What if you couldn't play well anymore?

[Tommy Williamsen]

Over the past forty years my handicap has fluctuated between 2 and 7.  Presently it is about 4.  The only thing I have done as I have aged,  is move forward from the back tees.  

I am having a severe disc problem and the dr. is not so sure that I will be able to play to my handicap  anymore.  I'm not sure I believe it but it got me thinking, "If I started shooting in the 90's would I still want to play anymore?

Score doesn't mean as much to me as it used to, yet I wonder if I would want to play much anymore if that eventuated.  I don't have much pride anymore so that isn't it.  I love to hit a golf ball, but i love to hit it well better.

I don't need sympathy just thoughts.  I know some of you have had physical problems that have caused a decline in your game yet continue to play.  Was it a difficult adjustment? Did you think about about quitting?  Without going out in the evening all by myself or playing my regular Thursday game with my best friend.   Without golf my life would be greatly diminished.  I can imagine just going to the short game area and hitting shots there but that would get old.


Sorry just a bunch of ramblings from an old golfer.  

[John Kavanaugh]

Tommy,

I am no longer able to sin as well as I once could but I still give it my best effort.  Golf is only abut meeting, exceeding or failing at your expectations.  Lower the bar and belly up to it cause if you don't fail yourself you are only left to help others.

[Ken Moum]

I just turned 60, and over a period of about three years my handicap climbed from 7 to 16. For most of my golf life, I have played with guys who played about like I did.

I was not handling the decline very well. In fact I remembered once saying that I didn't think I could go out and shoot in the 90s every day.

Then, I started playing on Sat. morning with a bunch of guys most of whom who are 17-22 handicaps.

It has been a revelation. For one thing, none of them bitch, gripe, whine or grumble their way around the course. I realized one of the things that was getting me down was playing with people who were shooting scores in the 70s and bitching about every shot.

It's had a pretty dramatic impact on my own behavior on the course, and I am having more fun on the course than I haver had in a long time. Interestingly, my handicap is back down to about 11.

My conclusion is that I could handle a decline in my play--but it might take some time to adjust.

Ken

[cary lichtenstein]

Tommy

I'm in exactly your situation, only about 6 months ahead of you. Shoulder surgery, extended layoff, looking at further surgery. I can no longerwalk a course, but still play pretty well as long as I havea cart.

Lost 10 yards with the irons and woods except te driver, still hit that well.

I still look forward to it, but my days of cross country travel are over, and beating balls are over as well, the adjustment just takes time

[Doug Siebert]

Define "well".  There are some guys here who are plus handicaps and can hang with some of the best amateur players around.  If they starting playing to a 3 handicap they'd think their game had tanked.  There are probably others who have never broken 80 in their lives, and if would have to average triple digits before they think they are no longer playing well.

Maybe you should read the stuff Patrick Mucci wrote when he was really sick a couple years ago and had lost a lot of distance for a time.  I've never met the guy and hope I never have to go through what he did but it sure sounded to me like he had one hell of an attitude, and he found some new pleasures in the game despite not playing to his usual level.

He's recovered well from what I understand but I think when he ages to the point where that kind of play is all he can muster he'll still be enjoying the game at least as much and perhaps even more than he does now.  I hope I have an attitude even half as good as his when that (hopefully distant) day comes and father time saps me of my strength and I'm hitting the ball like my dad does now and a 200 yard drive comes only when I'm getting generous roll!

Its going to happen to us all someday, and technology can only compensate for so much.  I think I'll still be able to enjoy the game if I can still hit some shots to the best of my ability, even if that ability isn't what it is today.  Today I can hit shots that even pros couldn't reliably reproduce...though not always, or even often, obviously!  When they play a game with which I'm not even vaguely familar I think I'll miss that, but I think it might be pretty challenging to be forced to really play the course and not be able to fall back on power and altitude to solve most of the obstacles I encounter.

