You don't play golf? Why not? (Page 2)

I play & love the game.  I played a lot when I was younger, but lately the last couple years I am only able to play once a week in my 9 hole league after work.  I wish I could play more, but there are only so many free hours in a week and ironman training has been calling me lately.  I think many people have played the game, but don't continue because, quite frankly, it is a very hard game to become good (or even mediocre).  My game is good, but I spent boatloads of hours on the course growing up and then after college.  Once people get families and a life, if they don't have a golf game, it is not easy to find one.  Most of the people I know play once or twice a year in some type of best-ball company outing and they are lucky to hit the ball more than 20 yards or 180 yards into the woods.

The good news is next week is the British Open and I will certainly be watching that closely and am interested to see how Tiger looks! 

That's an easy trap to fall in.  Just like TT bikes.  "just get a fancier bike, and I will be faster".   Crazy thing is, I can smack my wife's used Wilson clubs I got for 100 bucks as far as my Ping G20's I got made for me for around 2k.   It's not the equipment, but the engine - holds true for both sports. 

And for the wanting to be a good player?  Golf is the hardest thing I have ever done to get "good" at - so  hard, in fact.  I'm STILL not "good".  It's incredibly frustrating.  Probably why I actually still do it.  The challenge.  I probably give the game up 30 times a year.  TO ME, there is nothing "natural" about a golf swing, which is why it's so hard to me. 

The demographics are very similar for golf and triathlon.  Coincidentally, so is the time commitment, expense and difficulty.

I like that triathletes think that golf is expensive.  I have never spent over $100 for a round of golf (Excluding tournaments, where I could make money).  However, I have spent multiples of that for races without thinking it was that bad.

I used to have 3 expensive, time-consuming "hobbies".  Tri, golf & fly-fishing.  But now I have a real job. (Still in golf).

From 2000-2003, I played every day, almost.   A membership at our local course was $300 per year.  My parents had a cart stored at the course.  I could get up in the summer and walk 18 in 2.5 hours and still be to work by 9AM.   Then I would play in the afternoon when my dad got off work.   I was working 3 part-time jobs that were up to my schedule, so I could play whenever I wanted.  Weekends, my dad and I and a few of our friends were always the first 1 or 2 foursomes off the tee, usually well before tee-times started.    

Now, married with 4 kids and a round of golf on a lousy course in Beijing goes for about $200.    No thanks!  I will play one round in China before I leave, though, just to say I did. 

We're heading back to the states for the summer, so I'll get in a few rounds with Dad while I'm there.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?autoplay=1&v=F6o9pURSMYc

Edited by bootygirl 2014-07-12 3:43 PM

In a word: boring. I've had many friends try to get me to  play over the yeas, to the point of even giving me a set a clubs, but I have never found the appeal. Must be something to it given the number of people who do it, including many of my friends and most of my coworkers. But to me if one were to visit a golf course it would be more exciting to sit and watch the grass grow than to play the game.

If someone can throw the ball back to me after I hit it I'll play golf.  I'm not hitting a ball and chasing it.

x2 a round of golf would be like a race in terms of fees and time investment. 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but just to practice you also have to pay fees at the driving range and such - correct? Or can you just walk onto a (public) golf course and practice chipping (is that what it's called?)?

In contrast, in swim/bike/run - once you pay the high barrier fees like purchasing a bike/helmet and running shoes - you can practice an unlimited number of times at zero cost. Big difference. In my head at least.

I actually love golf, and I am MUCH better at golf than I am at triathlon, but triathlon keeps me fitter. I used to do both but I had a hip stress fracture and I was loosing 20 yards a club plus golfing really hurt my hip.  Then I got over that and signed up for an IM.  Being a full time doctor training for and IM and playing lots of golf are mutually exclusive.  The thing for me about golf is I have no one to play with.  Its REALLY boring to go play by yourself all the time and because I am female they never let me play thru.  I used to bring magazines to read between shots.  Hit a shot wait 20 minutes hit a shot wait 20 minutes....NOT FUN.  Triathlon is quite a bit more social for me and I like the fitness.  So what would get me back to it? 1-not in the summer in FL its bloody miserable out 2-If I had someone to play with 3-if foursomes would let the single play thru. 

Love the game!  But went from playing 2 to 3 rounds a week to maybe 1 round per year.  I just don't have the free time to play anymore.  It's been a few years since I was an avid golfer but I understand it's slowing down a bit in popularity?  The last year or so I was still somewhat playing I had dropped CC membership and was enjoying playing diferent courses with friends.  I found the greens fees to be getting a bit out of hand and the courses were over crowded.  At times I do wish I had the time to play more especially since the membership deals around me are "cheap" as far as that goes.

I just looked up prices for my municipal/public golf course fees - not bad, but definitely more than my "free" tri training or even my $20/month YMCA membership:

Green Fees:
9-holes ranges from $14-$19.50
18-holes ranges from $23-$30

Golf Cart Rentals:
Ranges from $7-$12

Driving Range Fees:
$6.05 for balls
$60 for range card (don't know what that is)
$300 for annual range pass

Lessons:
Group lessons $10 per session
Private lessons: $40-$50 per hour

Tournaments:
Range from $75-$85 per golfer or $300 per couple

I played competitively in HS (only sport that I played in HS).  My wife and I had the privilege of joining a golf club when we were DINKs (dual income no kids).  I played some then and we'd go out on Sunday evenings and have a nice time playing 9 holes.

Then the kids came.  Then the time commitment and the cost didn't make sense.  We felt pressured to play to get the benefit of the club membership we were paying lots of money for.  My personality is one that get frustrated quickly when something that I'm trying to do doesn't work.  Golf is exactly the wrong sport for that personality.  It did little but make me angry.

So the calculus became, "Why spend all this money to spend what limited free time I have doing something that makes me angry?"  I found my free time increasingly moving towards fitness things that helped reduce stress.  And it wasn't long before I was doing tris.

I'll play the odd charity or work golf event now and usually have a lot of fun at those.  But actually, renting a relatively new set of clubs at an event last year made me realize just how old my own clubs are.  If I were to get back into playing regularly, a new set would be effectively required.  Much like a tri bike is for doing tris.

So the bottom line is that its a very expensive hobby that takes a lot of time. 

Just played my one game for the year this morning with some relatives who are in town for the week. Shot the best game of my life! Darnit, now I like it again. Gonna have to go again and shoot my normal crappy game so I can give it up for another year.

You mean it is more boring than riding a bike in Z2 for 6 hours or swimming in a pool for 90 minutes or running 11/mm for 5 hours?

Boring is in the eye of the beholder.