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Johnny Canuck2 said:
And they're not all the same. Just that a lot of them are shit at it.

Btw, the chinese men at the driving ranges are a force to be reckoned with, by and large. They take lessons, then they practice, then it's 'thwack, thwack, thwack,' each and every time.
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It is always comforting to see golfers who are shit at the game, it reminds me that i'm actually making progress.

But i cannot disagree that there are golfers who revere their drivers in the same way they worship their cars. I think it's absurd, but there you are. Egos eh.

Do your driving ranges have automatic ball dispensers?
Do they have lots of beautiful birds serving you your beer and food?
Do they have more than one floor?
Are they floodlit?

Just interested johnny, because the odd driving range i've been to in england is positively ancient compared to the luxurious affairs i get to practice in here in thailand.
 
fela fan said:
Do your driving ranges have automatic ball dispensers?
Do they have lots of beautiful birds serving you your beer and food?
Do they have more than one floor?
Are they floodlit?.
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1. No. You have to carry your own bucket of balls, that you get from a centrally located automatic dispenser. You need tokens to get balls.

2. Nobody brings me beer and food unless I can talk my wife into it. Although the waitresses at Richmond were pretty nice.

3. Yes, some of them.

4. Yes.
 
In my experience in both US and in UK the dress code is not that strict, just a requirement to wear 'appropriate' clothing. Often clubs that I have visited only insist on soft spikes so the greens are not damaged. Other than that wear whatever you want.

The cost of equipment and the amount spent on it is down to the individual, in all sports there are people who will spend large amounts on equipment to improve their game. (I have a friend who spends a fortune on super light titanium(?) darts and is crap, but he has the best equipment)

Every club I have visited has always allowed anyone to play, and as long as you have paid the green fees, been welcome in the club house, regardless of gender etc.

All I keep hearing here is the usual U75 rant by the anti-golf brigade. Many of the comments are rarely valid and are based on a purely prejudiced view of the game. And after all that is all it is, a game some enjoy and some don't.
 
tarannau said:
Here comes the bullshit then. And people wonder why I think golfers talk their game up far too much - 'most challenging of all sports' indeed. Love the way you inflate it.

Nearly every sport requires thinking time and mental discipline. Games of snooker, darts and the like require even greater accuracy, unerring nerves and a lack of self doubt, just as golf does. Other sports require immediate reactions and thinking time - think of the role of Quarterback in American Football for example. It's guff to say that golf has a monopoly on mental discipline, just because it requires so little physical activity.

Golf's generally a game for those who aren't good, or are getting too old for, physical sports. It's a simple game with some merit, it's the tossers who waffle on about being the 'ultimate challenge' that get my goat - it's still a passive game with balls and sticks
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Gross generalisations there. Fine you don't have to be fit to play golf but most of the top golfers are extremely fit and strong. Sure you get the occasional one with a bit of weight issue but so do you in cricket, rugby and still occasionally in football, although granted less so than 20 years ago. Plenty of lardy old gits enjoy a kickabout though.

I think what fela was getting at was that golf, darts and snooker aren't reaction driven games whereas just about everything else I can think of is. In both golf and snooker you choose when to shoot (darts has more of a natural tempo) without any external impetus whereas in football (assoc and US) you have people trying to tackle you, passing to you, etc. therefore you've got a better chance of playing the right shot instinctively and less chance of fucking yourself up mentally. In all sport your body knows what to do and will do it provided your mind lets it (and you're in good enough condition). It's this fact that keeps people coming back to golf because even the most incompetent player like me can occasionally pull off a blindingly good shot that any pro would be proud of.

There's no way snooker and darts require greater accuracy when you look at the measurements and the physics (ball size, club head size and speed, hole dimensions, etc.). Tour pros hit the fairway with less than 75% of their drives. I'm not saying golf requires more accuracy either, just a lot of it, and it's fucking difficult.

tarannau said:
What do you not agree with - that golf is a game played with balls and sticks?

