14 Reasons Why Golfers Play The Game

By: Derek Clements | Fri 26 Jul 2024

This may seem like a strange question but here goes anyway: why do you play golf?

My guess is that if you ask 10 people that question then you will receive 10 different answers. I used to play for the love of competition but as I have grown older that has changed dramatically. Having earlier this week played a Club Championship medal from the back tees, I am now here to tell you that it was not an experience I am looking forward to repeating any time soon.

However, as we stood on the third tee, and there was a blue sky and a strange yellow object in the sky, myself and my two playing partners took a few minutes to drink in the scenery - trees, green, green grass, the sound of nature. Oh, and the reassuring sound of "Fore!", following by a golf ball rattling from one tree to another.

So here are a few reasons why you might be addicted to this wonderful game...

Fresh Air

On a beautiful summer’s day, is there anything to beat being out on a gorgeous course, being able to stop and take it all in. Of course we all want to play well but being out in the fresh air on a course that plays host to wildlife and golfers trying to enjoy themselves is something to behold.

Golf Course Sunrise

(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)

Crunching Drive

We all enjoy seeing the likes of Rory McIlroy smash a 340-yard drive. While most of us can only dream of achieving such distances, is there anything to beat a beautifully-struck drive that soars into the air with the perfect ball flight, hits the ground and bounds on for a further 40-50 yards?

Fairway Wood

While I enjoy the drive that comes out the middle of the club face, I have to say that my go-to club is a three wood (I refuse to call it a three metal). It’s my weapon of choice on tight par fours but my favourite shot with this club is from the fairway. You can make or break a score with it. Flush it on a par five and you set up a simple approach and a birdie chance.

Piping An Iron

What a moment this is. You catch it perfectly, taking a divot, and the balls soars into the blue sky (some hope) with a gentle draw shape. You realise it is tracking in on the flag. Your ball lands on the putting surface and pulls up quickly, six feet from the hole. Everybody in your group says: "Great shot!" And of course you miss the birdie putt.

Friendship

I hold my hands up - my main reason for playing as a senior golfer is for the social side of our sport. I simply love being out there with like-minded people who gently poke fun at each other. I recently played a par four and hit two successive golf balls into a lake. I could hear my playing partner stifling laughter. Back in the day, this would have upset me. A lot. But do you know what? I ended up bursting into laughter as well. Especially when he followed me into the same lake!

Holing a Massive Putt

We have all holed tram-liners from 60 feet or more. The second the ball leaves the clubface you just know you have hit the perfect putt and start walking after it in the certain knowledge that it is going to drop. And it does! The following day you three-putt from exactly the same spot!

Holing a Crucial 3-Footer

Nobody I know likes three-foot putts. Putting strokes that are normally silky smooth suddenly take on an alien form. An ugly twitch appears and the ball finishes further away on the other side of the hole. But every so often you will face one of these putts to win a match - and it hits the middle of the hole and disappears!

Equipment

Golf equipment has changed and, by and large, has made this an easier game. Huge drivers, forgiving irons, putters of all shapes and sizes. And every time we put a new weapon in our bags we convince ourselves that we have finally found "the answer". Of course we haven’t, but optimism is a good thing, isn’t it?

Finding a Bargain

You turn up to discover that your best friend has just forked out £500 on a new driver that you know is not going to improve his game in any way. And you quietly smile to yourself because you have just bought last year’s model for £200. And you knock your opening drive 20 yards further than your mate.

Best Ever Score

Most of us set targets for ourselves and remember the first time we achieve them - the first time you break 100, your first round under 90, the first time you crack 80. And golfers being the breed we are, we will all be standing on the 18th knowing exactly what we need to do to achieve that score.

Shot That Brings You Back

No matter how badly you have played - and we have all had utter nightmares - there will ALWAYS be one shot that gives you something to hold on to, something that brings you back for more. As somebody once said, it’s a funny old game.

Pitch & Run

I work harder on my short game than on anything else. And I am here to tell you that there is nothing better than constantly pulling out a seven or eight iron and hitting a pitch and run to six inches. If you do this often enough the people you are playing with will stop saying "Good shot" - and that’s the point where you know that you are in their heads.

Masochism!

Let’s be honest about this - no matter how long you have played, no matter how low your handicap, there will be times when this sport kicks you in the privates. There may even be the odd shank. But still we keep coming back for more. That’s the mark of a masochist!