Why Do You Love Golf? I'll Tell You Why I Do

Recently, I've been inspired to bloggerize¹ a couple of different pieces that I have really enjoyed.  First, my first ever editor Greg Wyshynski - now running the hockey shop at Yahoo! sports - started a series with a bunch of different hockey types about the five reasons they love hockey.  Greg recently did his own.  The guy helped inform my writing style as it is today and I loved the idea.

Then, at our own SB Nation Blog Huddle, a number of the 200+ people that write for our network talked about why they put in the same kind of time and effort that I do here.

And finally, in light of the Olympic posts that I did here about Hugo Chavez, the money in the sport, and the NY Times' ethicist's opinions on golf, John Paul Newport's piece about the opporunity the haters present for golf was both poignant and welcome.

As a bit of an insight into how I think and why I write how I do, I morphed all of that together to ask myself a simple question that I also pose to you:

Why do I love watching, playing, wriring and conversing about golf?

After the jump, I'll tell you my answer - and I want you to answer with your reasons either in this thread or by dropping me an email.  I'll post those thoughts, too.

Look, I'm not going to try to fit this column into a top 5 or ten list.  I considered using golf numbers, but I didn't want to do a "par" list or a nine pack, or any multiple of nine related to golf.  I kind of just want to lay it on the table.

I like golf because it is a sport that I can do with a cigar in my mouth and swigging a cold beer in between shots.  Yeah, I could devote my time to training for a four hour marathon and feel like I'm physically fit and active.  But, honestly, I'd much rather be involved in a sport where I am able to enjoy a couple of vices, get some decent exercise if I'm walking, and experience the full gammet of human emotion. 

I love the company.  In fact, I really prefer the company of complete strangers.  Up until I met my fiancee, who happens to golf, I made a habit of showing up to courses on a whim to play with one, two, or three utter strangers.  It's like a social experiment to me.  I want to get to know these people, their stories, and why they play golf also.  I get to recycle some of my best golf tales and hear some that I just might steal and replace a few names. 

You never know who you will meet playing golf.  It might be the old man that has played the same course for a half century.  The distance may be gone, but every shot is straight.  And he'll take your money, too.  Or, maybe I'll play with a millionaire - I did in Vegas.  I beat him that day.  It's not likely that I'll make as much money as him anytime soon, but I took him down a peg.  Hell, he shattered his four iron on the course mid-swing.  Crazy stuff happens to the wealthy, too.

Golf's challenge is neverending.  Perfection in golf is pretty well understood, at least the Swedish notion of Mission 54 seems to be it.  But, that challenge only awaits players that have broken 60 for 18 holes.  There is a separate, but equally difficult, mountain to climb for someone to break 60 for nine holes.  For me, I'm somewhere in between.  My best round ever is 71.  I don't see that anymore.  These days, I have different games that I play with myself on the course.  It might be how low I can go with no warm ups.  Perhaps it is how long it takes me to make four pars in a row.  Right now, my quest is to play clubs that are almost twice my age.  Next might be trying to play with just three clubs.  I even learned how to drive a putter over 200 yards just for the intrigue involved.

No matter the challenge we create for ourselves, there is always the shot that satisfies our craving for success.  The success may be relative - clearing a tough hazard or making a birdie putt - but the joy is all the same.

And for the last seven years now, I have taken that joy from the course to the airwaves and online.  I love expressing my opinion and golf has no shortage of opportunities for intelligent debate.  For as much as Liberty National and other courses get under my skin, I love debating their merits and shortcomings with this community.  I enjoy getting a reaction that I am trying to elicit when I write a commentary.  Producing a video can be a highlight of my week.  I still get butterflies when I talk to the players and writers that I idolize.  And I am still delightfully confused if they actually like and respect what I have to say.

Writing about golf is a challenge in and of itself.  It is a challenge - sometimes seemingly quixotic - to develop an eye and a perspective that is interesting and inspires conversation.  I always resolve to never be anything but original.  The resolution sometimes isn't filled, but I'm trying to strive for a very high quality of work that is thought-provoking, engaging, and thorough.

The combination of my love for writing and this sport drive me to post as often as I do, with as much passion as I do.  Given the opportunity to combine two of my favorite things motivates me to always strive for better.

So, why do you golf?  Or, why do you watch it?  If you write about it, then what keeps you going?  As John Paul alluded to in his piece, we have an opportunity now to share with the world why this game may well deserve its own 12 step program.

¹bloggerize - n. - to catch something else somebody else did that was really cool and blatantly rip off of it.