[Rich Goodale]

The only time to move down a set of tees is if you can't make the carry any more (e.g. #18 at Merion).  Otherwise, "rage, rage against the dying of the light" and devise new strategies and new shots for playing whatever course you are on.  I know and play againnst far too many golfers who are in their 70's and above who can still play to 0-5, in their own way.

[Tommy Williamsen]

Tommy,

I am no longer able to sin as well as I once could but I still give it my best effort.  Golf is only abut meeting, exceeding or failing at your expectations.  Lower the bar and belly up to it cause if you don't fail yourself you are only left to help others.

John, I am able  to sin at least as well as I used to, although I retired from drinking a few years ago.  When push comes to shove I know I will indeed "belly up."  I just hate this growing old stuff.  There is no way I could give up golf.  I just love being at a golf course.  I love the smell, the feel of the ground beneath my feet, the way my hands caress the club, the green serpentine fairways, sitting in the men's locker room, hearing the complaints about the number of three putts and being with my son just to watch him play. One guy at our club had a stroke and cannot grip the club with his left hand.  He has a Velcro glove and velcros his hand to the club.  He just loves to hit a golf ball and be on a golf course. I will just to sharpen up my short game.

I have had to do the same with skiing.  No more bumps, just nice blues.  It is still fun to be on the mountain. Truth be known my disc problem came from hitting a tree in Breckenridge.

[Chris Cupit]

I can't.

I will keep moving up to play a course that is manageable but when I get to where I can no longer play as I had for 25 years I'll quit.  I know people will disagree with that view but I am now almost to a point that I get enough satisfaction volunteering for junior golf events, officiating, setting up courses and dabbling in changes at my course, that playing is becoming less and less important to me.

[TEPaul]

TommyW:

I think this is such a good thread---a most interesting one.

It occurs to me that for those who really love the game of golf how they handle the questions you ask is simply a most personal thing for so many reasons. And because of that I really don't think anyone else should try to tell them what they should and shouldn't do in that vein.

For my part, I started later in life than most really dedicated goflers and I guess I sort of gave it up earlier than most dedicated golfers.

I didn't exactly quit either. It just occured to me after a while that I was going over there about 1/50th of the time I used to.

The interest just slipped away without me even realizeing it. I assumed my fairly recent interest in architecture probably filled that bill.

I've even begun to ask myself why I played like I did (as much as I did) and I believe I have found the answers.

I loved the game and I loved the other things it provided, the friends and the camaraderie of trying to do something special. I really loved the world of tournament golf.

But most of all it did some things really special for me with the ones I was closest to before I even took it up. The fact that I probably wasn't so aware of all that when it was happening is sort of sad to think about now.

I still like to go hit balls very occassionally and play in maybe one or two things but I realize as I get older and worse at it that the game of golf is and was for me so much more. Since about the age of 35 it and the interesting things surrounding it and relating to it have become a lot of my life.

So that's my story with golf and getting older and it is so different from the way my good friend Pat Mucci has used it and gone about it.

In my opinion, the way Pat Mucci has used golf and what golf has done for him is one of the best I've ever known. I hope he sees this thread and tells his story. It's pretty inspirational in many more ways than just golf.

[Mike_Young]

I can't.

I will keep moving up to play a course that is manageable but when I get to where I can no longer play as I had for 25 years I'll quit.  I know people will disagree with that view but I am now almost to a point that I get enough satisfaction volunteering for junior golf events, officiating, setting up courses and dabbling in changes at my course, that playing is becoming less and less important to me.

Chris,
I have a friend that says you never could in the first place......says he doesn't ever remember losing to you.......and I saw him shoot 89-91 in a Nationwide event just this year......

[Dan Smoot]

Tommy,

I am no longer able to sin as well as I once could but I still give it my best effort.  Golf is only abut meeting, exceeding or failing at your expectations.  Lower the bar and belly up to it cause if you don't fail yourself you are only left to help others.

