Why do people hate golf?

[Gottfrid]

1 hour ago, Lacessit said:

There are people who hate golf, or call it a silly game.

Yes, some people say that about board games as well.

[Lacessit]

15 minutes ago, stoner said:

i also had the honor of meeting mr mo norman a few times. all i can say is wow. 

 

 

There are two legends in golf. One is Moe Norman, the other is Ben Hogan.

One story I heard was when Hogan watched Norman practising. Hogan remarked " I have no idea what this guy is doing, but it obviously works for him".

[Lacessit]

5 minutes ago, Gottfrid said:

Yes, some people say that about board games as well.

The only game I regard as silly is American football. What else is one to think of a game where 5 minutes of playing time takes half an hour?

[jerrymahoney]

39 minutes ago, DrPhibes said:

Never heard of the guy but probably heard the phrase (or saw on a golf shirt) in my youth somewhere.  Thanks!

Golf is a good walk spoiled.

Mark Twain

 

https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/mark_twain_100019

 

NB: I grew up in a golfing family but never took to it, myself.

 

BTW these are badges from 2 of the 3 years I volunteered along with my late Dad as an electric ambulance driver at Arnold Palmer's Bay Hill Invitational (Tiger Woods won all 3 years)

[scubascuba3]

Many don't like it because they tried it, were rubbish and gave up, most people i come across have high handicaps, it's a difficult game, maybe the hardest of all.

 

Personally i think it's a great game, i play twice a week, perfect combo with cycling another 4 days, both great for social interaction which everyone needs

[jerrymahoney]

2 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Many don't like it because they tried it, were rubbish and gave up, most people i come across have high handicaps, it's a difficult game, maybe the hardest of all.

 

Personally i think it's a great game, i play twice a week, perfect combo with cycling another 4 days, both great for social interaction which everyone needs

My father got the tag: 2 woods and a wedge (for par 5)

 

He didn't hit the ball far but he hit it straight.

 

But he had a short game with a wedge that was like watching a pool player. Could go straight up and straight down with backspin if necessary.

[alien365]

I think the word hate is probably used inaccurately for many. Im guessing those who don't like golf (like me) are not very good at it and the game therefore stresses a person out. It shouldn't be difficult to hit the ball straight, but it is. Same applies for putting a ball in a hole from a meter or so away. The game makes me feel stupid. Others laughed at me  or were constantly shaking their heads, so I stopped trying to play properly due to actual golfers too. 

[bobbin]

51 minutes ago, stoner said:

i also had the honor of meeting mr mo norman a few times. all i can say is wow. 

 

 

A Canadian prodigy.. Go Canada.

[toofarnorth]

1 hour ago, stoner said:

 

actually i use big bertha driver thank you very much. jealous much ? 

Big Bertha driver operated a steam loco. on the Lickey Incline.

Back to golf.  My dad's only proper hobby . When he moved on to the great fairway in the sky mum asked me if I wanted his golf clubs.

No thanks , could never understand whaking a ball as far as poss. then going off to find it.

[Dcheech]

No idea about other countries but in the US, for sure, golf had class & political elements associated with it. Only recently has that changed. 

JFK was a very good golfer, the best President golfer period. Far  better than Eisenhower (a duffer) who liked to hang out at golf courses & tournaments. The country club set.  Golf, for a long time was thought a rich, Republican thing. JFK kept his golf hobby under wraps. the American public for the most part, never knew he golfed. Not good for his image or political base. 

Funny anecdote. When in office JFK joked to his staff, being POTUS had perks. He now could golf at private clubs in Boston and Massachusetts. These clubs had previously blackballed him. The Kennedy clan may have been mega rich but the power structure (and private club owners & members) of old Boston, and the US, were White Anglo-Saxon Protestant. No Irish allowed, no matter how much money.

That is the America I grew up in.

[Lacessit]

31 minutes ago, alien365 said:

I think the word hate is probably used inaccurately for many. Im guessing those who don't like golf (like me) are not very good at it and the game therefore stresses a person out. It shouldn't be difficult to hit the ball straight, but it is. Same applies for putting a ball in a hole from a meter or so away. The game makes me feel stupid. Others laughed at me  or were constantly shaking their heads, so I stopped trying to play properly due to actual golfers too. 

It's unfortunate other golfers took that attitude, and gave you a hard time.

I have always respected other golfers, whatever standard they played to. Because i can remember how tough the game was for me when I was just starting.

