The Grove Project

Why People Play Golf, Actually (Part 2)

Continued from Why People Play Golf, Actually (Part 1)

Reason #4:

You don’t have to be “good” to enjoy the game. And here’s something I think every golfer, regardless of skill, can agree with. Golf is like heroin… it only takes one good shot to get hooked. I’ve seen new players hack and hack for 16 holes, pissing and screaming in the wind with agitation the likes of which one might only find when facing a nest of angry badgers. This anger eventually leads to absolute indifference in the mind of the newbie. They step up, swing without care, and lo…. the ball sails with perfection. The angry badgers turn to positively charged rays of light instantly. There is pause, and all that bad hacking that lead up to the one good shot no longer matters, because (as other golfers will surely let the player know), “that was a well-struck ball.”

Other sports simply don’t offer this “addiction,” they all require a certain level of “expertise” to really enjoy. Honestly, who wants to dribble off a foot or throw up bricks all day? Similarly, who’d really want to hit the ball out of line or into a net all the time? Really, any old fool can swing and swing and curse and curse golf. But sooner or later, that same voice of descent will nail that first big shot that slows time as the ball sails off the driver and heads long and straight for 300 yards. The most common reaction to this is: “O Wow! I gotta do that again!” This, of course, leads us to the 5th reason “Why People Play Golf, Actually.”

Reason #5:

The Challenge. Golf is hard.

Despite how many days in a row a golfer may play, and despite how well a golfer may learn the subtleties or his or her game, the average golfer will never completely overcome the Challenge that is “Consistency.” Consistency, the regulatory mandate in most sports, is somewhat different for golf. Take basketball for example: one must consistently sink free-throws and layups. All other shots require a bit of improvisation pending the ever-fluctuating arrangement of players on the court. In swinging a baseball bat, consistently “keep your eye on the ball.” Tennis, good servers must place the ball consistently. These are exceptionally difficult, and certainly all sports have their points of required consistency.

Consistency on the golf course, however, is entirely different, and is solely relegated to perfecting the Swing: a 5-component, rather unnatural body movement that is rife with potentially painful contortions. Meeting this complex challenge without suffering injury requires the golfer to attempt to master 1) the grip, 2) the stance, 3) the back-swing, 4) the down-swing, and 5) the follow-through. What is more, each component of the Swing (and many golfers out there will say there are more than 5…) has it’s own multifaceted set of circumstances depending on where the ball lies. For a full examination of this phenomena, check out Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons. It is essential.

Thus, The Challenge proves the following: the only consistency to be found by a golfer who swings inconsistently is a consistently shitty scorecard (say that ten times…).

Reason #6:

It’s never the “same” course. Even if you play “The Muni” or (insert Home Course here) every day at the same time with the same other players, the course itself will have changed. The grass will be taller or shorter, however subtly. The pin placement–where the hole is placed on the green–will be different on a daily basis. The wind is constantly shifting. All of this must be measured before the ball is ever hit… always something new!

Reasons #7 through #10 to be continued when time allows…