Hovland Course Record

[GolfSpy_APH]

I'm a big Hovland fan. He's been awesome for fantasy and i just like his game and his overall swagger. Have to admit after reading this article it gave me even more appreciation for him and his game.

https://golf.com/travel/viktor-hovland-lofoten-links-norway-course-record/?amp=1

[vandyland]

2 hours ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Have to admit after reading this article it gave me even more appreciation for him and his game.

Thanks for posting! I hadn't seen this. I have been surprised at the amount of Tour Pros that seemingly don't "like" golf in that they don't really play for fun very often it seems. I think it was Bryson (probably a bad example) who said something like if he is on a golf course playing golf he is doing it because he is getting paid. I don't think all tour players are like that but probably a decent number. Nice to see Hovland "enjoying" the game even if he spends most of his time playing it as his profession. 

[ParFore74x]

Cool article, thanks for posting it. Hovland seems like a pretty down to earth player who enjoys playing the game. During tournaments, he looks like he engages with with whomever he is paired with and is out there enjoying what he does for a living. 

[Middler]

On 8/23/2022 at 10:11 AM, vandyland said:

Thanks for posting! I hadn't seen this. I have been surprised at the amount of Tour Pros that seemingly don't "like" golf in that they don't really play for fun very often it seems. I think it was Bryson (probably a bad example) who said something like if he is on a golf course playing golf he is doing it because he is getting paid. I don't think all tour players are like that but probably a decent number. Nice to see Hovland "enjoying" the game even if he spends most of his time playing it as his profession. 

I don’t know, just maintaining your game at the pro level must take a lot of time, leaves little time for anything else. So I could see wanting to do something else “for fun.”

Maybe a bad analogy but many years ago when they were relatively new, I used to consider working with my PC at home a hobby, devoted a lot of free time to it. I remember talking with an IT guy and I asked him if he “played” with his PC at home. He said “no, that’s what I do all day, why would I do that with my free time?” Made sense to me…

[GolfSpy_APH]

7 minutes ago, Middler said:

I don’t know, just maintaining your game at the pro level must take a lot of time, leaves little time for anything else. So I could see wanting to do something else “for fun.”

Maybe a bad analogy but many years ago when they were relatively new, I used to consider working with my PC at home a hobby, devoted a lot of free time to it. I remember talking with an IT guy and I asked him if he “played” with his PC at home. He said “no, that’s what I do all day, why would I do that with my free time?” Made sense to me…

Exactly. I use to be a top curler in Canada playing from some of the elite teams and had a lot of success. I then started working as an Ice Technician and was at the club all day 6 or 7 days a week and when I was home my girl friend at the time loved watching curling so it was on all the time and I ended up just retiring and stopped playing entirely for 2 full seasons. I have played a few times since moving to Switzerland, but that drive and desire to play just isn't there. The time and effort into maintaining that level is just too high a cost and when I already spend 5-6 hours on the ice each day the last thing I want to do is spend another 2-3 hours training or playing. My game once ever 2-3 weeks now is more than enough!

Max Homa is another guy who had the similar story over the Scottish Open where he went and played 36 one day... or maybe it was the Open. Either way I'm sure there are some that are really able to separate rounds as a pro and competitively vs rounds for fun and are able to enjoy the game outside of their normal competing schedule. 

[vandyland]

7 hours ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

I then started working as an Ice Technician

Wouldn't that be the equivalent of the tour players tending to the greens and bunkering? I get the whole "once it becomes your job it is no longer a fun hobby" argument. However, these guys are playing a game that some people pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to play. Working as an ice technician or in IT support both have some semblance of being hobby adjacent but I can't really see how that has any correlation to a tour player?

[GolfSpy_APH]

13 minutes ago, vandyland said:

Wouldn't that be the equivalent of the tour players tending to the greens and bunkering? I get the whole "once it becomes your job it is no longer a fun hobby" argument. However, these guys are playing a game that some people pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to play. Working as an ice technician or in IT support both have some semblance of being hobby adjacent but I can't really see how that has any correlation to a tour player?

