Golf

aMFliberal · 07-15-2005, 03:48 PM

Somebody was talking trash about the game of golf. I offer this topic to anyone who wants to contribute their thoughts on the subject. I think golf is a great game. It's fun to watch, although usually so for people who play it and like it. Like all great games, it combines a great deal of mental work as physical work. While the phyiscal part of the game is not as taxing on the body as other sports, mastering it is easily the hardest part. Anyone who plays golf or has tried to play knows how frustrating this is. Golf has a rich and very long history. As with almost everything, there are a few bumps in the road. For a long time, golf has been a white collar sport and it still is today. You don't see beer commercials when you watch golf on TV, but you see a hell of a lot of Merril Lynch, ING, IBM, etc etc commercials. That's just one thing I've noticed. Golf is expensive too, to expensive I and many other people think. Equipment, lessons, and greens fees are all expensive. You trade lower greens fees for quality in a course. Even though Tiger Woods has been the best player in the world since the late 90s, there are few African American professional golfers. Some clubs have an unfortunate history of denying minorities and women. Baseball had a color barrier too. To call golf racist is ridiculous. Golf is a white collar sport because courses are expensive to create and maintain and thus it is expensive to play. Clubs are extremely expensive too. So are baseball bats and hockey sticks. The first Synergy (a composite stick made by Easton) still runs around $100 at most stores and dealers. They break..golf clubs don't (unless you're an idiot and mistreat them, or there's an accident). However, these blunders surround golf. I am defending the game itself and it's one that I love.

But not as much as baseball

criticalprocess · 07-15-2005, 05:55 PM

Very true on the "too expensive" thought. I went into a golf store the other day with the notion in my head that I was going to update my aging sticks. Nooooo way. The super crap cheapo sets started in the upper $200s. The nice ones were running up close to $1000 for a basic set. However, I will say this, you really can feel the difference in what you pay for. The expensive ones just swing so nice, and they have such great balance (which is something you appreciate after playing with crappy clubs for several years)

Since I live in Philly, I thought I'd pick up a home security system while I was there. (a.k.a. baseball bat). The last time I'd seen a price on a bat was when I played little league, so I didn't even bother looking, therefore I didn't notice that I'd picked up a three hundred dollar freakin' bat. What in God's name causes a baseball bat to cost $300? There are no pro's shopping here, I can just about guarantee that. Are people buying this stuff for little leaguers?

Needless to say, I walked out of the sporting goods store empty handed that day.

aMFliberal · 07-15-2005, 09:55 PM

Yeah I know... it's absolutely ridiculous. I got a Synergy hockey stick for Christmas two years ago and I think it was about $140. It broke eventually (sweet) and I was not about to get another one. I went back to wood this winter and I liked it so much better. Can't go wrong with the old lumber. You do bring up a good point about the quality, it is certainly noticeable. I use my Dad's old irons. They're over 10 years old probably, but not to worn out though since my Dad is not a big hitter. I got the hand me downs when my Dad got a new set of Nike irons. The other day at the range I was hitting my 5 iron and just for shits I hit a ball with his 5 iron. The difference in distance and ease was amazing. Clubs are expensive, but quality definitely shows, you are right. The most important thing about golf is your swing. I caddied at a very nice country club last summer. I could beat about half the guys I caddied for with shitty clubs and they all carry $800 iron sets and $300 drivers. Many many many golfers waste their money on better equipment instead of getting lessons. You'd be surprised how many people there are that would rather spend the big bucks on equipment instead of getting lessons. I'm sort of in the middle right now. I really like working on my swing by myself and making my own adjustments. Lately though, I've been starting to think that a lesson or two just on my full swing will help a lot. Most likely that will not happen, because I really just like to play.

Nebraskaboy · 07-16-2005, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aMFliberal

Somebody was talking trash about the game of golf. I offer this topic to anyone who wants to contribute their thoughts on the subject. I think golf is a great game. It's fun to watch, although usually so for people who play it and like it. Like all great games, it combines a great deal of mental work as physical work. While the phyiscal part of the game is not as taxing on the body as other sports, mastering it is easily the hardest part. Anyone who plays golf or has tried to play knows how frustrating this is. Golf has a rich and very long history. As with almost everything, there are a few bumps in the road. For a long time, golf has been a white collar sport and it still is today. You don't see beer commercials when you watch golf on TV, but you see a hell of a lot of Merril Lynch, ING, IBM, etc etc commercials. That's just one thing I've noticed. Golf is expensive too, to expensive I and many other people think. Equipment, lessons, and greens fees are all expensive. You trade lower greens fees for quality in a course. Even though Tiger Woods has been the best player in the world since the late 90s, there are few African American professional golfers. Some clubs have an unfortunate history of denying minorities and women. Baseball had a color barrier too. To call golf racist is ridiculous. Golf is a white collar sport because courses are expensive to create and maintain and thus it is expensive to play. Clubs are extremely expensive too. So are baseball bats and hockey sticks. The first Synergy (a composite stick made by Easton) still runs around $100 at most stores and dealers. They break..golf clubs don't (unless you're an idiot and mistreat them, or there's an accident). However, these blunders surround golf. I am defending the game itself and it's one that I love.

But not as much as baseball

HAHA! I love everything about the sport of golf. It is a competitive game, it is by far the hardest sport to master. Golf is so damn expensive it makes my head spin. I cannot afford news clubs, so I use hand downs from my grandpa, pathetic lol.

aMFliberal · 07-16-2005, 03:59 PM

Don't be ashamed. I use hand-me-downs too. The only clubs I have in my bag that were bought for me are my driver and my 3 wood. I have a nice putter just because I found it during a round a couple years ago and I just couldn't turn it in

.

tadpole256 · 07-17-2005, 12:17 AM

Golf is an eletist, wasteful, arrogant, racist game. I don't even consider it a sport, because there is no athletics involved unless you forgo the golf cart. Golf wastes too much land, which is mostly private, and also wastes water and other resources to keep the green, green.

Before Tiger Woods, the only black people you'd see on a golf course were carrying trays. It's hideously expensive, and mind numbingly dull.

onthefence · 07-17-2005, 12:32 AM

I just play for the beer, used to be for the tits and beer but my golfing buddy broke up with her girlfriend.

mmm beer

tadpole256 · 07-17-2005, 12:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onthefence

I just play for the beer, used to be for the tits and beer but my golfing buddy broke up with her girlfriend.

mmm beer

I used to go play just because I could drink beer and speed around in the carts. But after getting 2 carts stuck in the mud in one day they banned me from the course...

Such whiners...

onthefence · 07-17-2005, 12:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tadpole256

Quote:

Originally Posted by onthefence

I just play for the beer, used to be for the tits and beer but my golfing buddy broke up with her girlfriend.

mmm beer

I used to go play just because I could drink beer and speed around in the carts. But after getting 2 carts stuck in the mud in one day they banned me from the course...

Such whiners...

There are so many courses around here it would take me a while to get banned from them all....

aMFliberal · 07-17-2005, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tadpole256

Golf is an eletist, wasteful, arrogant, racist game.

The game of golf is none of those things.