[Gottfrid]

1 hour ago, Lacessit said:

The only game I regard as silly is American football. What else is one to think of a game where 5 minutes of playing time takes half an hour?

You nailed it 100 % there. However, I do not find golf silly. I just pointed out that there are many different opinions. I can find a round of golf as nice and relaxing as just sitting in a chair reading a book. It just depends on what´s the mood of the day.

[alien365]

30 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

It's unfortunate other golfers took that attitude, and gave you a hard time.

I have always respected other golfers, whatever standard they played to. Because i can remember how tough the game was for me when I was just starting.

I thought it may have been different here so I went to the driving range a year or so ago to try and hit some balls again. After a few hits I was told by the owner to go up to the second level because I was not very good. I told him I am not moving. Finished my 80 balls (I think) and then never returned again. I play many sports so it's not the end of the world, but it's a shame. 

[Fat is a type of crazy]

2 hours ago, Lacessit said:

I'll bet the adrenaline was flowing freely when you hit the winning drive.

 

Chi Chi Rodriguez is 5 foot 7 inches, 68 kg. On the PGA tour, he could keep up with much bigger players with a novel stance and swing. He won 8 PGA events, and 22 on the senior tour.

His likeness is seen on the cover art for an excellent Devo album. Not much of a golfer. 

I did see some friends show their personalities on the golf course. Some arrogance. Some cheating. I showed my attitude of  - Not into this. Can't be bothered with stuff I don't like.  Prefer other forms of sport myself. 

 

[Walker88]

2 hours ago, Lacessit said:

The only game I regard as silly is American football. What else is one to think of a game where 5 minutes of playing time takes half an hour?

The silliest game I see is what we call soccer. The entire game could be condensed into five seconds of meaningful action. Yes, I'm well aware it's wildly popular, but I still think the entire world is playing a joke on us, and if we ever say we like it, they will tell us they punked us, and admit it is the most boring thing on the planet.

 

In American football, which I played all through school, even a short play can have beauty. Search on YouTube for Gale Sayers or Barry Sanders. Sayers is one of the most graceful athletes ever.

 

As for golf, if done properly, it can be both fun and give one a workout. I had access to some courses in Japan where I could play 2 rounds each Saturday and 2 rounds each Sunday, walking the entire hilly course and carrying my own bag. Definitely burned some calories. I even played in winter, when if I got there early, I could sometimes drive a Par 5 (because the ground was still frozen from the overnight chill). Twelve putts later on an icy green and I could mark my 13 on the scorecard.

[BigStar]

2 hours ago, alien365 said:

I think the word hate is probably used inaccurately for many.

 

Yes. I've never heard of anyone who HATES golf as a sport. They simply don't care for it themselves. Now people may resent the interruptions of regular TV programming for a golf tournament. Wives may not like their husbands disappearing for golf games and blowing money on the sport. Etc.

 

So I don't care for it, tried it and found it boring and too time-consuming for what it is. Not worth getting good at it for me. Best wishes to anyone who's into it, knock yerselves out. That said, I enjoy game highlights sometimes broadcast of spectacular plays, as with football and baseball. Some god-like athletes out there to admire. I guess my fave spectator sport would have to be women's gymnastics. :)

 

 

[Lacessit]

10 minutes ago, BigStar said:

 

Yes. I've never heard of anyone who HATES golf as a sport. They simply don't care for it themselves. Now people may resent the interruptions of regular TV programming for a golf tournament. Wives may not like their husbands disappearing for golf games and blowing money on the sport. Etc.

 

So I don't care for it, tried it and found it boring and too time-consuming for what it is. Not worth getting good at it for me. Best wishes to anyone who's into it, knock yerselves out. That said, I enjoy game highlights sometimes broadcast of spectacular plays, as with football and baseball. Some god-like athletes out there to admire. I guess my fave spectator sport would have to be women's gymnastics. :)

 

 

There is an expression golf professionals use," in the zone". They probably get there more often than amateur golfers. It may happen in other sports.

I  have been "in the zone" about half a dozen times in my more than 60 years of golf. It's a combination of knowing one is going to win, and feeling invincible. The great thing about it is how long it lasts, playing the final 9 holes of a championship. As far from boring as it can get.

 

The video is not gymnastics per se. However,  IMO it is one of the most stunning displays of female athleticism i have ever seen.

