Quote:
Originally Posted by GrussGott
Holyshit, people still play golf?
didn't golf, like, die years ago due it being the ultimate douchy way to ruin natural resources, land, time and money? You know, like hunting polar bears from helicopters used to be ...
Maybe it's just here in the valley ... golf died forever ago, now the big thing is bike riding. You gotta have a $15,000 carbon fiber situation and prance around in a little skin tight suit ...
Which brings up another question, why are fad-hobbies so douchey?? 
just get a fucking performance car and drive it people. Geezus. |
Quote:
Originally Posted by Real Dodger 2.0
I'm also training for a triathalon! This weekend! Beer (Octoberfest or Guiness?), wine (Hess chard) and Whisky (Irish preferred).
As I, apparently like LUPS, have become an organic pain collector, I have given up running. Sticking to the bike (15 year old Specialized hard rock, in severe need of a tune-up).
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Yeah, the $20k road-biking thing is very big with all the 40-50 year olds here as well. Try to go for a drive in the country and have to constantly avoid (or run over) them as they all pretend they are in the tour. That it is pathetic and douchey as hell is one thing we certainly agree on GG
Like RD, my bike is a 20 year old Gary Fisher that hasn't seen a tune up in....20 years.
Quote:
Originally Posted by minn19
I do like watching the majors on tv, but I hate playing golf because I truly suck at it. It is one of the only sports/games I couldn't get fairly decent at. It frustrates me way too much and I say "fuck" enough doing other things.
Lups, stop your bitching especially since I'm training for the triathlon at 44. Imagine how I feel.    |
That is actually one of the reasons I like golf.
So as a kid, my dad and grandpa played so I played a bit - was never very good, didn't practice, etc, and inevitably found it really really frustrating. So much so that I stopped playing much at all around age 15. Even worked at a golf course one summer (in the resto) and could have golfed a shit ton for free, didn't.
Moved out here for work and would inevitably play a couple of rounds each summer in some corporate/client tourney/etc. The odd good shot was punctuated with a lot of shitty ones - usual duffer issues (slice, push, duff, etc)
Then, maybe....6 years ago I said 'fuck this - I am either going to spend time at this and make myself decent or stop'. Opted for the former and haven't looked back. Last year I got out and played 75 times (bearing in mind I live in a climate where I can't even get to an outdoor range until at LEAST mid-April (and this year, who knows? given that it is April 5 and there is still 2' of fucking snow on the ground with a neverending winter) - so that is a lot of fucking golf). 100% addicted to golfing. The only other sport I love this much is skiing and if I had to choose between skiing every day or golfing every day.....I don't know which one I would choose. Less chance of breaking limbs golfing I guess....but anyway, completely hooked. (and even the scoring is better - 6 years ago there was no way I was breaking 100; now i have a reasonable handicap (12-13 ish) and play relatively consistently)
As for why, it kind of gets to what Minnie said - it is SO fucking hard. It isn't just about the hand-eye-athleticism (though that is part of it) but it is SUCH a mental game. Just had a great shot? who cares - you have to do it again. Had a shitty shot? Wipe your tears up princess and play the next one. Need this putt for a decent score? Lets see how much bottle you have big boy.
Plus, from a family point of view, it has been pretty good. My wife caught the bug a few years ago so we can go out together (ie; not all about bros hanging out and getting shitfaced and stupid). Our kids golf too so we can and do play together often - especially when we head out to our place in the mountains. And it teaches them a ton. My daughter is very athletic and super competitive, but gets very easily frustrated when things don't go exactly as she wants, which in golf can be every second shot (especially when she doesnt practice) - so getting over that and getting her head back together is a pretty key skill, I think.
Anyway, I count myself among the highly active types with a shit ton of activities on my regular to do list (from running, to hiking, to backpacking, to water skiing, to downhill skiing, to general workouts, to the odd BV yoga class, etc) but something about being out on a course - good weather or bad -....yeah. it just does it for me.