What's your golf nicotine?

[Gene Greco]

   Golf on the Monterey Peninsula and in Santa Cruz

[Rob Curtiss]

There are so many things :
Playing with new people that love golf like I do
Playing with my regular guys on a course we all know well for the competition
Playing a brand new course- nothing like it
Going to out of the way places to play a course- Bandon - Dismal - Sand Hills
Hitting that perfect drive down a narrow fairway
Getting a Birdie on the toughest hole
Watching someone else play better than me and hit shots I cant
hitting that recovery shot after a horrible drive
making a long putt to save par
As Walter Hagen said - on a par 4 - it takes 3 bad shots and one good shot to make par-

[Brian Hilko]

I love hitting an uphill golf shot were the risky shot is to carry a deep bunker. I just love the thrill of the shot and not knowing instantly were your ball has ended up. So much fun!

[Dan Kelly]

Most of you have answered a question that is sometimes asked around here - why would an 18 handicapper like me play with old Hogan blades? Because the nicotine, the 'juice' (not the fun or the pleasant experiences or even the happiness, all of which I'm grateful for) is the moment of unexpected transcendence, i.e. those moments when suddenly but most assuredly I find myself living in a universe where 2+2=5, where magic and mystery are not outside of/alien to the natural order of created being but instead at the very heart of it.

Here's a minor miracle: the other day, wet, windy and cold, I got to a 195 yard Par 3 and pulled out a 3 iron  and aimed for the right side of the green and tried to draw it into a left side back pin placement, and I stayed down and came in from the inside and heard a sharp crack like a gun shot and watched the ball soar up on its intended line and draw in (though not enough) and land on the middle of the green, from where I two putted for par. And so for one brief instance, Ben Hogan and I -- separated by time and space and talent and life and death -- were able to share one singular, similar experience, i.e. the experience of mastery.

Great description, Peter, and I know whereof you speak -- but to me, it doesn't begin to explain why you'd play with outdated clubs. Hogan never did, did he?

For me, there are a bunch of nicotines -- and I'm in withdrawal from all of them this week, with the end of our season. (My wife and my daughter Rose have both, independently, told me that I am a little *off* these days -- and they're right. And they know why.)

Here's one golf nicotine -- sort of the flip side of mastery: the ridiculously (or perhaps sublimely) lucky shot.

In my last round of 2014, I came to our 16th hole (a c. 200-yard hole that Seth Raynor called "Redan," but which is really unlike any other hole I've played; the green looks like a Frisbee twisted down with your left hand and up with your right -- or like a potato chip). I was playing well, as I generally do when playing alone -- but I hit my worst tee shot of the day: a hybrid hit very thin. It cleared the water hazard, which should NEVER be in play, and ran up the hill toward the green, right toward the hole -- which was in a front-and-center location.

The ball had no chance of getting up the hill. I was about 20 yards short (22 by my pacing, afterward). The hole was 15 to 20 feet onto the green. I took out my putter, aimed seven or eight feet left of the hole (I knew there would be a big break right as soon as the ball got on the green) and gave it a big rap.

I guess I've given it away that the ball zipped up the hill, rolled onto the green, took a 60-degree turn to the right and dropped.

I felt like Costantino Rocca, in the Valley of Sin, in the final round of the 1995 Open. In my mind, I got down on my knees and pounded the turf in disbelief.

It is shots like those (along with many, many other moments) that will keep me addicted to golf, so long as I can play a little.

[Matthew Lloyd]

My golf addiction is primarily socially driven as I rarely play alone:

-- It gives me a chance to spend a lot of time with my dad
-- It gives me a chance to see friends I'd otherwise not see that often.
-- It gives my dog a chance to be off his leash and away from all the rules of city parks

But from a pure golfing standpoint, the following keep me coming back for more:

-- well struck tee shots
-- holing out 10-12 foot par putts
-- impossible 100-130 yard par 3s

[Charlie Ray]

Some great answers guys.  It showcases why this dumb game has such a broad intrigue.

My nicotine is that golf captures the sense of leisure wonderfully.  Yesterday, I witnessed a 61 year old man smiling from ear to ear as he stretched his lead over me; making 3 birdies with an excellent par in the middle.  Not to be crude, but he said repeatedly, “this is better than sex.”  And I would imagine that it certainly did, although it physically fatigued him greatly, you could tell that he was acting exactly like a teenager.  And that is proper recreation;  it ‘re-creates’ what used to be there.

