There seems to be a lot of negative threads about topics such as slow play, cheating, etc. I thought I would start a thread with a positive spin where we can all post what we love about golf. With all the complaining, you would think none of us enjoy playing golf, so here are some of the things I love about golf.

-Bombing a drive, dead-center down the fairway.
-Hitting a green from 200+ out.
-Sinking a 25+ foot putt.
-Making a birdie, especially after a double-bogey on the previous par.
-Playing a round with close friends or making new friends on the golf course.
-Being outside on a beautiful golf course.
-The history and tradition of golf.
-Hanging out at the "19th hole", having a brew after a round, discussing the days triumphs.
-Eagles, Birdies and on some days Pars.

So what does everyone else love about golf?

I just love everything about it man. The smell of fresh cut grass at dawn,dew on a the fairways in winter(AZ at least), love seeing green grass,trees. The way a well struck iron echoes on a secluded course. The ball rolling into the cup. The people you meet, the shots you make, the stories you hear.

What other sport brings people from all walks of life together where you can share a mutual respect for a timeless game?

There was this exact same thread about a year ago or so and it soon got to several hundred posts with lots of great things that we all love.

I love all the things you mentioned, but I'll add a couple more.

• The first really beautiful golf day of the year where I can wear short sleeves
• How a birdie or great par on 18, will make me eager to get back out no matter how poorly I played that day.
• The excitement of playing a new course for the first time.
• Golf trips with my buddies.
• Getting a round in on an unexpected 60 degree January day.
• The excitement of putting a newly purchased club into play.

Long iron shot that draws into my target after I throw it out to the right.

There's nothing like being the first guy to tee it up for the day.

The best part? When you get one of those rounds that are right in the bubble. No people directly in front of you, no people directly behind you.

Just taking your time, enjoying the day, then walking to the next tee box and doing it all over again.

That and those couple shots a round that make you feel like you could eventually be decent.

"Many a golf career was saved by a good drive on the 18th hole"

utilizing creativity around the green. i love finding ways to hit difficult shots tight.

playing in the rain! we get a lot here in the nw. when most people hang it up i am out giving it hell. something peaceful in the sound of rain.

staying committed to a game plan or shot type regardless of the results. it is so easy to go back on things that you are working on. many times i will continue to hit a cut during practice rounds even if i hook it on every hole. the reward comes when after countless holes/rounds of hard work - IT happens. lightning in a bottle. the satisfaction is incredible.

links style golf courses. SO many options. SO many ways of accomplishing the same results! hard/fast/firm.

learing/soaking in knowledge from old clubmakers. i have had the opportunity of learning some club making techniques from some of the best. one now that has been at rest for 6 years. some of his tools and techniques were past on to golfsmith. watching him work. learning. seeing his hands shake SO bad yet the completed product was impeccable. currently, picking the brain of a former tour van worker - literally before there were tour vans. co-engineered one of the more popular shaft lines. knowledge is endless. craftsmanship unbelievable. always has time to pick MY brain too. he has taken a special interest in me and my constant questioning. people like this are not common. he is also amazing with the golf swing. MY version of Harvey Pennick.

knowing that soon my 4 month old daughter and i will be spending quality time together learning lessons in life that only golf can teach.

The precious, glorious seconds of the sound, feel and sight of watching the ball fly away, seeing it reach its apex as it
disappears. Those moments seem to pass in slow motion and are my favorite part of the game.

They should invent a golf game where the goal is not to get the ball in the hole on each of 18 holes. Instead, the goal would
be to land the ball on each green and then tee it up from there and shoot to the next green. This would speed up
play immensely.

Obviously, I could do without putting.

What everyone had said. Plus the feeling at moment of impact on pured iron shot once every blue moon keeps me going too.

Good company sharing a good laugh.

Everything . My top few would be walking a full 18 with 3 friends/family, sinking a long put for par (par is a birdie for me lol), and when a friendly game becomes competitive on the 18th hole because there is only a 1 shot difference between me and my brother lol.

Trash-talk with you're mates.
Chip in for a double-bogey to win/halve the match.
Making an impossible looking shot in front of a crowd (Happend to me last year 15m bunker-shot, downhill lie, flagclose to a water hazard, hit it to 1,5meters and sank the putt)
Driving a Par-4
The feeling of a perfect struck 3 Iron.
But one of the best feelings for me is, when I hit a perfect Putt and line speed etc, are all right I somehow know that it will go in directly after the ball leaves the face. I can't describe it very good, it's a bit like in the Tiger Woods games when you get this "Wooosh!" :-)

So many things left... All I can say is I just love golf!

