Would you play golf if you only had a mediocre course to play?

[Tommy Williamsen]

This past fall I played golf with two young lads who were members at a top 100 course in Ireland. During the course of the round one remarked, "If I weren't a member here, I doubt I'd play more than a dozen rounds of golf a year. "How many rounds do you play now?" "Oh, I don't know but maybe three or four times a week."


I have to say, I understand. I used to belong to a rather pedestrian club. I played, but didn't really enjoy the round much. I enjoyed playing with friends and family, but never alone. I wonder if I like golf as much as I think I do.

[Brock Lynch]

I believe this depends on what you have been exposed to. I have been very fortunate to have been able to play some great places over the last 15-20 years. I enjoy playing at my two home courses; Apple Valley & Spring Valley Lake. Outside of that, there are few courses near me that I desire to go play and I think it is because I have seen some of the best courses in the world. Its hard to get pumped up for a round at Soboba Springs when I played at Bandon the month before and at St. Andrews the prior summer. My home courses have great greens and are in good condition. The layouts and topography do not excite. They are mediocre courses. My friends and local competitors play there and I enjoy playing with them. The courses themselves do not inspire me. I will continue to play those courses until I retire next year and then I will go somewhere that has great golf courses that I can play on a regular basis. Would I play 4-5 times per week at a mediocre course? Yes. However,  I would still long for those special places.

[James Brown]

Yes!  Without question.  Golf started in a pasture in Fife. 

[jeffwarne]

Yes 100%
edit:after considerable thought about the premise of the thread
If you love golf, you play golf.
How interesting was Seve's childhood course in Pedrena ?(the beach)
Not playing golf because you only had a mediocre course to play is like saying "I'm too good for that course so I'm not going to play at all"

Not exactly the question but In fact I'm more likely to play and enjoy a course not populated by those who play/join because it's "Top 100"
My question for the two lads in Ireland would be
1.Is it the course or the membership that attracts you ?(because I completely get the aspect of playing more where there are regular games)
If was referring to the course itself
2"What do you like about this course-and what do you dislike about nearby options"

[Erik J. Barzeski]

I think I'd play a mediocre design but a reasonably well kept up course.

If the course was in absolutely abysmal shape, with rocks and dirt spots more than grass in the fairways and the like, probably not so much. I might become a range guy, as I don't think I'll ever lose the joy of just catching one right on the button.

[Duncan Cheslett]

I have well over 100 golf courses to choose from within a 40 minute drive. Of those there are maybe half a dozen that I could be a member of and enjoy playing regularly.


Most of the rest would bore me into giving up the game. I have absolutely no desire to hit a ball around a farmer's field augmented with flags and bunkers - and more pertinently, trees!


This was brought home to me the other week. Cavendish is a 35 minute drive away, and while this is fine for  golf at the weekend, it is just a little too far away for a few holes in the evening after work. I made enquiries at my local club about a "Twilight" membership, and they offered me a very attractive deal.


The course is well regarded locally and they have a thriving membership. I was rather looking forward to securing myself a subsidiary golfing berth and making new acquaintances...




...until I played the course!


I've played it many times before in other circumstances, and found it okay if a little dull. Playing from the point of view of a prospective member however, was enough to make my heart sink. There is no way I could rouse myself to go and play there week after week. It would be purgatory!

So no - if all I had was a mediocre course to play on I am pretty sure I wouldn't play golf.

[Thomas Dai]

You’ve raised another interesting thread Tommy!


For many years I was a member at a top ranked U.K. links course, one greatly admired herein. After a while and repeated play it did get a bit boring. But, a game somewhere else on a lower quality course soon brought me back to my senses as I realised how lucky I was and how, as the cliche says, the grass isn’t greener over the hill.


As to playing on relatively uninteresting courses, or poorly conditioned ones, I was once faced with this situation and it was one of the reasons I took up playing part-time with hickories on the basis that if I was going to be playing on a course as bland and poorly maintained as a field with flags from 100 yrs ago I might as well play with 100 yr old clubs!


The nature, aura and social aspects of the Club are also important, to some maybe more than to others. Friendly-unfriendly, competitive-social etc etc. And, as Duncan mentions, distance from home if you just want to play a few holes of an evening. The desire to play a few evening holes also brings up a variation between a private members club and a pay-n-play facilility. Not sure I’d still be playing if all golf were just pay-n-play or resort.


Atb

[Niall C]

The quality of course is surely only one factor. Accessibility in terms of travel times to the course must play a big part as must playability when you get there. By playability I mean how often is it really in decent nick ie. is it an all year round course or just that 3-4 month spell during the summer when you don't have to play in welly's ? And of course how busy is it ? It could be the best course in the world but if every round had to start at the first hole and you had to wait to get on the tee only to "enjoy" a 5 hour plus round thereafter, I don't know I'd be playing that course too often.

Niall

[Chuck Glowacki]

What Jeff said

[Greg Smith]

Yes, if everything else were ok, including:

1)  Price point. 

2)  Could I afford to be a member?   Being a member gets me to play more, as I have sort of a "home" at that club; a spot in the locker room, social relationships, etc.   Pay for play is more of a hit or miss deal.

3)  If a member, are the off-course facilities comfortable?  I wouldn't want an overblown clubhouse, for example (my money is getting spent on that).  But what reasonably humble facilities are there MUST be comfortable.  And of course, I want happy (and hopefully decently-paid) staff to liven up the scene.

