when spending 18 holes together you get to talk about a lot of things without having to push it.
With my extended family we have a yearly competition to determine the bragging rights for that year which is obviously a huge deal! -
I’m a father myself now, of 2 young children and I have a wonderfull wife. But every now and then everything just starts to get a little much and that’s when I go play a round of golf, by myself or with a close friend, it doesnt really matter but it does take the stress/pressure away.
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The competition part: I love competing, and I love that in golf you get to compete against others as well as yourself. It’s a constant challenge which I am obsessed with.
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The interaction with others, be it friends or just an unknown single player you pair up at the first teebox. Even if you don’t click with everyone, 99% of the times it’s a pleasant experience.
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Hole 19, do I need to say more?
I probably forgot a couple of other reasons but you get the basic jist.
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I just really like peeing outside.
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Former long distance runner. The mental battle is so similar that it translates wonderfully.
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It’s a lifetime game. I got tired of being the unathletic guy in the group. I wanted to be the best at something in my friend group. It was golf. I’m the shortest hitter but the best and most consistent.
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I posted this on Facebook on Father’s Day last year, a few months after my dad passed away. It essentially sums up what the game means to me; a chance to share something truly special with those who mean the most to you.
Watching and playing golf can be such an ethereal experience and to me, that makes it the best game in the world.
“Mute me now, but I’ve always been a writer and I wanted to share a quick sentiment on this week, the #USOpen, Father’s Day, and how I want to remember my dad.
If you follow me on this thing, you know I love golf almost as much as I love my wife and kids. I get it honestly. My grandpa passed his love of the game onto my dad, who passed it onto me.
But it wasn’t always like that. For years, my dad - a teaching pro - spent a lot of time away from my mom, sister, and I because of his job. For a while, I resented golf.
But as I got older, and started appreciating the game more, I fell in love with my dad’s stories from the time he spent at tournaments. Meeting Vijay Singh at the 2000 Masters, talking hockey with Craig Stadler, sipping champagne with Jim Furyk after the 2010 TOUR Championship. My dad was witness to a lot of really cool moments.
And he always did his best to share those with me. We would spend HOURS, and I mean HOURS talking about golf. Equipment, swings, news. It didn’t matter, we talked about it.
And it never failed that we would find ourselves plastered to the couch every year on Father’s Day watching the final round of the #USOpen, talking about golf and sharing more moments that are ingrained in my memory forever.
We had another Father’s Day tradition, as well. Each year that we could, we would always play a round in the morning of Father’s Day. One year, we got to do it with my grandpa. That wound up being the last round my grandpa ever played. We continued that tradition last year, just a few days before my dad had brain surgery to remove a tumour. I sensed it at the time that it would be the last round of golf I would ever get to play with my old man. I was right.
This is going to be the first Father’s Day where I won’t get to swing the sticks with the guy who passed this amazing game onto me. It’s going to be the first one where we don’t spend hours talking and laughing about the #USOpen. And it’s going to be hard.
But because he passed this game onto me, and shared all of his stories with me, I’ll always have those memories. And I’ll always be able to watch the toughest tournament in the world and smile knowing that I’m watching it because of my dad.
So even though I’m devastated that I won’t have my old man beside me to watch golf this weekend, I’m beyond grateful that because of him, I’ll have the chance to pass this game onto my kids, and hopefully theirs as well.
Sorry for the long note. But I love how my dad passed this game onto me. And I just had to share that on a weekend where a lot of people will be sharing stories about their dads.”
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That’s a beautiful story. It’s great to be able to play and spend time with family and I’m lucky enough that my dad enjoys the game and we play together once a week.
I’m trying to pass the game on to my kids and hope that they will enjoy it for years to come too.
I’m sad that you wont be able to play with your dad again this year but I hope you’ll still be able to get out there on Father’s Day with your kids even if it’s just for a walk round to keep the memory and tradition alive 
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My Grandad was my best friend (and a great player in his own right, 2 handicap) he taught me the game from a very young age. I have been a member at my local muni, he was a Marshall and I eventually worked there throughout high school. The memories of waking up super early on Tuesdays and Thursdays and going to breakfast and then to play in a 4 man scramble with my grandad is some of my fondest memories. He coached me throughout high school and then as he got older and he couldn’t play I gave up the game of golf. He passed away in November of 2018 and I recently started back playing this game. I miss him so much but being out on the course now I can still think back to the lessons about golf and life that he taught me. I can still hear his coaching whenever I hit a bad shot or hear him complement a good shot.
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Several levels for me:
-physical: swing mechanics are certainly a challenge to continually improve. Was a pitcher growing up and find myself finding similar fulfillment in working out swing issues as I did w different pitching mechanics
-mental: can’t beat the alone time if you can play alone, and even with others I find I get to think and process in a way that isn’t typical off course. Being forced to put the phone away and focus on a singular process is therapeutic.
-emotional: the camaraderie that’s so common on the course and bonds that come from playing the game with others (especially the relational aspects of learning the game from my dad) are hard to find elsewhere; fresh air, nature, etc all such great side effects of playing a round of golf
Spiritual: the game is a great metaphor for life and I always find whether I’m playing good or bad that there’s a lesson somewhere in a round
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- No matter what score I shoot, I feel there was something left
- I pretend it is exercise I wouldn’t otherwise get
- My wife loves it, which means when she is jealous she missed a round not me
- Vanity. Hitting the ball far makes people think I’m better than I am or want to beat me to boost their ego. This makes for unlimited people to play with
- Outside. Sun. Hot dogs. Beer.
- Gear
- Math and spreadsheets
- Gear
- An addiction that won’t kill me (I hope)
- Grass smells good
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Because it gives me a reason to go outside and do something besides work.
Because my wife doesn’t golf.
Because I like the sadomasochistic bent of learning a new sport at 55 years of age.
PICK ONE. honestly they are all correct but main reason is what other sport where you compete with yourself as well as others at the same time, and can continue to do this into your 80’s?
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I just love showering the East Des Moines women with beer. Cold beer.
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The gentle clacking of irons as you walk down a dew-laden fairway. Morning sun peaking through the trees, no one around but a few chirping birds laughing at the shanks and cheering for the best sound in the world; a pured shot, compressed perfectly and sizzling through the air.
I love it for so many other reasons too, but I sincerely believe the above is what I’ll keep dreaming about for the rest of my life; and what I have been dreaming about since I first found this demented and beautiful game.
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