In my case I played at both a National and World level which was televised and so on and now with my job I manage a club, make ice for one as well. However the other part of my job is for World Championships and Olympics so it would more be equivalent to being in charge of the course conditions, pin placements and all that stuff for a major. I do get what you're saying, but there is a point where being around a sport or activity day in and day out lessens the desire to play or take part in that same activity just for fun. 

I'm sure that with these a lot of these guys having played so many of the worlds best courses already, altho special at times they just want to get away from it all. So again going back it is nice to see guys like Hovland do this type of thing and to hear this story. Or maybe there are a whole lot more of these stories and guys which do the same thing and we simply just don't hear about it?

[mynerds]

8 minutes ago, vandyland said:

Wouldn't that be the equivalent of the tour players tending to the greens and bunkering? I get the whole "once it becomes your job it is no longer a fun hobby" argument. However, these guys are playing a game that some people pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to play. Working as an ice technician or in IT support both have some semblance of being hobby adjacent but I can't really see how that has any correlation to a tour player?

I thought about this a lot over the past three years while I was looking for a hobby to serve as a stress relief. My personality is that I can either be very relaxed and casual about an activity, or I want to be the absolute best that I can be. There is generally no in-between. The moment I decide to be serious about a hobby, it becomes another job. I get lost in the weeds over-analyzing my work looking for areas to improve. I research, practice, execute, reanalyze, and the cycle repeats to try and get better and better. The goal is to improve, not to have fun.

Tour pros, NBA, NFL, you name it. They're playing a "game" but make no mistake, they're doing a job. JT talked about how a double-bogey cost him $44,000. Check out the daily routine of Rory or Billy Horschel. Honestly, that day to day doesn't sound like fun to me and it doesn't account for the decades of grinding to get to that level in the first place. I can't fathom golf being a stress outlet if that was my reality.

There are always exceptions to the rule and there are plenty of people who are singularly interested in a specific activity. For me and for many, hobbies aren't fun when they feel like work. I'm at my desk 8+ hours a day. The last thing I want to do to take a break is keep sitting at my desk. I'd rather ruin a good walk and sacrifice some balls to the water gods than keep doing what I've done all day.

[vandyland]

14 minutes ago, mynerds said:

Check out the daily routine of Rory or Billy Horschel. Honestly, that day to day doesn't sound like fun to me and it doesn't account for the decades of grinding to get to that level in the first place. I can't fathom golf being a stress outlet if that was my reality.

Thanks for sharing the daily routine! Hadn't seen that before. As someone who enjoys working out (I was a college athlete, crossfitter, olympic weight lifter, etc) his day actually sounds awesome but I am sure doing it every day would get monotonous. I think the idea of practicing putting for like 2 hours sounds brutal. Doing a 90 minute workout and then hitting the range and then playing golf is actually what I would do right this minute if I had a day off but that is just me. 

[mynerds]

1 minute ago, vandyland said:

Thanks for sharing the daily routine! Hadn't seen that before. As someone who enjoys working out (I was a college athlete, crossfitter, olympic weight lifter, etc) his day actually sounds awesome but I am sure doing it every day would get monotonous. I think the idea of practicing putting for like 2 hours sounds brutal. Doing a 90 minute workout and then hitting the range and then playing golf is actually what I would do right this minute if I had a day off but that is just me. 

And that's totally valid - if I had the day off, I'd join ya! Only once though

I think it's a really good indication of why going pro in any sport is so hard. Let's say I'm the perfect physical athlete (my dad bod violently disagrees) with a natural born talent for golf (my clubs REALLY disagree). I don't have the personality to enjoy the process of getting to and maintaining an elite level of play.

And then of course, there's John "you can't pull fat" Daly...

[David Leighton Reid]

Enjoyable article....thanks for sharing.  I need to add Lofoten to my bucket list....just not from the back tees!

[Middler]

I enjoy playing golf, and I play Mon, Wed & Fri almost every week. But I know any more than that and I wouldn't enjoy it any more. YMMV

[MyWifesSwingCoach]

After I read this I immediately went back to watch Adventures in Golf lol

Definitely a bucket list course.

[Hook DeLoft]

I remember reading that once when he in Scotland for the Open, Ernie Ells went to Royal Dornoch and carried his bag. Arnold Palmer used to play in the daily dog fight at Bay Hill. And then there are players like Koepka, who seem to see it as just a job.