For The Good of The Game

[stage1350]

I'm going to disagree that people do not post due to elitism. Some people lurk, some are outspoken. I have no problem giving my opinion and expect everyone to take it with a grain of salt. We all know what opinions are like.... everybody has one.

 

This would be a very boring board if there was only positive comments and a**-slapping everywhere. As much as you may love a club that works for you, I also like to know what doesn't work for your swing as well. I've avoided a lot of high spinning clubheads that would have no place in my bag due to the critical reviews on this board, both positive AND negative.

 

If you don't want to come out of your shell and post on this board, I'm not sure that you are ever going to find a golf forum that you will have the courage to post on. This is probably the most open site on the net for golfers. If you want to see elitism, check out some of the hard core collector sites.

 

As for the good of the game, prices are going through the roof. Not only do you have companies pushing $1000 shafts and $1600 clubheads, but greens fees are increasing year over year. Even if Dad wants to introduce junior to the game, it's at a much higher cost. Unfortunately, this does not look it will change in the near future. That's pushing away a lot of potential golfers.

 

Add to that the crybabies that are limiting technology that makes the game easier and more enjoyable for the recreational golfer and you have a double whammy. You newer golfers will never see a distance increase from technology since driver lengths and COR have been capped. Now, they won't be able to hold greens because the USGA wants to eliminate agressive grooves. And if that weren't enough, you still have luddites out there trying to roll back the ball. How much harder do we need to make it for the recreational golfer?

 

The USGA needs to quit making this game more difficult and focus on making the game more accessable to the public.

[mellowOne]

After reading a lot of posts on here, I have begun to see why Golf is not growing as a game. There are many opinions expressed on this board that are elitist and demeaning that are going to ruin golf.

 

. Most of us know how much fun golf can be, but there is a widely held perception among the public that golf is not for the masses, and many people on this board are perpetuating this misconception.

I am actively involved in an ongoing heated discussion about range etiquette, and the expectations and reactions of some people are ridiculous and highlight the egos and attitudes that are becoming all to common at local facilities. To think that everyone must be silent in order for you to work through your "progression" is absurd. More than a couple members brag about how they pull out their driver (out of order in their progression) and proceed to bomb it increasingly longer distances past the beginners that are attempting to have fun around them in an attempt to embarrass them. These attitudes make people not want to come back, ......................... There is also an ever-present attitude on here about people who don't have the latest equipment like us. FYI, most people aren't fortunate enough to buy the newest offerings from Callaway or Taylormade or Titleist, and there are more people who play with top flights than there are that play proV1's

Most of us didn't obtain our love for the game by practicing our progression in silence with our fathers, or playing a round with the kid next door who talks about nothing but how amazing his clubs are, or playing the rules to T betting with our friends. We started to play the game because it was a challenge and it was fun. I think that many people have lost that fun, and now every outing is about showing off how good they are and making people feel bad at the same time.

 

You have cast a very wide net with the header "for The Good Of The Game, This is direct at you". Some of the your comments I take issue with

 

There are many opinions expressed on this board that are elitist and demeaning that are going to ruin golf.

 

Elitism & inflated egos exist in all walks of life: Next time you are at a large sporting event look at the autos parked there. Motorhomes with the flashy paint. Hummers & premium sports cars, highly decorated motorcycles, along with economy cars. It is what it is. :D

 

All sports have proud toys/fads: with fishing it is the latest fishing shirt/rod & reels, boaters the latest/fastest boats. Tennis the latest shirts/rackets. Motorcyclists with the latest bikes, Golfers with the latest clubs. All have some fans that seek the latest & others go with what they have. Does the fact that one has the latest/greatest toy, is proud of it, & will gladly discuss it them make them a bad person? Do these actions cause a decline in their interest areas? I THINK NOT!

 

Some will use what skills (if any) & equipment to pursue their sports & some will seek a higher level of expertize. The fisherman may seek better gear, attend meetings to improve their knowledge. The motorcyclist may purchase a high performance bike & attend a higher level riding school. The golfer may purchase high performance clubs, take lessions, & practice a lot. Does the fact that one seeks a higher level of efficiency make them a bad person? I THINK NOT!

 

Your comments about the range as posted by another member implys he should have accepted rude & crude behavior because others were having fun. Has rude & crude behavior become so ingrained that we have to accept it for the good of the game? I THINK NOT!. The menber posts his thoughts/opinions & you have issue with it? Should we all purchase from Wal-Mart For The Good Of The Game? Is the posters here causing a downturn in the golf industry? I THINK NOT! Are the Though Police at work here? I HOPE NOT.

 

Your comment "This is direct at you" As I indicated you have cast a broad net. I play daily fee courses, make my own clubs using quality products and could not care less what others use or where they play. Nor do I care how far they hit. I, like many members here, visit this website & others for golf & other information, knowledge, & opinions (some good & bad). I would highly recomend care when casting a such a very broad net.

 

Golf gives one time to stop & smell the roses. It is now time for me to smell the roses & take a walk in the park.

 

You have a nice day. :drinks:

[adammull]

But golf isn't a game for the masses. It requires a course, some clubs, a half-decent swing that perhaps comes from lessons, and time. I can simulate baseball with a rock and a stick. Golf will never be a game for the common man, that's just the way it is.

[MrJones]

I'm a common man and I play twice a weekend. That is, if my "common man" wages will allow it. I see common men playing all the time. At least I think they're common. Maybe they're all "above average" men in disguise? I'll have to be more careful now that I think about it.

