Your greatest pleasure in golf

[cary lichtenstein]

My father introducing me to the game at 7 years of age
Making an eagle on the first hole after a 7 month layoff
Making a 2 on a par 4 to win a tournament
Winning Calcutta twice at Green Acres
Winning club championship at Green Acres
Beating Eddie Fox everytime
Playing with Gary Player, Sam Snead,
Playing all 100 of the golf Digest list 2004/5
Playing top 75 of the world on Golf Digest List
My 4 trip to Scotland and Ireland
Learning to become proficient thanks to Gary Players Book
Eddie Bush teaching me to punch at sand wedge
George Lowe teaching me how to putt
Monty Levinson teaching me how to play golf
My time on the Golf Weekly Panel
[size=78%] Playing Highland Links[/size]Breaking 80 for the first time
Breaking 70 every time I did it
Starting 1 round with 4 birdies and an eagle all in a row
Shooting 66, my best ever
My 2 holes in 1, both coming late in life
Seeing my father make hole in 1 at Cog Hill at 76 years of age
Playing 18 holes at Pebble Beach with 3 best friends, lunching at the 19th hole, cheeseburger, fries, diet coke, and bottle of Dom Periome
Playing the following courses: St Andrews, Augusta, Cypress, Pebble, Pine Valley, Merion, Lahinch, Riveria, LACC, Seminole, National, Winged Foot, Friars Head,

[cary lichtenstein]

My father introducing me to the game at 7 years of age
Making an eagle on the first hole after a 7 month layoff
Making a 2 on a par 4 to win a tournament
Winning Calcutta twice at Green Acres
Winning club championship at Green Acres
Beating Eddie Fox everytime
Playing with Gary Player, Sam Snead,
Playing all 100 of the golf Digest list 2004/5
Playing top 75 of the world on Golf Digest List
My 4 trip to Scotland and Ireland
Learning to become proficient thanks to Gary Players Book
Eddie Bush teaching me to punch at sand wedge
George Lowe teaching me how to putt
Monty Levinson teaching me how to play golf
My time on the Golf Weekly Panel
[size=78%] Playing Highland Links[/size]Breaking 80 for the first time
Breaking 70 every time I did it
Starting 1 round with 4 birdies and an eagle all in a row
Shooting 66, my best ever
My 2 holes in 1, both coming late in life
Seeing my father make hole in 1 at Cog Hill at 76 years of age
Playing 18 holes at Pebble Beach with 3 best friends, lunching at the 19th hole, cheeseburger, fries, diet coke, and bottle of Dom Periome
Playing the following courses: St Andrews, Augusta, Cypress, Pebble, Pine Valley, Merion, Lahinch, Riveria, LACC, Seminole, National, Winged Foot, Friars Head,

[Tom_Doak]

Hitting a good shot.

It's tremendously satisfying. Even if it's to the safe side of the fairway or green, Tom. 

I was going through the responses here and just thinking that most of them were about hitting a golf shot and not about holding together a score.  Although Archie and Jim Coleman weighed in on the opposite side, even you favored the shot over the score!


Tommy Williamsen in the opening post described my own greatest pleasure in playing . . . so is it any wonder I design courses the way I do?

[Kyle Harris]

There's always a next thing and what that next thing is can be completely up to me alone.


New golf course. Old golf course. Tournament. Round with a friend. Quick nine before sunset. Even stroke to play.

Regardless of what happened today, tomorrow in golf is completely up to me.

[Erik J. Barzeski]

I was going through the responses here and just thinking that most of them were about hitting a golf shot and not about holding together a score.  Although Archie and Jim Coleman weighed in on the opposite side, even you favored the shot over the score!

Score is a result of hitting good shots. If I hit good shots, the score generally follows (luck and randomness can move it a little one way or the other). I generally play "for score," but that's not the thing I'm trying to do at that moment.

[Carl Johnson]

Just getting out to play is enough.  We had rain all last week, so I didn't make it, but the coming week looks good.

[Tommy Williamsen]

There is a pleasure I miss. My most fun times on the golf course were the evening nine holes with my wife and two kids. We'd play nine, have dinner at the club, and fish in one of the ponds. My kids are 46 and 50, but I still go back to those days. Another old pleasure was playing at sunset with my Dad.

[Matthew Rose]

As I get older, it is about the companionship.

Spending time with my father and brother, whom I don't see very often as I live on the other side of the planet. I grew up playing golf with both of them, but since I came to Oz, I mostly play alone.

[John Kavanaugh]

I love nothing more than seeing a good friend hit a horrible shot. Just yesterday I was giving a 79 year old buddy a shot on a 112 yd par three. He cold shanked his second shot and lost the hole. Euphoria ensued.

