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

[DoubleBogeyPapi]

I used to play baseball and that came natural to me, throwing and catching the ball, fielding the ball, hitting too all felt easy. Once I stopped playing after HS I didn't do anything competitive/athletic. The pandemic although negative led me to play golf. It reignited the competitive bones in my body but one thing is that I am still learning and this does not come natural to me. Especially coming from a baseball swing to a golf swing it's a different beast. 

Just as baseball came natural to me I eventually want golf to feel natural to me, I think it all comes down to having control. I think that is my drive to get good so I can feel in control and actually shoot the shots I want to hit and start actually scoring decent. I'm not far from it but the journey is still beginning. 

[MNUte]

Being good at golf to me is being "good enough" to the point where I am able to keep reasonably close to my playing partners, who practice and play significantly more than me. 

Golf is one of my escapes from the stress of daily life. It's a time where I can go out, enjoy nature (Utah is gorgeous and the views from most courses are beautiful), and just unplug from my phone, job, chores, etc for a few hours. 

When I can keep up with my playing partners in regard to pace and minimizing the hacking, it makes it far easier to just enjoy the conversations we have and the good company. 

[Reesedw]

I will never be "Good" at golf. Better than when I started yes, better than 3 yrs ago, mostly. Once I came to the realization I will never be "good" at golf it became a lot more enjoyable. Better, yes I want to be better.. No-one wants to be Sh!tty at something they love, but better definitely..  I mostly want to enjoy my time playing, and getting better is more enjoyable than getting worse...

 

[GolfSpy_SHARK]

*second thought* to jump off being competitive. When I was younger the goal was to always beat my dad, then it was to beat other family members. Once you do it its always someone else. I remember seeing my uncles and dad play and always setting that goal to beat them. These days I am sure they feel that way about me now! Golf is the never-ending next goal I think. Shooting for that next milestone, its always being hungry for that next step but satisfied to an extent at the same time.

[2puttbogey]

Personal challenge. Golf is great because it challenges you in so many ways, physically, mentally, and emotionally. I should be able to play for many more years, and I want get good and challenge myself against what this game can throw at you.

[ballplayer002003]

Great question!  For me, it's the challenge.  Many sports have always come pretty easy to me throughout my life.  Golf is the one sport that I struggle with the most.  It's the one sport that requires the most practice...("practice, practice...I don't need stinking practice").  When I played baseball, a lot of the motions were muscle memory and instant reactions, meaning if I saw a 96mph fastball I didn't have much time to think about swinging, I just swung.  In golf, I have all the damn time in the world to think about what shot do I want to hit, what club should I use, how hard do I swing, where do I want to land the ball, where is the clubhead in the back swing and on and on and on.  That is the challenge for me.  It's just wanting to be good to prove a point to myself I guess.  

[peterg2000]

For me its not about getting out there and playing 5 times a week in a mediocre fashion. So I go play twice a week and practice for the other three. I enjoy practising not as much as actually playing , but the 2 times I do go play are much more satisfying. I'm not in any one place to be a member , so I play where I can and usually play with the weekend type golfer who curses every second shot. I've been through that and practice has me to where I REALLY appreciate the work I put in. 

The other thing many weekend golfers go out and buy the latest equipment thinking they'll play better golf , but you need to be fitted and the only way to get fitted properly is to have a consistent swing, so they would be way better off getting lessons. 

So it all boils down to , I like to play but play well.

Pete

 

I really wish they hadn't canned the amateur tour.Thanks to [ractice, I'm almost to a point of a club change. First a driver fitting then irons.

Edited March 8, 2022 by peterg2000

[jecsonborn]

Very often I and my friends are going to play golf, but my losses really piss me off, I have the worst skill in the game, so I have to do extra training to become the best among my friends. 

[Mdrnsamurai]

Try my hands at some Senior Tour qualifying events by 55 and maybe a couple try's for the US Open.

[Fran83]

Keep me out of the pub and stops me drinking! 

It's a great way to play with people of all different levels due to the handicap system.

[Murv]

I have gone through a variety of motivations in my life. I played high-school golf and wanted to qualify for the state tournament. After that I played in a few tournaments a year and wanted to play well. Even later I played only business golf scrambles and usually played the "A" spot. My teammates depended on me. Later it became a way to compete with myself. This has become the most rewarding era.

Now at age 78, for sometime now it has been a way of competing with aging. A losing proposition. But I have shot my age several times a year since age 73 and that is my goal for each round. But you need to keep moving to shorter yardages.

 

[berkeleybob]

I certainly don’t play it often enough, but yes, I’d like to be better at it. Why? In my life I’ve only ever played tennis competitively at the high school level. I was too small for football or hockey, I couldn’t throw well enough for baseball, I didn’t have the patience to run for track or cross country, and my basketball game was shot after I hit my growth spurt. So I played tennis for 10 years, but I never really connected with it.

Golf is the first sport I ever truly became addicted to from day 1. It just seems natural that I’d want to be better at it.

[GrumpyGolf]

I don't want to be good at golf.  I want to be able to look at each round I play and say, "Today good enough."  I have been lucky to make some really good shots (no hole in one, yet), playing with some really good people, playing some beautiful courses, having some really good belly laughs on the course, and being able to go home to a really understanding wife at the end of the day.  If I get to the point where the goodness of the game is outweighed by the fact that the score isn't good enough, then I think I will have lost my desire to play and I would be able to walk away.

[Rtracymog]

I want to be able to pass the knowledge on to the kids I coach. I feel that if I'm not a good player or can't physically show them what certain things look like, I'm not an effective coach.

Also, I want to win my family's golf tournament. I'm already the low handicap guy and I need to shoot 2 rounds at just about even to win (FYI I've never shot a shore of even for 18 holes). So yeah, I need to be good at golf lol