 

 

[Gecko123]

I think there's a lot of class resentment associated with the game. Maybe not particularly apparent here in Thailand, but back home it's seen as a leisure class activity requiring lots of money to pay for country club membership and green fees, equipment, and one-on-one lessons. It may seem equalitarian for a retiree hitting the links in Thailand, but back home in the business world where a great deal of golf is played, it's associated with being a "good old boy", often leading to promotions and business deal opportunities that others are excluded from, i.e., antithetical to a meritocracy. Yeah, yeah, I've heard of Tiger Woods, but golf has such a long history of being a "whites only" sport, I think its an inaccessible and difficult to relate to sporting activity for many people. Kind of like polo in many ways. Not hated, just an irrelevancy in many people's lives.

 

Sports involving hitting a ball with a stick have never been among my favorites. That goes go baseball, polo, croquet, jai alai, although tennis can be interesting. Not due to any hand eye coordination problems, just hitting a ball with a stick has never struck me as a skill that was important to acquire. To me, watching golf seems like an unbelievable waste of time, especially tee offs where the camera pans into the sky but you can never see the ball.

[alien365]

8 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

There is an expression golf professionals use," in the zone". They probably get there more often than amateur golfers. It may happen in other sports.

One of the best feelings a man can have. My main sport is table tennis and I've had it a few times too. You feel every ball like a pro, you see the spin on the ball, you know what your opponent is doing before they do, you have so much time to play your shots, you can play hard consistently or play the gentlest of touches, all the while being perfectly relaxed. 

Then the next day its back to nets and edges and blaming the ball and my equipment again 🤣

[DrPhibes]

3 hours ago, jerrymahoney said:

Golf is a good walk spoiled.

Mark Twain

 

https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/mark_twain_100019

 

NB: I grew up in a golfing family but never took to it, myself.

 

BTW these are badges from 2 of the 3 years I volunteered along with my late Dad as an electric ambulance driver at Arnold Palmer's Bay Hill Invitational (Tiger Woods won all 3 years)

Not many people are going to know your user name, I'm that old ;-)

[Lacessit]

1 minute ago, Gecko123 said:

I think there's a lot of class resentment associated with the game. Maybe not particularly apparent here in Thailand, but back home it's seen as a leisure class activity requiring lots of money to pay for country club membership and green fees, equipment, and one-on-one lessons. It may seem equalitarian for a retiree hitting the links in Thailand, but back home in the business world where a great deal of golf is played, it's associated with being a "good old boy", often leading to promotions and business deal opportunities that others are excluded from, i.e., antithetical to a meritocracy. Yeah, yeah, I've heard of Tiger Woods, but golf has such a long history of being a "whites only" sport, I think its an inaccessible and difficult to relate to sporting activity for many people. Kind of like polo in many ways. Not hated, just an irrelevancy in many people's lives.

 

Sports involving hitting a ball with a stick have never been among my favorites. That goes go baseball, polo, croquet, jai alai, although tennis can be interesting. Not due to any hand eye coordination problems, just hitting a ball with a stick has never struck me as a skill that was important to acquire. To me, watching golf seems like an unbelievable waste of time, especially tee offs where the camera pans into the sky but you can never see the ball.

I started golf as a caddie in Australia, at one of the top clubs. It's a shame the caddie system died out, because I learned a lot at that end of the spectrum.

There are many people who would disagree with you, as they earn a  good living from golf. That's not tour just professionals, who get eye-watering prize money. It's club managers, greenkeepers, bar staff and pro shop staff, to whom golf is highly relevant. It puts food on the table.

 

I really doubt business is done on the golf course anymore, executives at that level are too time-poor nowadays.

[tgw]

5 hours ago, stoner said:

getting good at golf requires more than most are able to put into it. becoming great at golf requires the total package. the focus and patience either make or break most.

 

on the subject of size. i am around 5 10 and 70 to 72 kilo. small for a foreigner. anyway a few years back i won a long drive contest at a tournament back home. when i went up to collect the prize some scoffed and i got a few comments saying how it was impossible a guy my size could hit like that.

 

346 yards off the tee won the long drive :)

 

remind them about Ian Woosnam

[stoner]

1 minute ago, tgw said:

 

remind them about Ian Woosnam

 

ask bigbird about him. i was big on freddy couples. the swing was just so beautiful and effortless looking. 

[tgw]

Just now, stoner said:

 

ask bigbird about him. i was big on freddy couples. the swing was just so beautiful and effortless looking. 

 

I mean Woozy is 1.64m tall

[tgw]

18 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

I started golf as a caddie in Australia, at one of the top clubs. It's a shame the caddie system died out, because I learned a lot at that end of the spectrum.