[Peter Sayegh]

My father introducing me to the game at 7 years of age
Making an eagle on the first hole after a 7 month layoff
Making a 2 on a par 4 to win a tournament
Winning Calcutta twice at Green Acres
Winning club championship at Green Acres
Beating Eddie Fox everytime
Playing with Gary Player, Sam Snead,
Playing all 100 of the golf Digest list 2004/5
Playing top 75 of the world on Golf Digest List
My 4 trip to Scotland and Ireland
Learning to become proficient thanks to Gary Players Book
Eddie Bush teaching me to punch at sand wedge
George Lowe teaching me how to putt
Monty Levinson teaching me how to play golf
My time on the Golf Weekly Panel
[size=78%] Playing Highland Links[/size]Breaking 80 for the first time
Breaking 70 every time I did it
Starting 1 round with 4 birdies and an eagle all in a row
Shooting 66, my best ever
My 2 holes in 1, both coming late in life
Seeing my father make hole in 1 at Cog Hill at 76 years of age
Playing 18 holes at Pebble Beach with 3 best friends, lunching at the 19th hole, cheeseburger, fries, diet coke, and bottle of Dom Periome
Playing the following courses: St Andrews, Augusta, Cypress, Pebble, Pine Valley, Merion, Lahinch, Riveria, LACC, Seminole, National, Winged Foot, Friars Head,

So...you don't have a greatest?

[Jake McCarty]

So my 13 year old son, my high-handicapper wife and myself went birdie, birdie, birdie Bandon Dunes #4 this month. Previously it was my son I and going pretty much eagle-eagle on hole 2 at Gamble Sands two years ago. In short, family memories. And the amazing heartfelt stories I've had with friends and family over the years is overwhelming to think about... golf is so good about bringing out our best as players and designers.

[Matt Frey, PGA]

The ability to step back during a round and be mindful of my surroundings, like the beautiful terrain, the neighborhood, the sounds, smells, and feels. Doing this usually makes me calmer and really appreciate the course, and how fortunate I am to be active and out playing golf.

[Anthony Butler]

A well struck iron to a tucked pin with trouble all around the green... particularly if you're the last to play in a scramble and all three of your partners are in the s__t.

[Tommy Williamsen]

As a spectator, I watched my wife pitch in from fifty yards at Equinox Resort in Vermont. Fifty folks on the deck applauded. I know it is her favorite moment.

[Matt Schoolfield]

It's the good craic. That's all I care about.

The laughs at a lucky, terrible shot. The "wow, good shot" from your playing partner when you stick one close. The taste of the beer happily bought for you after win. The smiling "you earned it" when you're the one buying.

To me golf is no different than playing a board game with friends. And while I enjoy playing alone, it's just not the same. I've had some of my favorite rounds playing poorly, and some of my least favorite playing well.

[Mike Hendren]

A deft bump and run earned a “touch of class there” comment from a former U.S. Open champion.


These days it’s hard to beat finding a pristine Pro V1.

[Ian Mackenzie]

Easy: rolling in a putt to win a match.


Then again, I love:


- playing with my son
- spraying it all over the place and still making par
- teeing off at 6:00 pm and playing 18
- a great 4-some with my best friends
- and the occasional round with my wife...;-)

[John Kavanaugh]

When I was around 10 I had an unfortunate accident in my pants on the course. So bad my Dad helped me clean up in the locker room. Now that my Dad is gone I still have accidents almost every round. Getting away with it and no one but me and Dad in heaven knowing gives me a nice warm pleasurable feeling.

[Steve Lang]

   That's easy, the well struck shot, the crowd pleaser...be it off the first tee when adrenaline is pumping, the chip in, the 10+ foot putt or the ultimate HIO.

[Eric Zimmerer]

Hey Everyone - First time poster, long time lurker and figured this would be a good place to introduce myself.


Greatest pleasure by far is first tee time out in the morning with my Pops. He introduced me to the game, he's given me a lot of great life lessons through those rounds, and to me that is what golf is all about. The score is irrelevant when you're out there with your best friend. Caveat to this, I still cherish when I beat him for the first time when I was 15, never seen him grind so hard on the back 9 to try and stay on top of the throne... he made me putt out on 18 so their would be no mistake.

[Mike Rost]

A creative recovery shot executed as envisioned

[David Wuthrich]

Greatest pleasure in golf for me is who I am playing with and where I am playing.  Score certainly does not matter!!!!

[Tim Martin]

Greatest pleasure in golf for me is who I am playing with and where I am playing.  Score certainly does not matter!!!!

+1

[Pat Burke]

Watching a student “get it”
The first shot when it registers is just a cool happiness I get to see.


But when it starts to work more consistently, there’s just something very cool to watch in the mannerisms and interest level you can see growing