Hobbies Outside of Golf

[David Leighton Reid]

Other hobbies of mine are golf club repair, woodworking, and fly fishing.  While I am still working full-time, I don't have much extra time for the woodworking and fly fishing.  

[russtopherb]

A big hobby for me outside of golf was music production, however I haven't done a thing in over 2 years. I sometimes miss it, but I honestly haven't had that "creative spark" in quite some time and I've learned forcing things just never works. So for now I content myself with reading, biking, playing video games, and being a band/prop dad.

[golferguy2727]

Vintage audio equipment is my non-golf addiction. Can’t seem to resist an interesting vintage turntable restoration project - I guess the multiple half done projects in my basement are a testament to that - or my inability to finish ANYTHING

[G56788]

Gardening and landscaping. I’ve spent the last several years tearing out a bunch of old overgrown landscaping, replacing it with native plants, and growing prairie flowers from seed. There is something calming about watching the animals and insects the plants attract. 

[Tom the Golf Nut]

I've had so many hobbies and got bored with most once I got good at it. The short version:

Competition pistol shooting, just didn't keep my interest. 

Deer hunting with rifle. Every season that I went I got one in the first hour or two. 1 deer allowed per season so I had to wait another year. To easy for me. So I took up archery hunting.

Archery, same deal. Got them right away. Finally just stopped hunting. Migrated to indoor competition. Won some competitions and some equipment but it was still not grabbing me.

Fresh water fishing, always enjoyed it. Once I moved to TN it was difficult because of where I lived. I was right on the Nolachucky River. But the river was more often a red clay color because of the soil and run off. You maybe had a day or two a month that it was clear. Now that I moved I hope I can get back Into fishing.

Golf has been the only thing that has kept my interest. Always room to improve. 34 years later and it still has me hooked. Started playing when I was 30. I'm also very handy. I enjoy building things (especially golf related things).

 

[Kenny B]

2 hours ago, G56744 said:

Gardening and landscaping. I’ve spent the last several years tearing out a bunch of old overgrown landscaping, replacing it with native plants, and growing prairie flowers from seed. There is something calming about watching the animals and insects the plants attract. 

I started a garden when we moved into our current house 3 years ago because it already had one.  I’m still learning.  I have this “harmless squirrel and friendly rabbit” to contend with.  

I don’t really have any other hobbies or interests outside golf.  I’ve had tons of them in the past, but lost interest or just moved on.  Maybe it’s time to find something new… something that will occupy my free time when the weather turns cold.

[ED13]

Favourite hobbies ranked in order;

1.  Fishing -  By far my favourite pastime.  Mostly fish for Muskie, also smallmouth and largemouth bass.  Love to fish out of canoes and kayaks with other boats for larger water.  make some of my own lures.  Also have a few fly rods but not very good at it yet.  

2.  Listening to my stereo.  Got back into the stereo when my wife was pregnant with my first daughter.  Not fair to take off every weekend so I went back to something I loved as a kid.  Have been working on the stereo for the past 19 years trying to squeeze the best sound possible out of it.  Only listen to vinyl and reel to reel tapes.  CD's are for the car.

3.  Shooting pool.  Bought a different house last year and getting back into playing pool.  I have a 4.5x9 pool table as well as a 6x12 snooker table.  Always preferred snooker.  When I was seven my father would take me to a pool hall to play snooker.

4.  Darts - Another thing I liked as a kid.  Always enjoyed the social aspect.

5.  Hiking in the woods and tracking animals.  Goal is to see how close I can get to them before they get spooked.  Got within 2 feet of a great horned owl on a fallen tree.  It took well over an hour to circle around while staying down wind.  Track deer and bears as well.  Have not shot an animal since I was 12.

6.  Wood Working - Finally have a space indoors.  Tools consist of both power and hand tools.  Power tools at times can get the job done quicker but hand tools are more therapeutic and a lot less noisy.

7.  Golf - I am not a good golfer but I still enjoy it.  The challenge to myself is what makes it interesting.

8.  Lifting weights and swimming for cardio.

 

 

 

 

 

[CFreddie]

Any other homebrewers here? I’ve been brewing for 10+ years - love to talk shop!

[MattF]

6 hours ago, CFreddie said:

Any other homebrewers here? I’ve been brewing for 10+ years - love to talk shop!

Yes. I dabbled in it over 30 years ago as an 18 year old and we made paint stripper. I started again when I moved here and have been homebrewing for about 15 years now. 

I brew all grain in a Blichmann 20 gallon kettle and fast ferment 7.9 gallon conical. I bottle because I really don't like kegging.

[Siamese Moose]

8 hours ago, CFreddie said:

Any other homebrewers here? I’ve been brewing for 10+ years - love to talk shop!

