Guys...I've been finding the thread very interesting. Bob, I think it was, stated that golf was competition. I disagree. A golf tournament is competition. I think golf in its primal sense is much more than competition...it is excercise, a mental and physical challenge, a test of character and intergrity, as well as competition...who you choose to compete with is up to you, it could be another person, it could be yourself, it could be the course. But if you play the game, by the rules, it doesn't matter if you play match, medal, or all by your lonesome of a golf course...golf is still golf.
Thus far, I've played in three tournaments...if it matters I've won 2 of those on a net basis and the one I lost I played in 5 weeks after my second hip replacement. In comparison to all the tournaments I've played, I have found that the vast majority of the rounds I've played by myself have felt like the purest forms of golf. Hit the ball, play it as it lies, and put the ball in the hole. Even in the tournaments, I've found that if the ball was within a certain length from the hole...it was a gimmie. That is not pure golf. Also, in casual nassau type games...people usually take two off the first tee. This type of stuff is playing at golf, not playing golf...right? Whether you play it by yourself or with others is irrelevant in my book...it is how you played it.
Also, I have been curious to observe why people play golf. I think I have found a few general categories of reasons. One is competition. The question these guys always ask others when they heard they played golf is...what did you shoot? Another is what I call the "snob factor"...the question these guys ask is...where did you play? (now for the record, I don't mean the "snob factor" to be a negative description and if it is taken that way you can throw me in this camp at least partially...so I am cutting myself down). Another category of golfers that I haven't found a label for are the guys who ask, did you have fun? I hope I fit this category most of all.
Anyway, there are my 2 cents on this game and what it is all about. But remember I've only been playing for a little over 2 years.