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I usually play somewhere between 50-75 rounds per year, but I have a confession. I have only golfed 8 times this entire year. The bigger shocker is the fact that I am perfectly okay with it. In fact, I think it might even be good for me. It is okay to not go golfing at every opportunity. The game will always be there. The repetition and routine can sometimes become just that. Let’s start at the beginning.
Sometimes life can get in the way of passion. Or, more correctly, a new passion takes the lead for a while.
When I found out that the Federal Aviation Adminstration was hiring Air Traffic Controllers ‘off the street’ (not having attended one of a few selected colleges or being in the military) I was ecstatic. This was a major opportunity for my family and I to start moving from ‘jobs’ to a career path. There was just one problem that came with the job. We would have to move from just outside of Ann Arbor, MI to Sioux City, IA. Part of the deal was that I was also going to spend May through August in Oklahoma City.
Originally, I thought it would be great. I get to play all sorts of courses that I have never seen, and it should be sunny more there than in MI. I was right about one of two. It was definitely sunny. In fact, there was a streak of two weeks where the daytime high was never lower than 105. It was literally too hot to golf. I had to wait for it to cool off (95 degrees) before I could ever get out. On top of that, the local course had a limited number of carts. You have to be there before 10am or you are walking.
Fast forward three months and four rounds added to the pre-OKC subtotal for a grand total of 7. We moved to IA, and here we are and there is just one more round played since August. I should only count this as half because there were cows literally 5 feet from me while I was teeing off.
Now that you know the circumstances, we can get to the psychology behind it all. Due to the intense training, I was unable to write all summer about golf as well. I severed ties with everything that had to do with the game. I think my total time spent on WRX was less than an hour for the summer.
Living in a cold climate, we are forced to bag it up in November and wait until April. Many players think that this is good because it reinvigorates the passion. I think it is absolutely true. In fact, this is what happened this summer to me. I was able to step back and completely wash my hands of everything. There was no time spent reflecting on rounds, or why I played a cut for the first half and suddenly developed a draw.
We as golfers can sometimes let this little game begin to consume us and even start missing out on other activities. There were so many things that I got to do this summer that I haven’t ever done. I got a tan like I was a little kid. Gone was the "golf tan" of white and tan arms, dark from the neck up, and between the knees and ankles. The only tanlines I got were right where my bathing suit spent the summer by the pool. A hot sunny day is much more relaxing with a beer and a floating mattress in the water than chasing shanks and elusive birdies.
I found that going drinking and dancing on Friday night was way more enjoyable knowing that I didn’t have to get up in the morning and make a 9am tee time. There is nothing quite as terrible as walking a hungover 18 Saturday morning. I also had lots more money to spend on other fun activites. We all know golf is a very expensive habit, and that extra $50 per week in the wallet didn’t go unnoticed.
Even my wife has enjoyed the layoff. There are no more glasses of coke with a wedge sticking out overnight. Our house doesn’t smell like mineral spirits (her favorite!) as I habitually regrip clubs that secretly don’t need new grips, I just like doing it. My stockpile of golf balls hasn’t added its 9th dozen since that January clearance at Target.
Having spent the summer watching instead of doing has had a couple of effects on my swing, but it won’t take more than a couple of hours at the range to work those out. For the people that live in warm climates, I think you should give a hiatus serious consideration. It will make you appreciate those lovely days when you finally do hit the links. It no longer becomes about beating that last score or playing because that is what you do on Saturday. You will get out there and do what we all love. Golf. Just golf. Enjoy the simplicity of the game. Select club. Hit ball. Repeat. Every once in a while, we need life to intervene to show us what we are missing both on the course and off.
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19th Hole2 weeks ago
19th Hole2 weeks ago
Buddy6713
Oct 14, 2008 at 9:03 pm
Well done! It is a consuming game and can take up time that you don’t even realize could be better or at least equally well spent doing something else.
I admire your career change and hope you’re the one watching the plane I’m in when it’s heading for a landing. Anyone with your
sense of dedication is someone I want watching over me…
ian
Oct 11, 2008 at 11:16 pm
nice try…but i know you missed that Alister McKensie U of M course more then you want to admit. And you would have traded your swim tan any day for a round there or Barton Hills or Radrick Farms or trip to Boyne or a round at Crstal Downs or even Leslie Park!!!!! hahaha