32 years now. Past president of my local club, my wife is on the board of the AHA and BA. I should hit batch 1000 later this year. Next batch up is for Cincinnati's Missing Linck festival. It's a competition where all of the beers are made with Missing Linck yeast, which is a yeast found in the long sealed lagering cellar (pre-prohibition era) of the Linck brewery. The competition is all about finding out what the yeast can do, so wild experimentation is encouraged. My wife just brewed a Helles that she's fermenting cold. I'm going to make a biere de garde that I'm fermenting hot (85°-90°). 

[Goober]

Hiking, the outdoors. And love designing courses for pga 2k23 from 2k sports 

[Swood1994]

Even though I tend to complain about it the whole time I'm doing it, I love home DYI construction and do side jobs for family and friends. Over the last year and a half I gutted my 2nd floor and rebuilt it to my liking. This started as a wife-project to redo the bathroom. I currently am helping on a master bathroom renovation for my uncle and just got the drywall hung last weekend and moving onto taping and mudding.

[Tijoli]

Golf has won the addiction battle over my first love of fishing but both are on my heart and mind on sunny days when stuck inside.  I can fish on my own so I’ll often hit the creek or lake on days when I can’t find a golf buddy but it has definitely taken a back seat since I started playing.  I need to find a Fish and Golf Club so I can fish when I’m finished my round .

[Tom the Golf Nut]

8 hours ago, Tijoli said:

Golf has won the addiction battle over my first love of fishing but both are on my heart and mind on sunny days when stuck inside.  I can fish on my own so I’ll often hit the creek or lake on days when I can’t find a golf buddy but it has definitely taken a back seat since I started playing.  I need to find a Fish and Golf Club so I can fish when I’m finished my round .

Funny, every time I play a course with water I want to fish the pond /lake/river. One time I did. Made sure nobody was behind us and we each had those telescopic fishing poles hidden in our bag. We got busted anyway by a Marshall. We were told to put them away or leave. Back in the bag they went. I played today but couldn't stop myself from checking out the pond. Then I saw the sign. "Absolutley no fishing". I was talking with the Pro after my round. Found out they have Cottonmouth and Copperhead snakes in that area. So I think golf will have my complete attention while playing that course from now on.

[CFreddie]

On 4/4/2023 at 8:57 AM, Siamese Moose said:

32 years now. Past president of my local club, my wife is on the board of the AHA and BA. I should hit batch 1000 later this year. Next batch up is for Cincinnati's Missing Linck festival. It's a competition where all of the beers are made with Missing Linck yeast, which is a yeast found in the long sealed lagering cellar (pre-prohibition era) of the Linck brewery. The competition is all about finding out what the yeast can do, so wild experimentation is encouraged. My wife just brewed a Helles that she's fermenting cold. I'm going to make a biere de garde that I'm fermenting hot (85°-90°). 

This is so cool - good luck!

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

For me hiking, playing my saxophone, spending time with my daughter, I love cooking (that’s the chemist in me). 

[Tijoli]

27 minutes ago, Tom the Golf Nut said:

Funny, every time I play a course with water I want to fish the pond /lake/river. One time I did. Made sure nobody was behind us and we each had those telescopic fishing poles hidden in our bag. We got busted anyway by a Marshall. We were told to put them away or leave. Back in the bag they went. I played today but couldn't stop myself from checking out the pond. Then I saw the sign. "Absolutley no fishing". I was talking with the Pro after my round. Found out they have Cottonmouth and Copperhead snakes in that area. So I think golf will have my complete attention while playing that course from now on.

Wow!!  I’ll keep that in mind…but love the fishing poles in the golf bags!!  

[The Mad Bomber]

Not much these days. I used to be into hunting, but I haven't gone on a hunting "trip" in years. I have a business and two girls in their late teens, so time is precious like most others here. I'm into whiskey, scotch specifically. So I spend a bit of time at tastings and exploring that world, but that's mostly in the winter when I can't golf.

[GolfSpy_APH]

Does the forum count as a hobby outside of golf? Seems like other than work, golfing and family I spend most all time here. 

I curl a little bit, but only when I have to. Of course time with the dogs, but most all the time is family first with wife and soon to be 2 little ones to be chasing around and looking after.

[GolfSpy TCB]

When not Working, Spending time with the family, Golfing, or Engaging in the MGS Forum... I used to be an avid metal detectorist, and still try to get out dirt fishing now and then.  The issue is... Golfing and Metal Detecting are somewhat mutually exclusive activities... so doing one takes time away from the other. 

[richk9holes]

14 minutes ago, Golfspy_TCB said:

When not Working, Spending time with the family, Golfing, or Engaging in the MGS Forum... I used to be an avid metal detectorist, and still try to get out dirt fishing now and then.  The issue is... Golfing and Metal Detecting are somewhat mutually exclusive activities... so doing one takes time away from the other. 