John, I am able  to sin at least as well as I used to, although I retired from drinking a few years ago.  When push comes to shove I know I will indeed "belly up."  I just hate this growing old stuff.  There is no way I could give up golf.  I just love being at a golf course.  I love the smell, the feel of the ground beneath my feet, the way my hands caress the club, the green serpentine fairways, sitting in the men's locker room, hearing the complaints about the number of three putts and being with my son just to watch him play. One guy at our club had a stroke and cannot grip the club with his left hand.  He has a Velcro glove and velcros his hand to the club.  He just loves to hit a golf ball and be on a golf course. I will just to sharpen up my short game.

I have had to do the same with skiing.  No more bumps, just nice blues.  It is still fun to be on the mountain. Truth be known my disc problem came from hitting a tree in Breckenridge.

I appreciate what you have said.  My game has never been what I would like it to be.  I would get way too upset when I didn't meet my expectations.  It is something I realized was not good for me or the people I played with.  Frankly,  I didn't put into the game the necessary work to get to the level of play that matched my expectations.  I think it was something Arnold Palmer said to a good pro-am partner that finally rang true with me ...  You are not a good enough player to get mad about your play.  No one likes playing poorly.  Although I still have to correct my attitude at times, it is the things that you mentioned about the game that I am finding much more important.  The thing I enjoy now most of all is to have an opportunity to play golf with my Dad (in his 70's), my son and a few good friends.

There is so much to love about the game.  I still strive to do my best.  I try hard to not to let the outcome dictate my enjoyment.

[Jeff Spittel]

I suck pretty badly as is. Thanks for depressing me Tommy.

[John Keenan]

There is a banner in the barber shop I go to and I think it sums this issue up quite well. It says "Golf is like sex you do not need to be good to enjoy it"

[TEPaul]

Boorah, Mr Jeff Spittel---

What other recreation is as much of a "glass half empty/glass half full" kind of thing as golf is? You too can find the sunlit uplands in the game of golf.

[Lloyd_Cole]

Tommy

As M. Jagger sung - 'What a drag it is..'

I think much of my enjoyment of the game has come from the challenge of trying to improve. I think I'm not delusional to say that 3 years ago I started to see some really encouraging signs. Then in the Summer of 2006 I was suffering from knee pain and my doctor put me on golf leave - I didn't play again until Spring this year (surgery was 12/06) and I've played with some pain, when I have played, much of this year. I now find out that last year's surgery was unsuccessful and I will need another op ASAP. Probably no golf until May or so. I didn't play well once this year. But I did enjoy my time on the course, so I think I could get worse and still enjoy myself.  But what worries me most is the prospect of not being able to walk the course - of maybe having the choice of cart golf or no golf, and I really don't know which I'd choose.

[Mike_Cirba]

What exactly do you mean by "anymore"?  

[TEPaul]

"Re:What if you couldn't play well anymore?"

As a real inspiration to others who may be becoming depressed by the slippage of their games due to age, I'd like to offer the sort of otherworldly example of Mr. Ed Ervasti of London Ontario (and Florida?).

I guess Ed is about 91 or 92 now and it's said it can be well documented that he has shot his age over 3,000 TIMES!!! And not just that, but a few years ago at the age of about 90 he shot something like a 73 and in a TOURNAMENT.

I played with him (and his son and grandson) at the London Hunt Club a couple of summers ago and he is simply amazing. He hits it right down the middle and has a short game that's spectacular. If he misses a shot, which is still pretty rare, he still bitches and moans as if it should never happen.

For endurance and in the area of shooting one's age and better, Ed Ervasti, at this point, must be about ten miles ahead and around the proverbial corner from anyone else in the entire history of golf.

[Adrian_Stiff]

Tommy

As M. Jagger sung - 'What a drag it is..'

I think much of my enjoyment of the game has come from the challenge of trying to improve. I think I'm not delusional to say that 3 years ago I started to see some really encouraging signs. Then in the Summer of 2006 I was suffering from knee pain and my doctor put me on golf leave - I didn't play again until Spring this year (surgery was 12/06) and I've played with some pain, when I have played, much of this year. I now find out that last year's surgery was unsuccessful and I will need another op ASAP. Probably no golf until May or so. I didn't play well once this year. But I did enjoy my time on the course, so I think I could get worse and still enjoy myself.  But what worries me most is the prospect of not being able to walk the course - of maybe having the choice of cart golf or no golf, and I really don't know which I'd choose.