There are many people who would disagree with you, as they earn a  good living from golf. That's not tour just professionals, who get eye-watering prize money. It's club managers, greenkeepers, bar staff and pro shop staff, to whom golf is highly relevant. It puts food on the table.

 

I really doubt business is done on the golf course anymore, executives at that level are too time-poor nowadays.

 

most pros don't make a lot of money though. 90% of pros, especially teaching pros, make just normal money to live.

[BigStar]

2 hours ago, Lacessit said:

There is an expression golf professionals use," in the zone". They probably get there more often than amateur golfers. It may happen in other sports.

I  have been "in the zone" about half a dozen times in my more than 60 years of golf. It's a combination of knowing one is going to win, and feeling invincible. The great thing about it is how long it lasts, playing the final 9 holes of a championship. As far from boring as it can get.

 

The unfortunate implication here is that you aren't bored once every 10 years.

 

Now during the years I practiced my own far more humble sport, running, not only was I never bored (once I got out on the road) but enjoyed a runner's high about four times a week. I'd call it in the zone. Short races, though fun, were too intense for any zoning out. Marathons, on the other hand, running a long course with other competitors, pacing myself to have enough left to sprint through "the wall" at the finish, left plenty of time. I enjoyed some great scenery running in various locations, as golfers enjoy their courses I suppose.

 

Needless to say, I was very fit, as I am now with my lifting a couple of times a week + intervals. So I count that as a big advantage. Most amateur golfers I've known, and notably those I merely see around Pattaya, look as if they might fall over any day on the links. The one golfer I slightly know now is on the usual meds for metabolic syndrome.

 

However, the pros on TV always look in good shape. :) And you're in good shape.

 

3 hours ago, Lacessit said:

The video is not gymnastics per se. However,  IMO it is one of the most stunning displays of female athleticism i have ever seen.

 

True. She's an extremely fit, strong, beautiful, graceful, highly skilled dancer practicing her art.

 

For a sportswoman, a gymnast, cf. Simone Biles. Now we're talking superhuman.

 

 

 

[Phulublub]

9 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Not the most strenuous exercise; however, it is still a walk of 8 - 10 km.

Sadly, many of those who would most benefit from walking, take a cart.

 

PH

[OneMoreFarang]

10 hours ago, Lacessit said:

There are people who hate golf, or call it a silly game.

Is that something special for golf or do some people say some things about any kind of sport.

Like, why don't they give each of those football players a ball then they don't have to run around and fight over one ball.

 

I don't care about golf, and I don't care about most other sport.

With golf players it seems at least some of them like to show off their golf clothes and big golf bag like: Look, it's me, I play golf.

 

 

[Lacessit]

1 minute ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Is that something special for golf or do some people say some things about any kind of sport.

Like, why don't they give each of those football players a ball then they don't have to run around and fight over one ball.

 

I don't care about golf, and I don't care about most other sport.

With golf players it seems at least some of them like to show off their golf clothes and big golf bag like: Look, it's me, I play golf.

 

 

There are phonies in golf who dress to kill, and replace their golfing equipment every year.

I never had any problem beating them, because I never saw them on the practice range.

I just let my clubs do the talking.

[Lacessit]

2 hours ago, BigStar said:

 

The unfortunate implication here is that you aren't bored once every 10 years.

 

Now during the years I practiced my own far more humble sport, running, not only was I never bored (once I got out on the road) but enjoyed a runner's high about four times a week. I'd call it in the zone. Short races, though fun, were too intense for any zoning out. Marathons, on the other hand, running a long course with other competitors, pacing myself to have enough left to sprint through "the wall" at the finish, left plenty of time. I enjoyed some great scenery running in various locations, as golfers enjoy their courses I suppose.

 

Needless to say, I was very fit, as I am now with my lifting a couple of times a week + intervals. So I count that as a big advantage. Most amateur golfers I've known, and notably those I merely see around Pattaya, look as if they might fall over any day on the links. The one golfer I slightly know now is on the usual meds for metabolic syndrome.

 

However, the pros on TV always look in good shape. :) And you're in good shape.

 

 

True. She's an extremely fit, strong, beautiful, graceful, highly skilled dancer practicing her art.

 

For a sportswoman, a gymnast, cf. Simone Biles. Now we're talking superhuman.

 

 

 

Could not open the Simone Biles link, found her on YouTube. Dynamic.

Superhuman is what I call the Shenea Booth static position at 3 minutes 37 seconds.

Everyone is different, I am never bored with golf. OTOH, when I used to do runs for cardio exercise, I found them very boring.