What's your golf nicotine?

[Jason Thurman]

Addiction to cigarettes is caused by nicotine. Addiction to golf is caused by all kinds of things. For me, the feeling of a flush long iron shot is what keeps me coming back. It's probably the reason that I love big courses with hazards to work the ball around and over. I also have an affection for courses in valleys, as watching the ball soar against a backdrop is one of the most satisfying feelings in the game for me. Part of the reason that I'm #TeamPineNeedles instead of #TeamMidPines is that Pine Needles' bigger, brawnier terrain and longer holes inspire me more than the elegantly delicate short game options at Mid Pines.

What is the element of golf that causes your addiction, and how does it affect your perception of architecture?

[Chris Pearson]

Before I ever picked up a golf club, I played a TON of baseball, and all I ever wanted to do was SMASH the ball. I didn't care about defense; I didn't care about strategy; I just wanted to hit frozen ropes all over the field.

That's why, when I discovered golf, I fell in love immediately. You're always at bat, and depending on your club selection, you can almost always MAX HULK SMASH your shot (yes, even with a lob wedge).

But driving the ball? What a gift. Step up and bomb one. With a mentality like mine, no other sport (except maybe tennis) even comes close to fulfilling the insatiable desire to crush it.

As far as architecture goes, I definitely have more fun on courses where you can pull the driver out of the bag at least 10 times. I just think it's slightly contrived to have 7 doglegs or full-width fairway hazards (such as cross creeks, hell's half acres, and lakes) that force you to lay up off the tee.

That said, I can't say driver-friendly courses are unequivocally better, but I certainly think pinching too many shots off the tee is a poor substitute for stronger architectural strategy.

[John Kavanaugh]

My son recently told me that he smoked cigarettes in college because it gave him an excuse to take a study break. I golf for basically the same reason. This is one reason that minimum time spent at the course is never a goal. I just love having something to do that has no redeeming value.  I've pretty much lost interest in architecture as it's defined here after all the private courses went away but still enjoy being outside on a beautiful day.

[Paul Gray]

I honestly think, much as I love it, I could give up social golf or competitive golf or whatever golf involves a set tee time with a set group of people on a set day. I couldn't however do without the ability to just sling my clubs in the car and spend a few hours alone on a course, preferable a rugged links on a pleasant summers' evening where hitting golf balls until the light has completely gone is quite the norm. To separate myself from the world and think about nothing other than me, my swing and the course is, for me, a gentle form of meditation which gives me a far greater sense of calm than anything else I know.  

[Brent Hutto]

Before each shot I try my best to imagine or visualize the ball flying to my desired target. Unless I'm frustrated or angry with myself in which case I tend to just walk up and hack at it 

But for me the addictive part of golf is occasional shot where I look up after swinging and the ball does exactly what I imagined it would do. Same ball flight, lands in the exact spot, even bounces like I wanted it to bounce.

It's not so much the once or twice per round random "perfect" shot that keeps me hooked. It that round or two per year where at some point during the round a whole series of shots do exactly what I want them to. I had about a 10-hole stretch the last time I played at Royal St. George's in Sandwich where every tee shot and every approach shot was just perfect in execution and perfect in outcome.

If I were a rat in a Skinner box and that golf course were the button I'd sit there and push the button until I starved to death. It was a truly ecstatic experience. Even though I came back down to earth for the final few holes of the round and made my usual mix of bogies and doubles, I felt like I was walking on air the rest of the day and I still think about those 10 holes almost every day a year and a half later.

[Ian Mackenzie]

For me, it is the well-executed recovery shot.
Sure, I love flushing a 4 iron or driver. But after hitting a less than ideal shot and finding myself (as an example) deep in the rough and surrounded by trees yet with an opening that requires a low punch cut (or draw) to the green, I start licking my chops.

When executed correctly and the ball does exactly what I asked it to amid danger, hazards and the potential for failure, it is like a drug to me.