Hitting a ball with a stick is fun because there is nothing important about it;  although the one hitting the ball thinks it is extremely important.   That’s why golf is a great leisure,  in truth there is nothing important about it, but at the time it captures 100% of our attention.

[Chris DeToro]

Honestly everything about the game--this board, playing new places, meeting new people, sharing stories, playing with my dad and friends

[John McCarthy]

Hitting a shot that every professional would be proud to hit.  IE the 90 foot chip that ends up six inches away from the cup.  Happens once or twice a round for me. 

But really, playing until dark with best friends and not having to drive home. 

[Joe Hancock]

Playing golf with people who are as likely to giggle at the shot you are about to attempt, as you are. The high cut 185 yard driver aimed 70 degrees off-line, as an example.

Joe

[Bill_McBride]

Playing golf with people who are as likely to giggle at the shot you are about to attempt, as you are. The high cut 185 yard driver aimed 70 degrees off-line, as an example.

Joe

Or my skulled pitch at Aiken that caught the backstop WAY behind the hole and rolled back to tap in range.   I love shots like that. 

[Rees Milikin]

The fact that the game can never be perfected and the frustration that comes along with trying to reach that perfection are what make me addicted.  However, I love the fact that you can play with or without friends and I like competing against myself to get better, not worrying about how I compare to others. 

[Criss Titschinger]

First tee is hope springs eternal. Then you get down on yourself and you feel like quitting. Suddenly, you have a rush of good shots and scores and you try to get even better. Except sometimes, it's like chasing the purple dragon; you never catch that career best ever again.

The thrill that the game you'll play is different every day. Even if you play the same course, there's always something about the grass or the weather that makes that game different and special.

That, and never knowing what you're going to see. I saw this one guy slam a ball through and past the hole, only to see it roll back into the hole...

[Colin Macqueen]

Och aye …. as Criss says "Hope springs eternal"! There is no question that I am addicted.  So what is the lure?

As a few others have intimated it is, for me, that transcendental moment that I might get maybe once a round as the ball soars and hangs against the blue sky. That one shot where the purity of the strike allows the flushed ball to take flight. I stand there transported. I think of it as an atavistic feeling much the same as spear or boomerang throwing might have felt to our forebears.

I remember, distinctly, a shot of this ilk at Carnoustie against an eggshell blue sky on a balmy summer's evening many moons ago. In Australia where a lovely blue sky is commonplace I get plenty of opportunity to feed this habit and, just like many an addict, do not get enough of it and always want more! It's all a bit tragic isn't it?!

Cheers Colin

[John Connolly]

When I, after years of resisting and convincing myself I'm not the golfer that needs to, pull the 8 iron instead of the 9 and knock it on the green.

[Tony_Muldoon]

First tee is hope springs eternal. Then you get down on yourself and you feel like quitting. Suddenly, you have a rush of good shots and scores and you try to get even better. Except sometimes, it's like chasing the purple dragon; you never catch that career best ever again.

The thrill that the game you'll play is different every day. Even if you play the same course, there's always something about the grass or the weather that makes that game different and special.

That, and never knowing what you're going to see. I saw this one guy slam a ball through and past the hole, only to see it roll back into the hole...

I like this one.


Peter I've never had the nicotine habit but to me golf doesn't solve any need in a predictable way?  Is there any mystique abou the effect of nicotine?

To me the best explanation of golf's fascination is provided by George Plimton in The Bogey Man.   He was a good amateur golfer (and athlete) and spent a few weeks competing in semi pro and with sponsors invites, pro Golf tournaments.  Eventually this beat him down and he put the clubs away.

After a few months he found himself drawn back on the course...."to see what happpens next".







Note it is many years since I read the book, but that's what I recall. I would be most interested if I've reinvented the story to suit myself.

[Tony_Muldoon]

At the risk of labouring the point.

This goes someway to explaining the attraction of some courses over others.  Even if I didn't intend to hit it here, I still want an interesting outcome.


It also helps explain the golfer losing his love for the game as he loses his abililty.  When one becomes confident that one will nearly always fail to pull off a shot you used to manage with some regularity, where's the joy?

