How many on WRX have ever played on a golf team

J.W., on 05 November 2012 - 09:14 AM, said:

Petethreeput, on 21 October 2012 - 09:31 AM, said:

Perhaps it is just the wording, but to imply if you have not played team golf one could not understand the pressure is completely false.  I am sure there are many on here like myself who played sports at a high level in a different sport who picked up golf as a low impact game to act as a diversion to the sport of choice.

For me, I played another sport pretty much year round, but in season golf was one of the few activities we were allowed to play because you really couldn't get hurt.  So we played golf.

I also think it was Trevino who said [sic], "Pressure is playing $10 nassau with $5 in your pocket."  Not, "Pressure is playing team golf?"

AND, to be a total DB, if you are talking high school golf, that is not high pressure, it is a game.  High pressure is when you are playing for someone's livelihood (be it your own or your coaches).  High school golf is another diversion until you get to a level of pressure.  Most high school coaches do not coach full time, they do something else and volunteer for about $4/ hour because they love the game.  No pressure there, just a game... sorry.

I don't think I agree with any of this... I played high school basketball, baseball, and golf. I took up golf a year before my Freshman year in high school and became pretty good in a short period of time. After my sophomore year I dropped basketball and then baseball after my junior year to just play golf. There were pressures in every sport... just like some of my best friends faced pressure in wrestling. Our wrestling program was pretty decorated with 4 State titles in a row. I played in the State tournament 3 years in a row and of course there was pressure. It was never about livelihood but something you worked so hard on all year coming to an end with a result attached to it. I played #1 for a few seasons but I will say I never felt any pressure to perform well for the team. But I can certainly remember having adrenaline over certain shots just like any other tournament round of golf.

Perhaps I wasn't clear.  I was just saying, because you haven't played team golf does not necessarily mean a person does not understand pressure.  Because this is the junior forum, I assume the OP is either talking HS or college golf.  What I was trying to say is that HS golf is not pressure at all.

HS golf is an opportunity to learn about pressure.  As a high school athlete, I certainly felt pressure to perform for my teammates, I am not discounting that.  What I am saying is that the pressure to perform increased in college when I realized my performance had a direct impact on my team, the coaching staff's livelihood (which was tied to team success), and those who followed my team.  Then at the professional level, I had even more pressure because it was not only my coaches' livelihoods, but mine, my teammates, and the whole organizations living.  Everytime I stepped on the field, I was trying to re-affirm my spot.

To say, and this was my disclaimer at the beginning of the post, because I have not stood over a 4' putt to win a HS golf tournament does not mean a person could not understand an athletes pressure situation.  My final statement was, it may feel like pressure at 17 y/o, but there are much greater pressure situations in sports, and I would rank HS sports pressure as low, regardless of the sport.

I guess what it comes down to is this.  The pressure one feels at high school is internal.  It is there, but the consequences for failure are minor.  To answer the OP's question, don't categorically discount replies from those who are responding even though they did not play team golf.