[Ian Andrew]

A nearly impossible carry angle, over something very deep and nasty, with a big reward for being so dumb...

I'm a dreamer and I love architecture that encourages a dreamer to play the part of the fool.

[Bruce Katona]

Seeing the shot required, imagining the shot required in your minds eye, perfoming the required swing and getting the result your minds eye imagined.

Most of us can do this once a round - thats what keeps me interested.

[Terry Lavin]

The 19th Hole?

[JC Jones]

The 19th Hole?

That certainly is where you play your best.

I'm addicted to the few shots I hit per round that are exactly as I imagined but more so,, I'm addicted to hanging out with great guys at great places.  Every course and every club has a story and experiencing that with people who help tell it is as good as it gets for me.

[BHoover]

Hitting an absolutely pure drive or long iron, and pulling off an improbable recovery shot to save par are the things that keep me coming back for more.  The chance to meet great people and hear their stories is another thing that drives my love for golf. Finally, the chance to experience great new courses and learn about the history of those places is exciting.

[Michael Wharton-Palmer]

Sevearal things actually.
One..I love to practice, I mean really love to practice.
Hittyinh that solid iron shot that presses out of the ground is the ultimate to me, so much so that I embarked on a oiong swing change about 4 years ago so that I could feel that more often.
I was prepared to sacrifice my somehwat acceptable competitive record in order to be able to hit that kind of shot more often.
At this atge it is more about the quality of the strike than the score I put on the scorecard, sort of been there done that!!!

The next is the thrill of playing a well designed golf course and traveling to play one that is on ones"list"

[jeffwarne]

a nice scenic ride to a remote, rustic links location,
two pints in the bar
automatic one down presses with junk
in that order

[Brent Hutto]

The next is the thrill of playing a well designed golf course and traveling to play one that is on ones"list"

I suspect a *large* portion of GolfClubAtlas regulars share this with you. And I suspect a truly minuscule portion of non-GolfClubAtlas golfers feel this way. It's probably an important distinction between "us" and "them" that ought to be kept in mind when we're tempted to overgeneralize our supposed conclusions in our discussions here.

[BHoover]

Sevearal things actually.
One..I love to practice, I mean really love to practice.
Hittyinh that solid iron shot that presses out of the ground is the ultimate to me, so much so that I embarked on a oiong swing change about 4 years ago so that I could feel that more often.
I was prepared to sacrifice my somehwat acceptable competitive record in order to be able to hit that kind of shot more often.
At this atge it is more about the quality of the strike than the score I put on the scorecard, sort of been there done that!!!

I agree with you, MWP. If I have free time, one of the things I love to do is to hit balls on a range or practice pitch shots or bunker shots. I'd almost rather practice than play, especially if the option is playing alone. There also is nothing quite like the feel of an iron compressing the ball against firm turf.

[Eric Smith]

Dry, firm rumpled ground that goes thump when you slam your club down on it.

Plenty of parking.

[Michael Graham]

In terms of a particular shot it would have to be a well struck 3 wood from the fairway. For me there is no more satisfying shot to pull off than a pure fairway wood off the deck.

My nicotine, however, is pulling off a shot when I have to. When the pressure is on and you have to rise to the occasion. It's one thing knowing I can play the shot, it's a whole other matter to be able to do it when the chips are down. 1st round of the winter foursomes/alternate shot knockout competition on Sunday. We were one down standing on the 18 knowing I needed to find the fairway to give us a chance. That gentle draw round the dogleg setting up an easy par to extend the match is the type of shot that keeps me coming back.

[Michael Wharton-Palmer]

The next is the thrill of playing a well designed golf course and traveling to play one that is on ones"list"

I suspect a *large* portion of GolfClubAtlas regulars share this with you. And I suspect a truly minuscule portion of non-GolfClubAtlas golfers feel this way. It's probably an important distinction between "us" and "them" that ought to be kept in mind when we're tempted to overgeneralize our supposed conclusions in our discussions here.

