POLL: Why do you want to be good at golf?

[mattthegolfer 4]

Why do you want to be good at golf?

 

Impressing your buddies? Beating an old rival? Just not embarrass yourself on there?

What drives you?

 

 

[Syks7 1,071]

Personal satisfaction and the drive to be better at whatever it is that I'm doing.

[Paul Hedrick 445]

I enjoy the game, and anything worth doing.........

[Tiftaaft 945]

Because I must.

[Middler 3,588]

Sure I want to play well, but it’s not that important or I’d practice a lot more. I play golf for a) the game itself, b) camaraderie and c) to be outside getting some exercise - in about equal measure. If it was only about being good I would have quit a long time ago, I had a 6 HI when I was young and that probably won’t happen again. YMMV

[Pandaman 278]

I play golf because I enjoy it (most of the time).  Getting better at it is part of the fun for me.  Getting worse, however temporarily it may be, still sucks, but that's life.  If golf was easy it would be dull.

I doubt I will ever reach single digits, and I'm not sure I would enjoy the self imposed pressure of trying to maintain it if I did.

[Larryd3 381]

golf sucks but we keep on doing it because we get hooked and can't walk away.      Actually some days I feel like it does suck but I know I can do better so I keep on working at it.  Really a personal pressure to do the best I can at it.  

[Gusset 53]

Golf is fun, it gets me outside continuously for a few hours, the camaraderie is good (on those few occasions where I'm able to play with someone I know), and the moments where I make something good happen (a good drive, approach shot, putt, up/down, etc.) are really enjoyable.

But what drives me is that I see it as a challenge to be conquered, from a score standpoint. I'll never be "good", but "better than I used to be" is a reasonable goal to be pursued.

[KC Golf 293]

Golf is challenging but fun for me.  I like the walking the course.  The friendships from golf seem to last forever.

[RickK 26]

I more or less became addicted to golf after playing 4 times.  I knew working and having a wife and child/children I would never ever get to tour level play but just as I was in every sport I played I wanted to be considered a good player.  Plus, I love the game.  I went from a hack to a single digit player.  And, played at that level for many years.  Couple car wrecks later, some mishaps riding bulls and now my body is pretty beat up.  Was hanging in there close to single digit till I caught COVID and lost 16#, down to 145# from 161#.  Now I am weak as a kitten, can hardly hit it out of my shadow, but still love to play and compete.  I am hoping by the time warm weather gets here again, I can get some of my game back.  

I guess it is pretty simple.   I love the game, love to compete, and love to win.  It's probably the greatest game there is. 

Edited February 7 by RickK

[Tyler86 417]

I didnt realize not sucking was an option….

[Tom the Golf Nut 8,221]

It's the only game you can't beat. There are always strokes that you can look back on that you could have done better on. There are so many factors to consider. Wind, humidity, temperature, type of grass, length of grass, wet or dry grass, morning or afternoon rounds changes the hardness of the fairway and greens. Hitting into the grain or not.

Phewww I'm sounding like Phil Mickelson talking about a wedge shot! 

Golf is a game you can't master and it's a blast. Even when you get pretty good you can still get better. I've played a lot of sports and had a lot of hobbies. I got good at them then got bored and quit. In a lot of sports there is a perfect score. You can shoot a 300 in bowling, get all your shots in a bullseye in archery, darts, or pistol and rifle shooting. There is no perfect score in golf. This has been the only thing that has held my attention for over 30 years. 

I just wish I had back all the money I spent on other hobbies. Then I would have a lot more clubs 

[Motoboss 63]

Why do you want to be good at golf?

 

Everything

[chisag 18,575]

40 minutes ago, Tom the Golf Nut said:

Golf is a game you can't master and it's a blast.

 

... Slightly different take but I think you can master the game. You just can't master it for very long. You can master shots. Just not every shot. There is nothing quite like hitting a shot exactly like you envisioned. After 2 birdies on stock tee and approach shots, I had a 6 iron down wind from 189 and knew if I hit it about 10yds short and right of the green, the mounds would take it left to a back pain and the green slopes from back to front so I knew the ball would stop before rolling off the green. Left me an 8 footer I read correctly and rolled in for an eagle. It just doesn't get any better for me and it felt like I mastered the game for 3 straight holes and quite a few shots. Very next hole I hit a 2 iron a little high on the face leaving a stock 125 yd pitching wedge that I pulled a little missing the green on the left and leaving a tricky pitch out of gnarly Bermuda. Just didn't get through the grain like I thought and left me a 7 foot right to left putt that should break about 3 inches. It broke 1 inch and I just missed the hole and a tap in for bogie.

... From mastering the game and mastering shots for 3 holes to mastering nothing and not hitting a single shot like I envisioned. It happens quickly. The good news is you can master the next hole. The bad news is it may never come back for the rest of the round. If you are a competitor, how can you not be addicted to that challenge? Then as others have said, being outdoors in awesome weather with friends or getting paired up making friends for the day and sharing time with coyotes, rabbits, hawks, road runners, ever present pheasant, lizards, hummingbirds and squirrels that take a snack off your shoe and eat it right there and seem to ask "Got anymore?"  I want to be good at all of it. 

[DiscipleofPenick 4,025]

It's just complete obsession at this point. Don't know how else to say it. I've worked and I'm pretty good, I just always want to find the next level.

[RickyBobby_PR 9,607]

The samething that drives me for everything else. I want to be the best I can be at whatever I do. 

[bens197 12,377]

Because there are few thing in life that offer immediate rewards after incremental work towards a forever goal.  

For the the dopamine rush from feeling / admiring / walking up towards a shot you worked SO hard on.

And above all, so I can look back during cold days like today and see myself making good swings after working my rear end off.

 

[MattWillGolf 2,506]

It will save me money. Less balls lost.

in all seriousness, for the challenge of improving at something that is difficult and the sense of accomplishment the comes with improvement. The improvement also leads more enjoyment of the game.

[PMookie 17,328]

For me, it’s the last “competitive” sport I can still play. Having grown-up playing every sport under the sun, then playing a sport in college, then coaching sports, I just LOVE competition. I don’t play in many tournaments, so it’s more about me competing against myself, achieving a goal I set athletically, improving along the way, just like I did years ago. I also get personal pride from being seen by the people I play with as a “good golfer” because it IS so difficult to be good at this game. So few shoot in the 70s consistently, so I want to be in that minority, just like I did as a player (played in college), and as a coach (win State Championships). Lastly, I play for those quiet days on the course when I’m by myself out there. No noise, just quiet. It’s where I go to decompress and have some peace. It’s cathartic… So, I pray to play for many years to come.

[Lacassem 16,698]

Much like @PMookieit is the last competitive sport for me. Organized sports are not in the cards anymore and the fact that it feeds my competitiveness is a necessity for my mental state (snowboarding does the same for me too) 

On top of that being able to adore a perfect tee shot, approach, chip, splash out of the sand or 30' putt....there is nothing else quite like it:

It doesn't happen all the time but when it does its the exact fix any of us need to keep coming back and trying to just get a few more of those jaw dropping, high fiving, fist pumping, Tiger Woods double arm scream to the sky when you do make those "top 10" plays.