4 ms·

I am not a golfist at all and unfortunately I feel that I must instinctively hate the game - that is really my problem and not golf's. Golf is a decent sport a

I am not a golfist at all and unfortunately I feel that I must instinctively hate the game - that is really my problem and not golf's. Golf is a decent sport and not deserving of my opprobrium. So why do I feel the need to dislike golf? I'm a white skinned, middle aged male and my job title is Managing Director. Obviously I should be a passionate small white ball smacker. No I'm not. I love the idea of golf but hate the ... environment. That is still on me. Our wedding ding dong was held in a hotel that majored in golf (Woodbury/Devon/UK - Nigel Mansell's place), 19 years ago. I think that golf needs to go back say 300 years. A bloke sporting a kilt would slyly whip out a hidden club on a Sunday (shock, horror) and whack a ball/stone away. Just for the absolute hell of it. Golf needs to find its joy again. If it does, then I'll join in.

xeromal 2y ago
opprobrium - Now that's a 10$ word!
- gerdesj 2y ago
  £10, if you don't mind! I routinely use "Mickey mouse money" as an American once colourfully described it to me. I bit my lip and added 25% to the bill before presenting it. "Sauce for the goose" ...
ecshafer 2y ago
If you go to a public course with some friends, drink like a fish, and just have fun. Golf doesn't have any of that environment. Now I take it you are in the UK from what you say, so maybe its different. But I can go to a public course for $10, spend $20 on a cart rental, and spend the same on booze. Definitely not high class.
scoofy 2y ago
I assure you we are kindred spirits. I started writing about golf as someone who was just a bit embarrassed to like golf because nobody was writing about golf from a skeptical position. My blogs name is “Wigs on the Green” because that’s and archaic term for a fistfight, and I wasn’t to write like I was willing to burn every bridge if I thought it was good for golf, environmentalism, and the culture. I learned on muni’s and went to graduate school in Scotland where I learned the snooty aspects of golf are almost exclusively a North American phenomena.
- gerdesj 2y ago
  I'm starting to be tempted. Golf should be a natural fit for me and I am well aware I'm the curmudgeon. "Wigs on the Green" - love the name ... OK it looks like Georgian/Regency so roughly 16-17C when wigs were popular and they would fly off during a proper scrap.
Gravityloss 2y ago
There's a lot of variance in golf courses and golf cultures and players. At worst it's really bad, at best it's really good. Maybe there could be a coordination method to only play with blades and persimmons. Then you could mark it in when reporting your score for handicap calculation. That's the make-it-or-break-it decision. If there's a way to get recognition or compensation for playing with worse equipment, then people might do it. Shorter courses could also be more interesting this way. Then you would have more places to play closer by, eliminating travel etc. There's some precedent already. Drivers have limitations and most manufacturers are under them (ie just at the limit for things like moment of inertia) but drivers that are outside regulations are available to buy online. Also horizontal distance metering is allowed in competition, but not vertical distance. Most rangefinders have a visible external switch to disable vertical distance. One could expand from those two places where we by regulation already use sub-optimal equipment.

xeromal 2y ago

opprobrium - Now that's a 10$ word!

gerdesj 2y ago
£10, if you don't mind! I routinely use "Mickey mouse money" as an American once colourfully described it to me. I bit my lip and added 25% to the bill before presenting it. "Sauce for the goose" ...

ecshafer 2y ago

If you go to a public course with some friends, drink like a fish, and just have fun. Golf doesn't have any of that environment. Now I take it you are in the UK from what you say, so maybe its different. But I can go to a public course for $10, spend $20 on a cart rental, and spend the same on booze. Definitely not high class.

scoofy 2y ago

I assure you we are kindred spirits. I started writing about golf as someone who was just a bit embarrassed to like golf because nobody was writing about golf from a skeptical position. My blogs name is “Wigs on the Green” because that’s and archaic term for a fistfight, and I wasn’t to write like I was willing to burn every bridge if I thought it was good for golf, environmentalism, and the culture. I learned on muni’s and went to graduate school in Scotland where I learned the snooty aspects of golf are almost exclusively a North American phenomena.

gerdesj 2y ago
I'm starting to be tempted. Golf should be a natural fit for me and I am well aware I'm the curmudgeon. "Wigs on the Green" - love the name ... OK it looks like Georgian/Regency so roughly 16-17C when wigs were popular and they would fly off during a proper scrap.

Gravityloss 2y ago

There's a lot of variance in golf courses and golf cultures and players. At worst it's really bad, at best it's really good. Maybe there could be a coordination method to only play with blades and persimmons. Then you could mark it in when reporting your score for handicap calculation. That's the make-it-or-break-it decision. If there's a way to get recognition or compensation for playing with worse equipment, then people might do it. Shorter courses could also be more interesting this way. Then you would have more places to play closer by, eliminating travel etc. There's some precedent already. Drivers have limitations and most manufacturers are under them (ie just at the limit for things like moment of inertia) but drivers that are outside regulations are available to buy online. Also horizontal distance metering is allowed in competition, but not vertical distance. Most rangefinders have a visible external switch to disable vertical distance. One could expand from those two places where we by regulation already use sub-optimal equipment.