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Anyone else given up playing but still watching/reading?


Raesmus

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Hey,

 

So a short background here. I picked up the game a few years ago, was about age 25. Took a beginners course, got the "license" needed to play on real courses, not just pay-and-play. Practiced alot, probably 30 hours a month during the summer, playing alot of short holes for practice and some 18-hole rounds (stopped getting invited due too bad). So after 3 years I just gave up on playing, I played myself down to 30 hcp but if I couldn't keep up with the practice it went up again, and I couldn't really enjoy the game with all the outs/thins/fats/push-slices 50-75% of all strokes. Kind of sad to quit, but the game took more than it gave back.

 

However, I never stopped watching golf tournaments, reading forums and watching technique videos on youtube. It feels like I'm kind of experiencing golf and playing through watching and reading about it, which is an alien feeling to me. I mean, the normal thing would be to play when you are young and healthy. Looking around forums, I rarely see people in my position, it's like either youre bitten by the bug hard, and golf as much and watch as much as possible, or just quit cold turkey.

 

Anyone else that can relate? Why did you quit? Why do you keep watching? Do you want to start playing again? Whats stopping you?

 

Have a nice one!

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I'm just the opposite ... I'm quitting watching and reading and just playing.

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My best years are behind me at 65 years, slowing swing speed and some arthritis. Also, I don't play nearly as frequently as I did five years ago. I keep my bag in the trunk, usually ending up at the range or the park with a shag bag. The guys I used to play with have had health issues or simply dropped out of the game, and I don't play frequently enough to play tournaments at the senior level.

I think your continued interest in the game, even from an "armchair" perspective, is completely normal. I can see myself doing that eventually. I think we can all relate to those great shots on the course . . . the pleasure and satisfaction that one gets from it. When we see those shots, we relate to that feeling.

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> @Raesmus said:

> Hey,

>

> So a short background here. I picked up the game a few years ago, was about age 25. Took a beginners course, got the "license" needed to play on real courses, not just pay-and-play. Practiced alot, probably 30 hours a month during the summer, playing alot of short holes for practice and some 18-hole rounds (stopped getting invited due too bad). So after 3 years I just gave up on playing, I played myself down to 30 hcp but if I couldn't keep up with the practice it went up again, and I couldn't really enjoy the game with all the outs/thins/fats/push-slices 50-75% of all strokes. Kind of sad to quit, but the game took more than it gave back.

>

> However, I never stopped watching golf tournaments, reading forums and watching technique videos on youtube. It feels like I'm kind of experiencing golf and playing through watching and reading about it, which is an alien feeling to me. I mean, the normal thing would be to play when you are young and healthy. Looking around forums, I rarely see people in my position, it's like either youre bitten by the bug hard, and golf as much and watch as much as possible, or just quit cold turkey.

>

> Anyone else that can relate? Why did you quit? Why do you keep watching? Do you want to start playing again? Whats stopping you?

>

> Have a nice one!

 

Offering this with all respect. Have you taken lessons from a professional? The wrong practice can ingrain really bad habits. Perhaps if you had someone give you the right things to work on, the 30 hours of practice can get you down to a bogey golfer.

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If I couldn't play/practice a couple times a week I would be a miserable human being (I live in upstate NY, so winters are tough). That said, I started young and learned the technical aspects of the game early. I had a tough time making the shift from "competitive golf" to "casual/social golf" after high school and didn't play much throughout college because of it. Picked the game back up a couple years ago and have a tough time going a week without it.

Like someone else mentioned, it might be worth getting a professional lesson or two and seeing if you could find that spark again. I'm sorry you stopped getting invited out because of your skill level. Learning how to love golfing by yourself would also help a lot.

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I kind of quit watching and just practicing and out playing. Last week Masters was my first time watching golf this year and because it was raining where I was.

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The longest i have went without playing a rd of golf in the past 20 years is one week.

If i go more than 2 days not teeing it up ( bad weather) i get really twitchy. Total and complete addiction, some people like museums, some like hanging out in baseball stadiums, i like to watch the flight of a well-struck golf ball.