Lloyd I had a neck injury and I cant play very often, I need a cart for 18, I really want to walk though, the cart does ruins it a bit.

[Phil_the_Author]

Tommy,

Back in the late 70's to early 80's, I played scratch and hit the more than occasional 300 yard drive with my Pederson steel-shafted persimmon driver.

Today, after spinal fusion surgery in my neck, 8 stents, diabetes and a triple-bypass 2 months ago, the idea of breaking 110 seems too much to think about, but the idea of playing and walking a fairway and enjoying back-and-forth banter with golf buddies is NEVER far from my thoughts every day.

The hell with score... golf is so much more!

[Phil Benedict]

Trying to improve is one of the reasons I play, and failing to improve has been one of my frustrations with the game in the past.  I made progress this year and finished with an all-time low index, and will be disappointed if next year isn't better.

I just turned 55; take good care of myself; and haven't lost any speed or flexibility, yet.  I still play the back tees whenever possible.  I have a goal in mind and think I have a 10-year window to reach it before the inevitable loss of physical ability.  It's an unfortunate fact of life that by the time I have the opportunity to play golf 4 or 5 times a week, I will be past my physical prime.

Once 'getting better' is no longer part of the equation, I hope I have the same attitude my father had in his later years.  He lived until he was 89 and probably played his last round a year or so before he died.  I don't think he finished a hole in the last 5 years of his life.  He'd kind get up to the green, putt a couple of times and go on to the next hole.  But he never stopped being eager whenever the opportunity to do anything golf related came up, even if that was just going and hitting balls at an indoor range in Minneapolis in the middle of winter.  He always wanted to hit good shots even as his concept of a good shot changed.

[Jerry Kluger]

Tommy:

     I don't think our whole game tanks at once and what one needs to do is play to one's strengths.  

    Putting can go at any age and that is often helped by the long putter.  

    The loss of distance does not mean loss of hand eye coordination so you have to concentrate simply on hitting the ball solidly.  If you keep it in play and away from the severe trouble your game will remain at a high level.  

     Lastly, you have to keep your short game at a high standard.  Anyone who has been a 2 handicap has to have a solid short game and age should not affect that.  I played a two man better ball match against a gentleman who at 75 was able to get up and down from anywhere around the green.  His partner told me he was the CIA station chief in South Africa for many years and played regularly with Gary Player who showed him that you can get up and down from anywhere.

     By the way, don't be ashamed to take adavantage of technology.

[Tom_Doak]

A friend of mine who was a 1-handicap was serious injured in an auto accident several years back.  He managed to teach himself how to swing one-handed and played that way for a couple of years while rehabilitating his other arm.  He learned a ton about golf course architecture in the process, that what worked for him as a low-handicapper was needlessly penal for a shorter hitter.

As for myself, I can't keep it together for more than a few holes anymore, but I find that is enough to sustain my interest.  When it gets to where I can only hit it 180 yards, I think I'll have to move to the UK to find courses that are still interesting for me.

[tlavin]

Life, and golf, is all about failure and managing your expectations.  That sounds so goddamned philosophical I think I'll puke.

[Ken Moum]

When it gets to where I can only hit it 180 yards, I think I'll have to move to the UK to find courses that are still interesting for me.

Ah, the plight of the better-than-average adult female golfer.

Which explains why my wife keeps talking about finding a job in Scotland. (Not that I am adverse to the idea.)

The shorter I get off the tee, the less love I have for wet fairways and lush, green rough.

Dang! I wish Brora was closer to home!!

K

[BCrosby]

Wonderful thread.

TEP -

I've meant to ask you this for years. Have you ever read Darwin's piece called "Giving up the Game"?

Bob