Just for the joy of it.

[Tommy Williamsen]

Somewhere along the line my love of the game changed. I grew up on military courses. They were fine but lacked "architectural quality." I didn’t care, in fact I didn’t know that they weren’t all that good. I just loved to hit a golf ball and compete with the other kids. The feel of balata on persimmon was ethereal. Hitting the sweet spot on my Haig Ultras was like hitting a baseball in the middle of the bat. In my young adult life, I joined clubs that were affordable. I judged their quality by the condition of the course. As I got older, I was able to join and play better courses designed by some of our best architects. I live in a little golf/ski resort. We built our home here as a get-away. When I retired we moved here full-time. It has a mediocre course. When we first built here in 1985, I loved the course. Now not so much. In fact, last year I played it only twice. Somehow, I began to play “golf course.” If the course does not have “architectural merit” I don’t have much fun. I have two young friends that are members at Portmarnock. They told me that if they belonged somewhere else, they probably would never play. Now they play three or four times a week. I get it.

My goal for this year, after I heal from my foot surgery, is to love the course where I live, enjoy playing with 20 handicapper old men, and walk my five-hole loop in the evening. I want to play just for the joy of it.

[Lance Rieber]

Great stuff, I feel the same way. Mt first season pass at a course was at Buffalo Hills in Kalispell, MT. Loved it, juniors were $50 for a season. My brother and I would get dropped off and play as much as we could until mom picked us up. The absolute sheer joy of the good shots, learning to curve the ball, successfully heroic shots over the river, will never forget those times. As I have gotten older, I find it more difficult to play somewhere that I’ve played a lot, isn’t in great condition, isn’t a competitive tournament, or even a money game with friends. I would like to get back into the “joyful” state of mind where each time I play it’s purely because I love this game so much. Thanks for the reminder

[Ira Fishman]

A very timely thread for me. I grew up playing Chicago Park District courses, and it was quite a step up when I had a regular game at Cog Hill #4 toward the end of high school and during college summers even though it was a 10 hour day to get back and forth. But it still was about the joy of golf. Tom, I still remember nearly 50 years later the purest strike I probably ever made with a Hogan 4 iron. So when I moved to DC after law school, playing the pretty mediocre public courses was more than enough. And when my wife insisted on joining a club, it did not bother me that she chose an only okay course because it is so close to our house. Then probably 15 years ago we started going to MP/PN, Old White, and Primland. That led to two trips to GB&I plus Bandon, Streamsong, etc. I reached the point where if the course is not great or at least distinctive, I would rather stay home (admittedly a completely first world problem).


But today we had an hour frost delay at our only okay course. I wanted to leave to go back home. My wife insisted (she is good at doing that) that we stay to play 9 holes even though it was cold. We had a wonderful time.


I still am a Gca “snob” but the joy is indeed the joy.


Ira

[Kevin_Reilly]

I grew up playing (mostly sneaking on) public courses in San Francisco.  Was fortunate to get a golf membership in my teens at Olympic, and had that for 30+ years before moving to a small club outside SF (Orinda CC) where the course is fun to play and there are always good groups to join.  To the OP question, I wouldn't have made that change if the local course wasn't enjoyable to play, but I also put the quality/fun of playing partners above the quality of the course for regular play.  I am lucky to have both at Orinda, but a good course without a fun game (membership vibe) wouldn't be interesting to me.  I like the "game" (playing with good folk) more than the "course".

[Thomas Dai]

Boredom and familiarity breeds contempt can be difficult to avoid if you play the same course almost all the time year after year, decade after decade.
It’s one of the reasons I play with modern equipment, persimmon/blade era equipment and yee olde hickories and also vary the colour of tee marker I play from. When playing with olden day equipment course conditioning doesn’t seem to matter as much either. Maybe even architecture too? Shame prior era golf balls aren’t easily and economically available.
Atb

[Garland Bayley]

So what are the handicaps of the posters to this thread? How come you didn't mention competing? Golf played for a number can definitely be boring. But, golf played for 18 matches can be stimulating. Doesn't matter what the course is like to keep the interest going, because it renews every hole.

[Tommy Williamsen]

So what are the handicaps of the posters to this thread? How come you didn't mention competing? Golf played for a number can definitely be boring. But, golf played for 18 matches can be stimulating. Doesn't matter what the course is like to keep the interest going, because it renews every hole.

Garland, at the moment I am a six. In my twenties through forties I went fluctuated between two and four. In my younger days I competed in MD open, Amateur, and club events. Did ok in club events but was only mediocre in State events. Truly I never enjoyed it. Now I rarely compete, mostly because of my eroding skills. If I had to play the back tees like I used to I couldn’t break 90. I play most of my golf with my wife and a lot of it alone. I will play in senior inter club league events and the member/guest or host friends at my various clubs but do not have a regular foursome anymore. I have gotten to the point that I only want to play when I want to play. It is usually a last minute thing. I’ll tell my wife, “I think I’ll go to XXX for a few days.” Then go. If I play with someone, great, if not that’s great too. Since I retired my life changed. It is much less structured and I love it.

[Sean_A]

Unless the company is exceptional or for convience, I still want to play interesting courses. Hence the reason I don't have a local membership. If I had a steady diet of the courses around me I would probably quit golf.

Ciao