I'm 100% over here thinking of ways to do both and rig my walking cart to carry all the equipment for both.

Sand trap practice at the beach and look for shiny stuff. Look for clubs that got thrown at the edge of lakes, etc.

[GolfSpy TCB]

6 minutes ago, richk9holes said:

I'm 100% over here thinking of ways to do both and rig my walking cart to carry all the equipment for both.

Sand trap practice at the beach and look for shiny stuff. Look for clubs that got thrown at the edge of lakes, etc.

Golf courses don't take too kindly to people walking around with digging spades.  haha.   I did have a ring find on a golf course one time.  Successfully returned a wedding band to the golfer that lost it.

[richk9holes]

9 minutes ago, Golfspy_TCB said:

Golf courses don't take too kindly to people walking around with digging spades.  haha.   I did have a ring find on a golf course one time.  Successfully returned a wedding band to the golfer that lost it.

We play different courses, haha. Most of mine wouldn't mind I don't think so long as I did some divot repairing along the way. 

Come to think, many of the courses around here don't have employees that leave their chairs inside the office. Often I get told "no starter, take whatever cart and do what you want" I never really took them up on stretching their meaning.

[ParFore74x]

I’ve had so many hobbies and interests over the years that I’ve probably forgot some of them. Golf takes up most of my free time now and I absolutely love that.

Was big into pheasant and deer hunting for 15 or so years but eventually it got to the point where it felt like a chore so I stopped.

I enjoy bass fishing once in awhile but usually only a few times a year. Being without a boat somewhat detracts from the enjoyment so it is limited for me. 

Raced bicycles competitively for a number of years which was a ton of fun. Super time consuming to stay competitive though which was taking away from family time when my daughter was still in single digits so gave that one up too.

I returned to playing ice hockey this past fall after almost 20 years away and am having a ton of fun with that. Once a week from September through April is just enough to not take up too much time and still look forward to it each week.

I also do a fair amount of reading during the winter months. Been on a bit biography/autobiography kick of hockey players and golfers over the last couple years. Definitely some interesting athletes out there. 

Edited April 9, 2023 by ParFore74x

[Yellow Ball]

Swimming! But really trying to learn to float. 

[GolfSpy_SHARK]

When I have spare time golf is my go to but I really enjoy shooting my guns but it’s been a while unfortunately. 

[Bang60]

Most relaxing past time is massage once aweek, when I was playing 5 times a week I had a 2 hour massage weekly. Plus I like to tinker with my golf clubs and watch utube video, MGS is a daily pleasure...

[EasyPutter]

Before Golf it was Sailing that began long before actually having a sailboat.  In the pond model first then a radio controlled model but got tired of standing on dry land watching the boat have the fun.  Bought the Catalina 22 trailable sailboat and then had my first sailing aboard experiences from launching to retrieving.

Learned everything there was to know, rigged it for single handed sailing in advance of my honeymoon.  The two weeks on Lake Ontario proved wife is not a sailor nor intended to travel on small boats.  As a member of the Trailer/Sailors Association when club correspondence used stamps and mail, went on many planned cruises to Lake Huron's Parry Sound region and the North Channel.  It's parked in the backyard and under tarp for winter currently, was put back there when we bought the house when daughter was born and has only been out once since then.  Golf has taken over as my obsession.  The sailboat is destined to be passed on to the kids who have thoroughly enjoyed sailing.

[Bang60]

3 hours ago, EasyPutter said:

Before Golf it was Sailing that began long before actually having a sailboat.  In the pond model first then a radio controlled model but got tired of standing on dry land watching the boat have the fun.  Bought the Catalina 22 trailable sailboat and then had my first sailing aboard experiences from launching to retrieving.

Learned everything there was to know, rigged it for single handed sailing in advance of my honeymoon.  The two weeks on Lake Ontario proved wife is not a sailor nor intended to travel on small boats.  As a member of the Trailer/Sailors Association when club correspondence used stamps and mail, went on many planned cruises to Lake Huron's Parry Sound region and the North Channel.  It's parked in the backyard and under tarp for winter currently, was put back there when we bought the house when daughter was born and has only been out once since then.  Golf has taken over as my obsession.  The sailboat is destined to be passed on to the kids who have thoroughly enjoyed sailing.

Oh dear your yacht has brought back some very special memories, Thanks.

Did some sailing with a guy I worked for tho truthfully I was more ballast than anything else , but met a lady playing golf who had a racing yacht on Sydney Harbour and she asked if I would join her on Sunday oh yeah. Discovered when I arrived we were racing and not  having a romantic sail although that came later, had a great few years with her but it wasn’t serious as she had a husband who worked in London oh well fun while it lasted

[Placasse61]

Gardening,  camping, and cheese making