Or do honestly believe that the majority of the best young athletes have enough time to play golf?. I was a middling, county level at best, sportsman, but the chances of me finding enough time to play a round of golf were minimal - Saturday and Sundays were dedicated to club sports and/or practices. A game of pitch and putt or the odd round in holidays perhaps, but I can't think of many athletic types at school or slightly later who were serious golfers. Not to say that people don't take it up later, but I'll stick by the original point.
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A huge number of top level professional sports people, especially cricketers and football players, play quite a bit of golf, to a wide range of ability, and are always going on about it. Kids don't play it much as there isn't really access to it at that age and it's expensive (at least in England). However, this is starting to change. Reasonable kit is getting much cheaper and the clubs are wising up to the fact that today's kids are tomorrow's members. My local club offers kids coaching by two PGA pros for £1 an hour every Friday evening and it's always packed out.
 
fela fan said:
So, golf is not the problem, the problem is british people's attitude towards it.
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What, so it's my fault that I could never go for a drink in the golf club near me in Cardiff?

Great logic, as ever.
 
It's not golf, though - it's the fault of some of the people who play it.

I love chess and cricket and believe me there are some arseholes involved in both.
 
Jebus, a lot of opinions.

1. It's a great game. Out in the open. Playing your own ball and your own frailties exposed. Perhaps the slowest of sports in terms of time between shots and therefore the most time to build yourself up for the next shot or knock yourself down and destroy your confidence by the time you get to your ball for your next shot. And then spunking your shot into the trees /over the railway / into the sea / down the cliff.

2. Snobby/exclusive? Golf can be. Not where I've ever played tho. Played my golf in North wales originally (£8 a year for unlimited golf as a junior member) and now play a course in south west suburbs of london. In the clubhouse after a game on a saturday/sunday you would take a look at the punters having a drink in there and snobby is not the first word that would come to mind. Normal folk having a drink and a laugh. All are made welcome. Dress code? No jeans or t-shirts - hardly a gentleman's club.

3. Expense? I pay about £700 a year. On average I play about twice a week and I think that works out about £7 a pop - sometimes I will play 18 holes - maybe 3 or 4 hours-worth. Sometimes 36 holes a day. Compare that to the prices of any other 'leisure activity'. Way cheaper than my partner's gym fees.

4. The course/environment - it gets looked after and conserved. Teeming with wildlife, trees, ferns and flowers. They don't use fertiliser on the course. How does that compare to other sports pitches?

I think golf is a great game/sport. Many who don't play acknowledge it is good to watch. There is a massive difference in the experience in terms of the places/ways it is played. Some fuckers ease the Bentley into Sunningdale car park or some other prime real estate and meet their stockbroker friends for a game - maybe they've paid thousands of pounds worth of subscriptions. That's the rich version of the game. So what.

Others walk on to their local public or links course, pay a few quid and enjoy a fantastic three or four hours out there. And that's the game I love.
 
ICB, PJW, good posts, nice to read them.

I've often thought that golf is actually one of the most welcoming of sports. Women and men can play together, kids and adults, skilled and beginners, young and old. In fact some people play golf almost up to their death. Marvellous.

Oh, and you don't get no diving and writhing in agony on the course.

Just driving and cursing.
 
editor said:
What, so it's my fault that I could never go for a drink in the golf club near me in Cardiff?

Great logic, as ever.
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Of course it's your fault. You obviously didn't cut the figure. Dress better and shave and you'll be fine...
 
One thing i noticed no-one's done is post up what kind of scores they get! I feel it's important also to take into account how much one has played. Maybe we can compare?

I average about 102 on par 72 courses and i've played about 200 rounds of golf (i've played about four years, and i reckon to average about a round a week). I had a load of lessons a couple of years ago, but only after i'd picked up all sorts of bad habits.
 
Someone once described golf as a good wank interrupted.......at least I think that's what they said.

George Carlin routine Golf Courses for the Homeless.
Fucking genius.
 
editor said:
I didn't have dreads back then, but apparently my clothing wasn't up to their high Pringle standards.
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Fuck 'em.

p.s. it's a long weekend this weekend, and I'm taking tomorrow off, so my posts are influenced by the Captain Morgan and Bull Max that I've consumed, if you're interested in Canadian holidays.
 
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