I'd give it all up today if...

[JakaB]

I had to call a week ahead for tee times.

[Jonathan Cummings]

I had to give up reading JakaB's posts!

[klangone]

a) I had to golf at a place that even had tee times
b) I had to golf at a place with more than 300 members
c) I had to golf at a place that made me take a cart

[Joel_Stewart]

My CB MacDonald course was being redesigned by Tom Fazio.

[Jeff Fortson]

Joel,

Nice response!  


Jeff F.

[BigEdSC]

people start treating golf with the lack of respect towards one's opponents I find in the NBA, MLB and the NFL.  I'll give it up when honor and integrity no longer counts in golf.

[THuckaby2]

JakaB - not that you ever had thoughts of doing so for sure, but now it's crystal clear, you CANNOT move to California.

TH

[JakaB]

I had to stop experimenting with shot making because I was hand cuffed by a green fee.

[Lou_Duran]

.... there was no hope of improving.

[THuckaby2]

.... there was no hope of improving.

Wow... that is very provocative...  does one give up at that point or just soldier on with new lower expectations?  I'm thinking I'd do the latter, just because I can't imagine a life without golf, but this is a reality we all face and come to think of it, I am facing it right now!

I guess the answer could be that the "hope of improving" just comes from the mental side as physical strength and skill diminish.

At least that's how I'm treating it!

[Lou_Duran]

We know of a certain gentleman who at past 70 is still taking lessons.  Our goals or objectives have to change to reflect new realities, but not our desire to surpass them.  Something about golf being a game of a lifetime where one can exhaust himself but never the subject.  Just because I can't hit the ball as long, doesn't mean that I can't chip better.  A friend of mine (and GD rater) who is now approaching 70 won the regular and senior club championships at the premier club in Dallas in 2002.  He was good when he was a member of my home club 15 years ago, and he is probably better today.  It can be done, rarely, but the opportunity is there.

[THuckaby2]

Lou - yes we do, and he is one of those that gives hope to us all, proving that hope does spring eternal.

So your basic statement is really right-on.. if that hope ever dies, then that is the time to give it up.

There are just many reasons for that hope NEVER to die, right?

TH

[Dan Kelly]

. . . I could get full walking access (with a putter, a ball and a chipping club -- 8-iron, maybe) to every course, everywhere in the world.

Well, I don't know if I'd give it all up -- but, given an unlimited travel budget (forgot to mention that part!), I'd be tempted.