What do I love about golf?

When you play, your competition is the golf course. No one to play defense on you, no one to help you out. Just you. You have to play in any conditions. Even play with people you don't like sometimes.

But, when you sign that scorecard, you know that it was just "YOU" who was influencing the numbers on that card and nothing else.

Golf can never be beat. I love that you can play one of the greatest rounds 1 day and the next play terrible, how everything goes in one day and the next it burns the edges. I think this is the dumbest/greatest game ever invented. I hate it and love it all the same time.

Playing a hole in par with a drive in the fairway, hitting the green, and two putting.

The equipment.

Freshly cleaned clubs in a new bag with brand new balls.

Hitting a blade purely.

The tradition and sportsmanship.

Playing with my Son and Daughter-In-Law. Watched her make a birdie the first time she played a par 72 course. (Yes, she's an athlete!)

Sticking a green from > 100 yards gives me a nice feeling inside. The further out, the better the feeling.

Also hitting golf balls so pure that they feel like marshmellows.

Watching parents teach their kids in the practice area.

Thinking of my dad teaching me.

The crack and subsequent sizzle my three wood occasionally makes off the tee.

Stepping on each first tee with the understanding that this may be the best round of my life.

[size="7"][/size]This is part of it.

What I love about Golf :

• The feeling of crushing a huge drive off the first tee.
• The tradition and honor of the game
• The great friends I've made over the years.....if even only for 18 holes.
• Walking off 18 with a huge smile after an awesome round.
• The exciting feeling of watching your tee shot off a long par 3 carry over water that makes that "thud" sound as it lands next to the pin.
• Those shots that feel so pure, it makes you wonder if you wiffed it instead.
• The sound of hearing the flag whipping in the breeze at Bandon Dunes combined with that salty sea air.
• The feeling you have when you strike the ball with your putter on a long putt and you just know.....its money!
• Playing with someone alot older....those that still "have it."
• Etiquette.....theres no other game like it.
• Thought I don't hear it anymore....the sound of metal spikes walking on concrete around the club house, I grew up to that sound and miss it alot.
• The mental side of it, its just you, the ball, the course and your clubs.....you have no one to hold your hand or to blame if things go wrong, but when they go right.....its all you!

every thing about golf is great, from buying new equipment to comming on here to talk about it to even trying out new golfballs/tees.
Hell i even love golf when im playing badly.. it's just great to be out on the course and not at school/work.

breaking personal records and as others have said crushing a drive is always fun

great picture.. cant beat some good golf scenery.

you know why I LOVE this game so much? I'll tell you why, it's one of the most frustrating, difficult, addicting things in life that is looking down on you and mocking every inch of your confidence but when you produce a decent shot it just makes you feel on top of the world!

Boy, howdy, yes.

Another: Today is my 63rd birthday and I can honestly say I am still getting better at golf rather than worse. There are darn few aspects of my life, mental or physical, about which I can make a statement like that. One HAS to love it.

About a thousand different things ... and every year I play, seems like nother new one is discovered.

But the one that stands out slightly from all the rest is that the game is inextricably linked to the relationship with my father. He gave me my first clubs when I was 8. I'm now 51, he's 81, and we still play at least several times a year.

I look back over the years, and it is amazing how many times we've celebrated our good fotunes in life, and commiserated with one another about the bad ... on a golf course. I even remember my mother passing away (his wife of 40 years) ... the next day we were both sort of numb, speechless with grief. We played golf. And just kept playing ... wound up being 36 holes. I don't think we said more than five words all day. But somehow just walking in wonderful green meadows, with each other, from sun up to sun down was ... healing in some way.

There are times when this game becomes far more than merely a "sport" ...

There are so many things, I'll just put together a short list.
Crushing the driver and hitting it so well you don't even have to watch it land.
Crisp iron shots that draw or fade just the amount you want them to.
Good putts (whether they go in or not.....though going in is better).
The constant desire to get better.
I love to practice, sometimes more than play.
Golf clubs, it's becoming a sickness.
Lastly, the walk with good people.

Everything you said and more!

What's not to love? Enjoying a nice day outdoors with good company, a cold glass of suds on the veranda after the round, getting away from the world for a few hours. It's a great way to spend a day.

^ +1 to all the above.
Also, nothing beats a course with good looking beverage cart service.

"-Being outside on a beautiful golf course." +1

When I have a tough golf day, I just remind myself to be thankful you are outdoor and walking.

