We should be promoting golf as a gentle sport that can be played by people from ten to ninety. We should thank the sport for aiding the mental and physical health of nearly a million people in England
I picked up golf during COVID. I was 56 years old. Just about all other forms of activity had been shut down and locked out by the city government. The Lords of safety were busy. The people who know better locked it all up.
It started because I was working online from one room and my highschool freshman son was homeschooling from another. We were getting batty. After a few weeks of this, I rapped on his door and said "let's go hit some golf balls." The driving range was open. I owned a cheap set of old clubs that I never used, and we shared them.
This became the regular afternoon break for both of us for days and then weeks and then months and now years. We were terrible at first and less terrible over time. Every time we smacked a ball long and straight, we'd marvel at the flight and trajectory of that ball flying off into the distance.
I learned many things along the way, and one of them is that it's a humbling game. It looks easy on television, but it's devilishly difficult. My son delved deep into the technical side of loft angles and lie angles and spin velocities, and I simply tried to figure out how to hit a golf ball straight and far.
I've also learned that golfers come in all flavors, as you have pointed out. School teachers, firefighters, plumbers, sales people, lawyers, high schoolers, etc. And generally speaking they are some of the most pleasant people to play sports with. I've played a lot of sports in my life. I suspect it's partly due to the humbling nature of the game.
And what's weird is that there are sports, like surfing, where the reputation is that people are chill and laid back. But I can tell you that surfers can be some of the most aggressive assholes you'll ever meet when it comes time to hit the waves. And they will slam the tip of their board right in your face with velocity if you're not careful. It's a scarcity problem because the supply of good waves doesn't come close to matching the demand from surfers. It's economics.
Once again the animosity is about tribalism. The golfer as tribe. We don't seem to know how to shake the us-and-them mentality. It's baked into us. But one thing that's not baked into us, that takes a long time to learn how to do, is to draw a six iron to the middle of a green from 190 yards out in a pothole bunker.
I did this once. It was an act of deep faith in the unknown. Normally I'm standing with you in the bunker wondering how I managed to get there given how small it was relative to everything else.
I suspect there is significant overlap between the people complaining about golf course and the people complaining about cyclists on the road. Basically "People that do that thing I don't do are selfish and bad for society. They should do what I do instead." In the US most golf courses are municipally owned, accessible to all. And there is certainly much energy being paid to ensure they are managed in an environmentally responsible way, preserving wetlands and bird habitats and so on. That wasn't always the case, but I'd say the same thing about parks and farmlands.
Good read that. It's swung me round to liking golfers. When a public path crosses their land they always seem to stand back, a rather different and more relaxed experience compared to walking through a farm yard on a public path when you'll be tensed up until you're through.
I picked up golf during COVID. I was 56 years old. Just about all other forms of activity had been shut down and locked out by the city government. The Lords of safety were busy. The people who know better locked it all up.
It started because I was working online from one room and my highschool freshman son was homeschooling from another. We were getting batty. After a few weeks of this, I rapped on his door and said "let's go hit some golf balls." The driving range was open. I owned a cheap set of old clubs that I never used, and we shared them.
This became the regular afternoon break for both of us for days and then weeks and then months and now years. We were terrible at first and less terrible over time. Every time we smacked a ball long and straight, we'd marvel at the flight and trajectory of that ball flying off into the distance.
I learned many things along the way, and one of them is that it's a humbling game. It looks easy on television, but it's devilishly difficult. My son delved deep into the technical side of loft angles and lie angles and spin velocities, and I simply tried to figure out how to hit a golf ball straight and far.
I've also learned that golfers come in all flavors, as you have pointed out. School teachers, firefighters, plumbers, sales people, lawyers, high schoolers, etc. And generally speaking they are some of the most pleasant people to play sports with. I've played a lot of sports in my life. I suspect it's partly due to the humbling nature of the game.
And what's weird is that there are sports, like surfing, where the reputation is that people are chill and laid back. But I can tell you that surfers can be some of the most aggressive assholes you'll ever meet when it comes time to hit the waves. And they will slam the tip of their board right in your face with velocity if you're not careful. It's a scarcity problem because the supply of good waves doesn't come close to matching the demand from surfers. It's economics.
Once again the animosity is about tribalism. The golfer as tribe. We don't seem to know how to shake the us-and-them mentality. It's baked into us. But one thing that's not baked into us, that takes a long time to learn how to do, is to draw a six iron to the middle of a green from 190 yards out in a pothole bunker.
I can draw a six-iron from the middle of the fairway into a pothole bunker, but not vice versa. Please advise.
I did this once. It was an act of deep faith in the unknown. Normally I'm standing with you in the bunker wondering how I managed to get there given how small it was relative to everything else.
I suspect there is significant overlap between the people complaining about golf course and the people complaining about cyclists on the road. Basically "People that do that thing I don't do are selfish and bad for society. They should do what I do instead." In the US most golf courses are municipally owned, accessible to all. And there is certainly much energy being paid to ensure they are managed in an environmentally responsible way, preserving wetlands and bird habitats and so on. That wasn't always the case, but I'd say the same thing about parks and farmlands.
Good read that. It's swung me round to liking golfers. When a public path crosses their land they always seem to stand back, a rather different and more relaxed experience compared to walking through a farm yard on a public path when you'll be tensed up until you're through.
Please do dog owners next.