Why are we playing golf?

Let me introduce you to this post by citing the following exchange of words between a married couple, that you might recognise.

“Are you going to go play golf again, honey?

You also played yesterday, leaving me here, alone taking care of the children and preparing dinner?”

“Yes, I must, I have promised to play the foursome competition today.”

“But do you have no regard for our marriage?

I tell you, Mom warned me about golfers, but I never thought it could be like this.”

“But dear, now you are very selfish. I have to stay in shape and be competitive. The Club Trophy is next month!”

“One day you will return to find the house empty, and me and the children gone.”

“Don’t think so, dear. But I must go now. Tee time is in an hour. I’m back in time for dinner.”

And then she heads for the club and he returns to the kitchen.

Just a joke!

Let me start with some statistics – to put the issue, why are we playing golf, into perspective.

In my previous post, I presented statistics about golf in the USA. Here comes some facts about golfers and golf activities in Sweden.

Unfortunately, the report is only in Swedish but here is the link: https://golf.se/om-golfsverige/analyser-och-statistik/rapporter-och-studier/

Number of Swedish golfers

With a population of about 10 million, the Swedish Golf Federation have 540,000 members (about 5,4% of the population) who in a year’s period up till now played 11,173,026 rounds of golf.

If one round takes 4 hours then the members have spent no less than 44,692,104 hours on the golf course. That’s about 83 hours average per golfer. That again is about 10 working days at 8 hours.

Then you can add the time getting to the course, preparation for the game, checking in, warming up, having a cup of coffee before the game and a beer after etc. That’s a lot of working hours being “non-productive”.

But it pays off, read this.

The money involved

The latest valid statistics I have found about the economic aspect of golf in Sweden is from 2013.

In that year is was estimated that the turnover related to golf (i.e. maintaining and running golf courses and sales of equipment) was 2.6 billion Swedish kroner. Turnover from equipment alone was estimated to 1.3 billion. 1 SVK is equal to 0,10€.

The socio-economic aspect

A scientific study of the societal value of the positive effect on the state of health was estimated at around SVK 400 billion.

How – why?

It is about the quality of life

Knowing about the influence of exercise on health and quality of life, it is estimated that golfers over 65 years gets 3½ more years of quality of life and statistics shows that people who play golf regularly on average are getting 5 years older than people who don’t.

Furthermore: The study concluded that if 100,000 physically inactive people in the age between 40 and 60 years started to play golf the socio-economic effect would be around 90 billion SVK.

So, the effect on health maybe one reason why the 540,000 Swedes spend this kind of time and money playing golf.

But honestly, I don’t think that it is the primary motive for most golfers.

What is it then?

Of course it is good exercise – a round of golf on average is a walk of about 10 km – often on courses set in a quiet and great nature. I will return to that.

It is about social relations. You play with family, friends as well as with total strangers. You learn about other people, their life and personality. You see reactions on good and not so good shots. You observe that a golf swing is not one type of swing, but realize that every individual has got his or hers own way of swinging a golf club. It’s in the personality. You also get to know honest golfers as well as golfers who are less honest.

All the way, you are also getting to know yourself. You learn about your own temptation to cheat, your reaction when you see someone cheating and the reaction when you are making a good shot as well as when you make a bad one. And you learn about your own ambition compared to other people – not only on the golf course.

And many play golf because it is a constant challenge. You walk the course for about 4 hours and hit, maybe between 70 and 100 shots. All shots are different. Different distance, from different lies and positions. You use different clubs, from a driver to a putter. For every shot you have a mental picture in your head about the ideal shot. And even a ½ meter putt represents a challenge.

Even if you do not belong to the more ambitious type of personality; you put yourself under pressure on every shot and putt you make during a round. And this motivates you.

We (or most golfers) also play golf because it is the perfect activity for mental training. You may not realize it. But think about how many times you have to control yourself – not just to be ready for the next shot, but also to avoid reactions that may be perceived childish or blunt by your playing partners. You don’t want to make a fool of yourself. A good read can be found here on the blog http://Read Before you go completely Nuts

Golf is also an emotional and mental escape. That is; whatever kind of problems you may have encountered during the day or week, most of the worries you may have, disappear when you stand with a golf club in your hand and make yourself ready to swing.

We also play golf because of the competitive aspect. Most golfers like to win and are doing whatever they can not to lose. It’s about the adrenalin kick. We get a bit high when we win as well as any time we hit a good shot.

And most golfers like the competitive aspect of golf because of the Stableford system. Even if you use 10 shots more than other participants, you can still win. And that is what most golfers like. We are all equal. Realizing that your competitor used 10 strokes less that you, your adrenalin are rolling in your veins and you feel good.

Also we play golf because golf is the most merciful game we can play. Think about it. You can be angry on yourself if you miss the first putt, and also the second, but you are still allowed to try a third time or even a fourth time.

The same apply for a round of golf. Your round today was not good to say the least. But you are welcome to try again tomorrow. Thinking about some of your bad shots or putts, you feel sure that tomorrow . . . . . I mean, a bad round is not the end of the world.

You play golf the next day, because you are sure that you can prove to yourself that you can do it better.

We also play golf because no two rounds are the same. You can play 3 rounds in a row in the same score and you can reach the score in 3 or many more different ways.

We also play golf because there are many courses in our neighborhood and in the rest of the  world that we are free to play. And no one of these courses are the same. They are all different. The variety of courses are unlimited. In and between you are travelling a long way to play a course you have heard about. And just the anticipation playing that course makes you excited.

Then we play golf because of the enjoyment of visiting and playing an unknown golf course. It is not only about the course and the service in the club house, it is about a lot more than that, it is about meeting the local players, listening to their history and stories of and from their life, getting a hint of the local culture.

And we play because of the unpredictability of the game. We might have high expectations before a round, and most of us often have. It is the joy of anticipation that drives us. And funny enough, we might only live up to our own expectations once out of ten times, but we still believe: that next time!

You are also motivated to play golf by watching golfers playing on the Pro-tours. These guys make the swing looks so easy. You know that you most probably never will be able to get a swing like theirs, but are inspired to improve your own swing. It is not like football for example. Watching Lionel Messi doesn’t motivate you to go a play football. At least not if you are over your teenage years.

And – as said – we are playing because of the joy walking in the nature. Sometimes the walk on fairways with green grass framed by trees with ponds, streams and the ocean in the horizon, is like a spiritual experience, healing your soul and bringing joy to your heart. It’s difficult not to smile when walking on a course in a forest, listening to the bird songs.

And finally; you learn to see your own reaction with humour. A golfer who cannot laugh at him- or herself will soon stop playing the game. No matter which of the mentioned reasons that motivated the person to start playing the game.