Why I Love Golf: A Lifelong Obsession
I love golf.
I... love... golf.
Like, really love it. I don’t even fully understand why this sport has such a grip on me. But I can tell you this: from the first moment I struck a ball, I was hooked.
As a child, I vividly remember the thrill of hitting a cut-down wooden 3-wood and wondering where the ball disappeared to. The sound and feel of a solid strike was amazing. I’d hope and pray to find that little white ball, just so I could try again. What was it about golf that captured me so completely, even back then?
I played other sports growing up—tennis, soccer, basketball—and was actually better at some of them. But golf? Golf changed me. It pulled me in like nothing else. I wasn’t even a reader as a kid, yet if it was about golf, I devoured it. Books, magazines, whatever I could find. Why?
In the summer, I’d walk two miles every day just to play. I’d hide my clubs in a trailer at the local course and “borrow” balls because nothing could keep me away. We didn’t have much money when I was young, but we made do. Golf was worth every little penny and struggle.
I can remember when I was young being asked what I wanted to do when I got older. My response would be that I wasn’t sure, but I know I wanted to be around golf. That’s literally all that mattered… I was 12. WHYYY!!!???
The Love-Hate Relationship
On the flip side, I hated golf. Even now, after 40 years of practice, I’m still scared of it. Golf is different. It matters in a way no other sport ever could. And for the most part? I always let myself down.
This sport has taken me on a rollercoaster of emotions. It’s like being in a bad relationship—you’re treated poorly so often, yet just when you’re ready to walk away, poof, you have one amazing day. Suddenly, there’s hope. That passion rekindles, just like when you were a kid and hit the sweet spot. And then you go back for more.
What happens next? Often, the same pain as before. The frustration. The self-doubt. The heartbreak.
So, why do we do this to ourselves? Why do we keep coming back? What would we do if we didn’t have golf in our lives?
My oldest son has now picked up golf, mostly because it’s been so accessible to him to use our indoor golf simulator. I NEVER pushed golf on any of my kids. I wanted them to grab hold of it (or for golf to grab hold of them) all by themself.
The Answer? Maybe There Isn’t One
Maybe that’s just it—there’s no answer. Golf is an obsession, a love-hate relationship we can’t quit. It challenges us, humbles us, and reminds us how human we are. For every bad day, there’s the hope of that perfect strike, that magical round, that feeling we can’t get anywhere else.
And honestly? I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