Many wonderful answers that in most cases would be on my list too. I will add one that I did not see.
The solitude of playing a round of golf alone, being able to throw down an extra couple of balls and practice out on the course...which is far better than pounding it on the range. I have played some of my best golf (playing my first ball) when I have the rare opportunity to tee it up by myself. I used to get to play like this a lot as a teenager (small town)...very rare these days in Dallas Fort Worth area. Perhaps it is because I got to do this often when I was learning the game that I find it so enjoyable. I wish I could play alone 3-4x a year.

That's beautiful. Thanks for sharing it. Please, if you haven't already, show it to him.

When your on that tee, three quarters of the way through your swing, youv done the transition, the club has got the lag built up, you just know you are about to unleash hell on that ball and stripe it down the middle.....

For better golfers it probably happens more often. For me, well when the timing is perfect and i get all those feelings. Wow!

What I like about golf:

Being outdoors.
Pastoral setting a golf course creates
Hitting greens in regulation (yeah, I wish it happened more often)
The smell of fresh cut bermuda grass
The feel of a well struck drive
Playing a course I've never played and not knowing what the next hole has to offer
Birdies
No matter how bad I may have played, it beats not being there

Playing with the big wheels at your club who think they are the next coming of tiger woods, bombing it 30 yards past them on the first hole and at the end of the round adding up your scores and finding that you beat them like a used carpet.

#10 Warren Golf Course, South Bend IN

Downhill par 5, creek splitting the undulating green from the fairway. Beautiful hole. I played here very often (too often perhaps) while in school at Notre Dame. For whatever reason, I absolutely owned this hole, especially off of the tee. On my 21st birthday, after a night of copious drinking, I eagled the hole to my best friends and frequent playing partners disbelief. So many good memories from that course and that hole in particular.

The nature. Trees, grass, flowers, wild animals, the fresh air, the walk.

The game is just the distraction, a great reason to get outside, having a little bit of game-fun, with the mind, instead of just a boring hike.

What do I love about golf?.............The Pants!..(I love that Commercial)

Talkin smack to your buddies, beating that ball around all day until you have that one magical shot that makes you forget all the bad for the day and makes you hyped for the next round. This game is better than any drug and you can share it with your family,friends and make new ones along the way.

I love that golf is the great equalizer...that a guy in the prime of his life can go out on the course and get murdered by a little 12 year old girl, or a 70+ year old man...and yet can still appreciate the talent and watch in amazement as this little kid or old man hits every shot pure.
I enjoy the pre-round nervousness...standing on the first tee with groups piled up behind you...everyone watching and waiting. Then after the rest of your group duck hooks and slices their tee shots, you walk up with a confident swagger, tee up your ball, and smoke it right down the middle...even though on the inside, the butterflies were at your throat.
The "marshmellow" shots...Sinking a double breaking putt...The "could never pull that one off again" recovery shot...
Being out driven on 13 of 14 holes...but the feeling after that 1 drive where you stand next to your ball, look back 10 yards and saying..."You're away."
The "sometimes i amaze even myself" feeling...going out onto the fairway...and finding your ball 15 yards farther than you expected it.
Standing on the tee box over looking the beach...seeing all the hot girls laid out on the sand, and thinking to yourself, yeah...i still rather be playing golf.

Everything above, and holing out for eagle. This year is the first year I've ever done it, and I've done it twice! It was awesome watching the ball bounce and zone in on the cup, and hear it hit bottom. The feeling of not having to bust out the putter on a hole is the greatest!

Playing against the course...not my friends.

Sure, most of them are trying to shoot a lower score than me, but I'm always hoping that they play the best round of their lives. If they happen to play better than I do...good on them. My opponent is always the same, the golf course.

How many times have you actually done this dude! haha

Washing my balls...

I love playing with my buddies, and they leave me alone with my thoughts. They're there when I need them, and I for them.

Playing unknown courses and just making shots on them. Really playing golf.

Killing drives. I'm too small to play many other sports, but I've always been good at golf. Nothing better than dropping the mail on the drives of guys a foot taller than me, and watching their reactions.

Showing off around the greens. I've got great hands and I love the challenge of making tough shots like flops off hardpan, a bump and run through a valley to a tight pin or anything thats spectacular to pull off. I never practice "normal" stuff...if theres a divot within the pitching area, thats where the ball is going to be played from.

I guess I love golf because I can massage my ego...

Hitting the ball pure.

This brought a tear to my eye. It is that kind of game where you can just lose yourself when you want to. I can't think of any specific thing I love about the game I just love the whole game.

its all on me on how i perform, not a team