 

Golf isn't something you can just decide you want to do once a month and be successful. I always say playing like that is the equvilant of playing basketball for the first time ever and thinking you'll get better playing just once a month. And itis pretty expensive to buy equipment if you're only using it 12 times a year. But if you enjoy it and play a lot golf it really isn't that expensive. I know guys that spend as much on beer every weekend as I do golf.

 

I think it could grow. I personally see a lot more young guys playing these days than I did back when I wasone of those young guys.

[Mulligan26]

At the range and on the course, I am a talker. For me, it relieves tension and eases the mood and atmosphere of things. Don't get me wrong, I am not loud or obnoxious (at least to my knowledge anyway) but I do talk to my father and friends. If someone doesn't like it then they are free to tell me, but that hasn't happened yet.

 

As far as being elitest, I have played junior tournaments with kids that have private coaches for the swing, short game and a sports psychologist, and with kids that have a $200 complete Accuity set from Dicks. We all play the same course and are generally indifferent to things such as equipment. I'm not the kind of person to look down on someone for having crappy or older stuff. The golf ball doesn't know if a MP-32 or a Big Bertha iron is hitting it. The course will always whoop you if you make a mistake with ANY type of equipment.

 

On etiquite and rules enforcement, I smoke and I'm always making sure that I am up wind from my playing partners so they don't have to inhale my smoke. Using that as an example, I like first hand smoke, so when some schmuck lights up a fat stogie down wind from me in the middle of my backswing, I get pissed. I also get annoyed when people don't have the decentcy to yell "fore".

 

Last saturday I was standing near my bag reaching to get a water, when pain erupted from my head. I was seeing stars when I realized that I had been hit. My friends father hit the shot of his life with a gap wedge and flew the green. He didn't know it was going that far and didn't yell fore. It hurt, a lot and I feel lucky that it was a G-wedge and not a 3-wood.

 

Thats all I have for now.

[belote]

First of all, I don't want to be known as THAT GUY who doesn't play by the rules. In fact, I have made more than one post on this board about how the pro's know every rule that will help them (and hurt them, aka Wilson) and will use the rule that fits their circumstance in the correct context and how that is for the good of the game. What I am tired of, however, is of certain people using the 'correct rules of golf' to favor them in a bet in order to bend the bet in their favor, as referenced earlier when someone was casually marking their ball close to the point of rest in a among friends, where the one person is not the group (aka son in law of the 3rd person.

 

I am all for giving one the benefit of a doubt, especially one who is a half-way decent golfer that marks a 30 foot putt one inch away from where the actual point of rest was, only because he wanted to make the round go in a decent amount of time, and sinks the TV tap-in. I don't feel that if a person, in a foursome (not in a tournament) marks a putt one inches or two from where he 'actually stopped' was in order to not impede the play of others, was a cheater because he threw down his ball marker to speed up a lagging foursome.

 

I am a rule of golf guy, always, in a tournament, or formal competition. That being said, if everyone knows in my regular Saturday betting group, that in order not to kill the 4 hour round that the group behind me is playing, knows that if I drop 3 yards away from a hazard (not to improve my position) will not improve my shot-making, it's really no big deal. Whether I am a foot away from the red stake, or a yard away, I am going to hit a 3 iron to 10 feet, it does not matter.

 

I want everyone to understand what I am getting at, which is not that cheating is the way to go, nor is ignorance of the rules, but tolerance of others. If you are putting on a green where someone steps in your line, by all means, let them know in a friendly manner that what they did is bad etiquette, but if your green is plagued with crows feet, don't blame the newbie for 'interfering with your line of play', etc.

 

If I offended people by starting this forum, sorry, but the truth is that some people need to realize that this game is a game, and it is meant to be fun. Fun is not winning a hundred bucks off a guy that was casual about the rules but beat you regardless, fun is about you doing the best you can and taking pride in your own game.

[littlepingman]

Its sounds to me like you had an incident that made you mad, and in turn you came here and transformed it into a generalized rant that alot of the die hard golfers whom frequent websites such as this managed to take personally. I bet alot of us can pick apart tons of bad experiences on the course that could lead to a rant such as this. I just like to take the good with the bad. I love this game too much to allow the occasional incident affect my mood or the way I view the game.

 

P.S. I don't really see how throwing you marker down behind the ball instead of placing it directly behind the ball is going to help speed up a "lagging" foursome.

 

Thanks.

[iCollector]

belote, I think I understood your original post.... But I will say that GolfWRX is better than some others when it comes to tolerance, fairness, and helpfulness as an enthusiast website. Personally, if you look at my bag, I would (perhaps to some) appear an eliteist, but I can assure you I'm simply an idiot that likes technology! I would never imply my gave is good (or bad!!) becauce of what I play with.

 

Lets face it - golf may always have a bit of elitism associated with it, but here I don't see it too much. There is the enthusiast and the club 'ho (like me and others) - which is popular and by and large harmless.

 

I understand what it is like to feel the angst that you are describing/implying at a practice range. When I started, I always tried to find a quiet spot so that I could try to focus on what I needed to do, and wouldn't be "intimidated" at the same time. While that is my problem, it no doubt creeps into other beginners minds as well. I've gotten over it for the most part. When it comes to distractions, I don't have a problem with friends who have adjacent stalls helping each other, tlaking, etc., but I do object to the yahoos that have absolutely no interest in the game and act like complete jerks yelling, jumping, and whatever.

 

I play with a rotating group of friends, and we always have fun when we play. If I didn't have fun, I'd quit in heartbeat. When I've gone out alone and gotten paired up, I always have let my new partners know what level of play I'm at, and I've never had a bad time.

 

Golf can be a rewarding pastime. I hope you can still have fun.