Give it another shot, get a few lessons, walk the course. It really is the game of a lifetime.

 

 

 

 

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> @DavePelz4 said:

>

> Offering this with all respect. Have you taken lessons from a professional? The wrong practice can ingrain really bad habits. Perhaps if you had someone give you the right things to work on, the 30 hours of practice can get you down to a bogey golfer.

 

Appreciate the feedback! I've had 3 lessons with the golf club pro, who said my swing was more than fine. According to him, it certainly looked like a swing that could get down to 20 or so fairly easy. It probably wasnt the technique that held me back, but rather the "feel". I don't know how to put it, but if I wasnt at training or playing short holes about 20-30 hours a month, every time when I gripped the golf club it felt like I was holding it for the first time. I would have thins/fats/ slices all over the place and I would have to put the time in to make it feel doable again. I probably could get in 30 hours, but with a 2-year old and another on the way I would have to focus all my spare time on solely golf and that's quite a commitment.

 

Also, just want to thank you for all the great content you put out for the golfing community. I've learned alot from your videos and articles, they're great!

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My father-in-law took that route twenty years ago. Poor play, family, work, etc all led him to give up playing, but he always watched golf and followed the game closely.

After being married to his daughter for over 8 years, I FINALLY got him out playing again last year. We bought him a decent set of clubs (Adams hybrid set with senior shafts) last fall and he's more amped up to play than I am this year, lol.

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I moved away from my beloved RTJ trail and golf for me not the same. Courses around me now are not offering near the quality and experience for the money. Golf clubs have gotten stupid $$$$ and just no games/leagues/tourney's that I can find. I played once last summer and hut balls every once in a while.

I do watch when I have time.

"We have learned that we must
live as men, not as ostriches, nor
as dogs in the manger." FDR

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> @Raesmus said:

> > @DavePelz4 said:

> >

> > Offering this with all respect. Have you taken lessons from a professional? The wrong practice can ingrain really bad habits. Perhaps if you had someone give you the right things to work on, the 30 hours of practice can get you down to a bogey golfer.

>

> Appreciate the feedback! I've had 3 lessons with the golf club pro, who said my swing was more than fine. According to him, it certainly looked like a swing that could get down to 20 or so fairly easy. It probably wasnt the technique that held me back, but rather the "feel". I don't know how to put it, but if I wasnt at training or playing short holes about 20-30 hours a month, every time when I gripped the golf club it felt like I was holding it for the first time. I would have thins/fats/ slices all over the place and I would have to put the time in to make it feel doable again. I probably could get in 30 hours, but with a 2-year old and another on the way I would have to focus all my spare time on solely golf and that's quite a commitment.

>

> Also, just want to thank you for all the great content you put out for the golfing community. I've learned alot from your videos and articles, they're great!

 

Wait, Rae, do you think @DavePelz4 is the "short game bible" Dave Pelz?

 

wait, is he?

 

just curious because you mentioned all the viedo's and articles..

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Still practice a lot, still watch, still think about golf quite a bit. But don't play rounds very much. As I get older my tolerance for slow play and ordinary folk shrinks. Anything over four hours feels too long now. And there's the meeting new people and the small talk etc. Getting harder for me to disguise my indifference towards random partners. I just want to play. Don't need no new friends, don't care what you do for a living, your kids/grandkids/pets etc. Don't want to get to know ya. I am a decent conversationalist and people tend to mistake that for actual interest, I think. That's why I have grown to love winter golf here in the tri-state area. Not a lot of small talk going on on the course when its 35 degrees, and certainly no slow play.

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> @moonshine said:

> I moved away from my beloved RTJ trail and golf for me not the same. Courses around me now are not offering near the quality and experience for the money. Golf clubs have gotten stupid $$$$ and just no games/leagues/tourney's that I can find. I played once last summer and hut balls every once in a while.

> I do watch when I have time.

 

You can't find quality golf courses in South Carolina!!!????