[Sean_A]

Playing golf with people who are as likely to giggle at the shot you are about to attempt, as you are. The high cut 185 yard driver aimed 70 degrees off-line, as an example.

Joe

Joe

Its not so much the shots which may me laugh, but the courses which have shots that one can seemingly laugh along with.  This element of whimsy seems to be making its way back into architecture and I wonder if Tobacco Road was a catalyst. 

For me, there are few things more pleasing than seeing a cool design in damn near perfect brown condition.  Sure, the odd shot here and there widens the eye, but more and more these days my focus is more on what is possible rather than what I did or can do.

Ciao

[Jeff Spittel]

An emergency nine with a couple of buddies and a few beers on a lovely evening is pretty hard to top.

[Josh Tarble]

I love pretty much everything about playing, but a few things stick out to me.
- Playing with new and old friends.  I love the social aspect of the game.
- Draining a big putt.  No better feeling than making a putt you need to make
- Smoking a driver.  
- Hitting a great recovery shot
- Picturing a shot in your mind, then pulling it off
- Gambling

[Jason Thurman]

That, and never knowing what you're going to see. I saw this one guy slam a ball through and past the hole, only to see it roll back into the hole...

I think I've heard this story, although I didn't observe it myself. Wasn't that the guy who heroically led his brethren from the East out from under the West rule to golf's promised land? I hear Ridley Scott has a movie coming out about that great East Team's arduous journey starring Christian Bale, although a friend of mine said it greatly undersells the severity of the ecological conditions they braved.

[BHoover]

I love pretty much everything about playing, but a few things stick out to me.
- Playing with new and old friends.  I love the social aspect of the game.
- Draining a big putt.  No better feeling than making a putt you should
- Smoking a driver. 
- Hitting a great recovery shot
- Picturing a shot in your mind, then pulling it off
- Gambling

Josh pretty much nails it.

[Paul Gray]

For me, the execution is fun, but it's all about the environment. So my nicotine is beautiful, firm turf, visual texture and ambience. My reason for playing golf is strongly linked to these elements.

Much in my line of thinking.

Also, is it just me that gets childishly excited avout ringing a bell? Before rejoing Hayling I played about with the idea of Stoneham or Liphook. But the bell experience at Hayling is far superior so that clinched it!

[Marc Haring]

An emergency nine with a couple of buddies and a few beers on a lovely evening is pretty hard to top.

Jeff. Howabout 18 holes with buddies on a lovely evening and a few beers and playing well.

[Philip Caccamise]

Competition. The way the club suddenly feels different in your hands when the pressure's on. Execution under pressure, validating the hours of practice to prepare for those moments.

[Steve Wilson]

Even when I was in the high single digits as a handicap, I was never a good consistent driver of the ball so I didn't get the thrill out of the tee ball that a lot of players do.  A successful tee shot was always a relief rather than an expected result.    

The part of the game that always gave me the most satisfaction was shaping shots.  The other day I took advantage of some of our unseasonably warm weather and threw my Sunday bag over my back.  I was hitting the ball solidly but making nothing happen.  Then
I found myself in the middle of a fairway at a distance that left me between clubs.  In my mind's eye I practiced a 2/3 knockdown shot, then I took two abbreviated practice swings and then stood to the ball.  As soon as i hit I knew that I had achieved precisely what I had anticipated and practiced.  At this point, the suspense begins to see if all that preparation and judgement was correct.  Looking up I saw the ball covering the flag and felt it was indeed nearly perfect.   Long story short three feet past and almost went in as it rolled by.  At that point, no matter what else happened the day was a success.

I guess that's a long winded way of saying that I enjoy the improvisational part of the game. Someone mentioned recovery shots in an earlier post, and recovery shots are among my favorite moments as recovery shots are by very nature the essence of improvisation. Whether it is trying to move the ball left to right, or keep it low, or read a complicated looking putt.  I remember the first time I played the 17th   Pete Dye which has the green that looks like a stormy tossed sea.  I had about twenty feet for par and after evaluating all the potential influences on the putt I realized it was dead straight.  I didn't make it, but the satisfaction of hitting it dead at the hole and being validated was something I obviously still remember.

I love to figure out the chips and short pitches around challenging green complexes.  The suspense and reward of seeing the ball land where you wanted and then observe it wending its way near or on occasion, mirabile dictu into the hole.