4)  Golf club only would be a plus -- too many non-golfers running around is a distraction.  If the place is all about the game, I could overlook some bad golf holes.

5)  Conditioning.  I don't want an over-conditioned course (more of my money getting spent!), but the surfaces have to be consistently decent and well-drained.  Can't have weather constantly making the place a quagmire and getting in the way of enjoyment.

[archie_struthers]

 


Absolutely its all about the company!  If the greens are good then it really doesn't matter too much

[John Kavanaugh]

The idea that some of you would become better people if you couldn't play great golf courses makes you the worst kind of people of all.

[MCirba]

Oh my God, yes!

My first round ever back on July 13th, 1971 was on a 2200 yard nine hole ramshackle, farm-converted course and by the time I stepped off the 1st green 11 strokes later I was madly in love.

1103 courses played and almost 48 years later I still am smitten and every year I try to play every kind of course and I'm thankful I have friends who feel similarly.   

One day this past year Joe Bausch, Matt Frey and I played these three courses in one day; 

https://www.lagunaoaksgolf.com/
https://golfheritagelinks.com/
http://www.ocnj.us/index.cfm?fuseaction=content.pageDetails&id=6029&typeID=179

Another day this summer I played hooky and did this trio from near where I grew up;

https://www.golflorain.com/
http://www.visitwaynecounty.com/place/memorial_links_golf_course
http://clubatthehighlands.com/golf/the-course/

I also am lucky to have played some places a bit more familiar to the cognoscenti but the soul of the game is often easier found at these type of tracks.

[Jay Mickle]

I played courses mediocre munis for 40 years. If the rate is right I still play if my course is not available and other clubs are too dearly valuing their worth to me.  I enjoy a good walk and my game is not at the level of the courses that I most enjoy anyway.
I will also during the year play some of the areas courses that provide good venues to "grow the game", they need support also.

[Jeff Schley]

Played many muni's that were average as best for many years and really enjoyed it because of the people I golfed with.  Primarily my dad, brother and friends.  Really loved those times and now just upgraded the courses, but mostly with the same people. Great opportunities to deepen relationships for a lifetime of memories. The architecture was secondary and many times still is.

[jeffwarne]

Oh my God, yes!

........the soul of the game is often easier found at these type of tracks.

mic drop

[Jeff Shelman]

I would absolutely play if the only option was a mediocre course.

I feel fortunate to get to play some pretty awesome places and those are great days. But golf is much more than chasing lists for me. It is as much about teeing it up with friends, meeting new and interesting people, enjoying a good walk and spending time away from my computer. It is an escape from reality, whether that is a day out of the office, a great weekend day or nine holes after I leave the office. I joke that playing nine holes alone after work is cheaper than therapy.

There was a story in the Boston Globe a few years ago about middle aged men and loneliness. https://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2017/03/09/the-biggest-threat-facing-middle-age-men-isn-smoking-obesity-loneliness/k6saC9FnnHQCUbf5mJ8okL/story.html
While the story resonated with me some (and I nodded in parts because of how perfectly it described some of my friends), I felt very fortunate to be a golfer. We are lucky to have the ability to spend time with other like-minded people and have legitimate friendships with people you may have never met if not for golf.

As I look at my life, so many of my good friends are people I met because of golf. There are certainly exceptions to this, but most of the people I have met through golf are good, solid people. For example, I have met dozens of people through this site and have had what my better half jokingly (?) calls blind golf dates and nearly all have been positive experiences. It is a game largely played by gentlemen.

Now would I rather play a great course than a mediocre one? Of course. But if the only option was a mediocre course? I would absolutely play golf, I would try to make a few birdies, I would try to avoid doubles and I would spend time with good people.

[BHoover]

Most definitely. I enjoy playing great courses. But above all I enjoy playing the game.

[Edward Glidewell]

Without a doubt.

I wouldn't want to play regularly on a course that had terrible conditions (mostly the greens), but beyond that I just want to play. I like being outside in the sun and hitting shots; I just love the game of golf. Playing on a great course is a huge bonus, but it's not a determining factor in my enjoyment.

And I currently play most of my golf on mediocre courses anyways, living in Atlanta and having to play public golf. 

[Jeff Churchill]

I spent most of my golfing life grinding on muni venues that many would simply ignore.
Loved every minute of it.
Just returned from an great time at Streamsong but the game is the thing for me.
I'd peg it up in a parking lot   

[George Pazin]

But would you continue if forced to play only the course you dislike or even hate most?


For me, that’s Wolf Creek in NV. And I think I’d learn to love it......


I’m never going to stop playing my local muni, even if fortune smiles on me and circumstances change for the better. Too many special memories for me to ever forego it.

[Tommy Williamsen]

I really enjoy a late evening round alone. It is practice and I don't care about the quality of the course. If I am going to try to shoot a score I want a course that keeps my interest. I play in a senior league and there are courses I never play, unless we are short players. When I was younger I'd tee it up on a gravel road. No more.

[Mike Hendren]

Give me a course where the 1st tee is open late in the day for me to grab-and-go and the architecture becomes almost irrelevant.

[Jim_Kennedy]

No.

[Mark Saltzman]

Yes. For me it’s less about the quality of the course than the pace of play. I lose interest after 4 hours