 

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> @lawsonman said:

> > @moonshine said:

> > I moved away from my beloved RTJ trail and golf for me not the same. Courses around me now are not offering near the quality and experience for the money. Golf clubs have gotten stupid $$$$ and just no games/leagues/tourney's that I can find. I played once last summer and hut balls every once in a while.

> > I do watch when I have time.

>

> You can't find quality golf courses in South Carolina!!!????

 

So yes and no...and not even close to RTJ. I'm 89 miles from Myrtle but Charleston area or Greenville where I grew up not a whole bunch of premium choices.

"We have learned that we must
live as men, not as ostriches, nor
as dogs in the manger." FDR

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> @Raesmus said:

> Hey,

>

> So a short background here. I picked up the game a few years ago, was about age 25. Took a beginners course, got the "license" needed to play on real courses, not just pay-and-play. Practiced alot, probably 30 hours a month during the summer, playing alot of short holes for practice and some 18-hole rounds (stopped getting invited due too bad). So after 3 years I just gave up on playing, I played myself down to 30 hcp but if I couldn't keep up with the practice it went up again, and I couldn't really enjoy the game with all the outs/thins/fats/push-slices 50-75% of all strokes. Kind of sad to quit, but the game took more than it gave back.

>

> However, I never stopped watching golf tournaments, reading forums and watching technique videos on youtube. It feels like I'm kind of experiencing golf and playing through watching and reading about it, which is an alien feeling to me. I mean, the normal thing would be to play when you are young and healthy. Looking around forums, I rarely see people in my position, it's like either youre bitten by the bug hard, and golf as much and watch as much as possible, or just quit cold turkey.

>

> Anyone else that can relate? Why did you quit? Why do you keep watching? Do you want to start playing again? Whats stopping you?

>

> Have a nice one!

 

30 hours of practice per month and 30 handicap? Get help from a professional teacher because what you were doing wasn't working.

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I've quit a few times over the years, always went back. I think about it more often now, but I keep playing and just don't care that much, just to have fun, talk trash with my buddies, enjoy being outside and not at work.

It's a lot less stressful when you don't give a f*** and just play for the occasional birdie or well struck shot.

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> @moonshine said:

> > @lawsonman said:

> > > @moonshine said:

> > > I moved away from my beloved RTJ trail and golf for me not the same. Courses around me now are not offering near the quality and experience for the money. Golf clubs have gotten stupid $$$$ and just no games/leagues/tourney's that I can find. I played once last summer and hut balls every once in a while.

> > > I do watch when I have time.

> >

> > You can't find quality golf courses in South Carolina!!!????

>

> So yes and no...and not even close to RTJ. I'm 89 miles from Myrtle but Charleston area or Greenville where I grew up not a whole bunch of premium choices.

 

Not to pour salt in already open wound, but for me, the actual act of swinging a club and hitting pure shots does so much more for my enthusiasm than the actual course I'm playing. Sure, I do enjoy a really nice, premium course, with great scenery and all that, but as long as the greens are smooth and the fairways mostly grass, I can play equally enjoyable rounds anywhere. I played Sentryworld last fall, and it was impeccable, but I was so focused on my good play that I really hadn't taken in the course itself. I was strictly business, with yardages, bailouts, smart tee shots, etc. and had a good round. There are special tracks that would undoubtedly get my full attention, but 90% of the others all "feel" pretty similar. I guess some primarily enjoy the game, while others are more apt to enjoy the walk.

 

 

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Playing partners Slowed down, they lost their "Mojo" not much of going to play by myself or get paired with randoms.....Pulled a "Tony Finau" about a month ago and dislocated my ankle walking down a slight hill trying to jump over the cart path only guards (string attached to stakes)....landed funny and popped the ankle......down for the count as well........ I think the most excitement golf related was screaming at my TV this past masters.

 

Playing Golf has some what left me..... the excitement to go out.... spend money on green fees........ has been over ruled by kids tuition and lack of drive........ Not sure what happen but yups..... its on the deep back burner..... to bad.... played a LOT of golf the last 7 years....

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