What do you LIKE about golf (and GIB) VS what do you UNLIKE about golf?

[paul cowley]

Well Ben...that's one reason I invited Gib over here to help him hash out his malaise...and he's doing quite well...so well in fact that I added him to the subject title.

Now if you think a similar treatment might benefit your outlook then just go ahead and apply and we'ill see where it goes!

[Gib_Papazian]

Ben me lad,

Not to worry. My breakfast eggs are rarely sunny-side up anymore, so I find it easier to simply surrender to my negative urges and spray Roundup on everybody's rose garden.

I'm going to guess – doing a rough calculation of when you swallowed the hemlock of wedlock – the little woman's sewing circle have been having complaint sessions on male irritability; not to worry, I know Jim Harbaugh and you're no Jim Harbaugh.

My experience of 25 years is that enthusiasm for golf architecture ebbs and flows like everything else. The accumulted stress of babysitting towelhead morons from the co-pilot seat has clearly knocked your pellet from its tee.

The best advice is a warm snifter of cognac and a thorough re-read of Robert Hunter's The Links. This never fails to put the fertilizer back in my bag and recharge my zest for dissecting strategic geometries.

Then grab your sticks and go play a quirky gem with a Treehouse veteran. Your attendance at the King's Putter might be mandatory. We'll put a feeding tube of Tecate and Hornitos down your gullet; you'll be good as new in no time.  

[Paul Gray]

Like:

1) First hole par 3. In a minority here I know but it forces a certain amount of spacing between groups where some of the more money grabbing clubs would dearly love to cram in a few more groups. Besides, there's only so much damage I can do with a 5 iron in my hands. 
2) Gib (and why not, given that he's taken a central role in this thread). Officially, despite us seemingly being diametrically opposed in so many ways, a daily route through Gib's postings is always enough to brighten my mood. Well done and thank you.

Dislike:

1) The 230 yard par 3 on a busy course at around about the third or fourth hole, potentially with a 200 yard carry over water. Nothing makes my heart sink more than joining up with sixteen other waiting golfers to watch some hacks play it as a long par 9 whilst remaining completely oblivious to all other human life around them.

[Ben Sims]

Gib,

You're correct that it is accumulated stress. But I think it's more from a hotel room for the last three months than those crazy Shits (whoops, Shiites) back in 2011.  Today I found a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. 1)  Flying a low level in the Cascades in the simulator today got me more excited for moving back to the west coast. 2)  Having a debate with a Lt Col that ended when I said his views on religion in govt and homosexuality were un-American.  I realized that the most I had ever defended the Constitution was in that moment.  And he acquiesced that he was at odds with his beliefs and his oath. #winning

Combined with your post, those were enough to drop the disco ball back onto my dance floor.  I'm going to cuddle up with an early afternoon IPA and The Links now.

Like

Hitting the ball far
Getting a well struck chip or pitch to check or stop
Ballyneal in August
Augusta in April
Bandon anytime, all the time
Don Mahaffey's work ethic and drive
Beer on the course
Meeting lifelong friends on a golf website
Doak greens
My puffin head cover Murphy
Michael Murphy
17-mile drive fantasies
John Kirk's mind
Urethane covers
Fescue greens
Yardage markers
Centerline bunkers
Blind pot bunkers at the back of a green
Colton's generosity
The National
Well managed turf for golf
True Linkswear
Titleist
Black and white pics of classic courses
Bullets waiting for you on the range
Hot coffee in the pro shop
Playing a short, fun, interesting golf course for the first time
Par on any hole at Oakmont or PV
Walking a golf course without clubs or a ball

[Chris Johnston]

Dislike:

Double bogeys
Duck hooks
Three putts
Pretentiousness
Arrogance
Sandbaggers

Like:

Birdies
Old friends
New friends
Feel
Firm and fast - (what I used to be)
Consistent green speeds - not too fast/not too slow.
Ground game
Creativity
Quiet
Cargo shorts
Backstops
Great steak and pork chops
Unique views
Belgian beers
Affordability
Dogs
Amazement
Sand roads
Cows
Friends (again)

[Sven Nilsen]

Anyone else playing the fortune cookie game with this thread?  Add "in bed" to the end of every like or dislike, some of the results are disturbing, but in general they're pretty funny.

Three of my favorites:

A visit to an old favorite years later...
Quiet...
My puffin headcover Murphy...

[Greg Tallman]

Like  
A golf course I enjoy yet have never heard of the person who designed it
350 yard par 4's where driving the green is not, and never was intedned to be, an option
Hitting a shot I believed I no longer possessed the talent to author
A caddie telling a guy "not your best" after a half shank on the 18th hole
Sandy par from the beach
Greens that look like crap but play perfectly
6700 yard courses from the tips
Hitting less than 5 greens and keeping it around par
Traveling dentists

Unlike
Being told I must enjoy the course because so and so designed it
Hitting what I thought was a good shot only to find out I play like I am 85 rather than half that age
A caddie misreading a green by 2 feet on a 15 foot putt
Golfers who complain about greens that roll perfectly simply because they are not green
7500 yard courses
Traveling investment bankers

[Ben Sims]

Anyone else playing the fortune cookie game with this thread?  Add "in bed" to the end of every like or dislike, some of the results are disturbing, but in general they're pretty funny.

Three of my favorites:

A visit to an old favorite years later...
Quiet...
My puffin headcover Murphy...

I'm honored that  this exercise has forced you to read my post and think of being in bed with Colton. 

[Sven Nilsen]

Anyone else playing the fortune cookie game with this thread?  Add "in bed" to the end of every like or dislike, some of the results are disturbing, but in general they're pretty funny.

Three of my favorites:

A visit to an old favorite years later...
Quiet...
My puffin headcover Murphy...

I'm honored that  this exercise has forced you to read my post and think of being in bed with Colton. 

Not even the most disturbing one, that honor went to Fuzzy Zoeller. 

[Chris Johnston]

Anyone else playing the fortune cookie game with this thread?  Add "in bed" to the end of every like or dislike, some of the results are disturbing, but in general they're pretty funny.

Three of my favorites:

A visit to an old favorite years later...
Quiet...
My puffin headcover Murphy...

Colton's generosity?...In bed?  Um, Ben?
Cows?..in bed?
Sandbaggers?...in bed?
Cargo shorts?  In bed?  Um, maybe not.

Hmmm...

I might warm up to the idea of three putts and duck hooks   Backstops too.

[Cory Lewis]

one dislike I recently encountered:

when a course claims to have undertaken a restoration when it's clearly a renovation.  If you put in bunkers that don't even look like the originals and move greens closer to the water that were never near the water, it ain't a restoration!