I agree Brent, as has become apparent recently when talking to people about my trip to Australia and the volume of golf being packed into my time there. "Why go all that way to spend so much time on the golf course'
and you know what it is a perfectly valid point.....to them

[Ryan Coles]

Nothing sadly.

Working in golf has killed my enjoyment of playing competitively or with any regularity. Funny thing is, I don't even miss it and I cannot make myself care about the outcome. It used to take me a week to get over a loss or a bad round, now buffer zones, standard scratch, the annual knockout etc, all seems completely trivial.

I still love playing great courses, but it takes a good one to get me interested and even then I'd probably be just as happy walking the course as playing. It's a vicious circle. The less you play the worse you get. The worse you get the less you want to play.

Still love the game and being involved, just not the actual playing.

[Peter Pallotta]

1. I'm not yet addicted to, or more accurately I've endured a lifetime of withdrawals from, the charms and beauty and rightness of a golf course like Walton Heath-Old.  

2. 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.

Peter    

[Peter Pallotta]

Speaking of which, I'm more than ever convinced that the magic trick of great golf course architecture is that it affords multiple opportunities and indeed engenders these moments of transcendence, i.e. it sets one stage after another after another (off the tee, on the approach, on and around the greens, hole after hole) for a golfer to experience this other-worldly feeling. (I think that's one of the reasons that links courses offering rugged moon-scapes hard by an infinite sky and immeasurable ocean are so deeply appreciated -- the very setting is other-wordly).

Peter

[Rich Goodale]

Sinking putts.

I played Gullane #1 yesterday and hit 16 fairways about as long as I can hit the ball off the tee these days (aka "short"), a few wayward 2nd shots but 5-6 very makeable birdie putts from solid iron shots (with my regripped Apex irons, Peter P!) and only sank one.  Fortunately, I was playing with two very good friends, and it was a great time on about as good a November day as you can get in Scotland--60 degrees F with virtually no wind.  Experience-wise it was a 10.  Jones-wise it was a 5--even the 20 foot sidehill/downhiller I sunk for a birdie was a lucky result with a bad putt.  Nicotine is (was) a much more faithful companion than The Claw (tm).

IMHO

[Dave McCollum]

My nicotine, however, is pulling off a shot when I have to. When the pressure is on and you have to rise to the occasion. It's one thing knowing I can play the shot, it's a whole other matter to be able to do it when the chips are down.

Sums it up nicely for me.  An subset of this is pulling off a difficult recovery from the junk or jail.  I get called a "garbage man" because I think I focus better on these types of shots.     

[Jason Topp]

Competition.  I am not always the best competitor (in fact the last couple of years I have sucked) but competition drives my interest in playing the game and improving my skills. 

[Steve Okula]

Nothing sadly.

Working in golf has killed my enjoyment of playing competitively or with any regularity. Funny thing is, I don't even miss it and I cannot make myself care about the outcome. It used to take me a week to get over a loss or a bad round, now buffer zones, standard scratch, the annual knockout etc, all seems completely trivial.

I still love playing great courses, but it takes a good one to get me interested and even then I'd probably be just as happy walking the course as playing. It's a vicious circle. The less you play the worse you get. The worse you get the less you want to play.

Still love the game and being involved, just not the actual playing.

I can totally empathize. I love being on a golf course, it's my natural environment, but I possess a singular lack of talent for the game, in spite of playing since I was 5 years old.

"The worse you get the less you want to play."

Indeed. My game now is so bad that it has become a misery to play. It's so boring to be in deep trouble off every tee all day, hit fat irons, smothered hooks, duffed chips, and four putts, and I only play when I absolutely have to. Lately that means just going out to amuse my kids when they want to play. I haven't got the time or the interest to start lessons, hours of practice, and hundreds of onerous days playing golf to maybe get back down to a 14 handicap.

I would be perfectly happy to never lift another club in my life.