Addiction

[PeterPumpkinEater]

Having planned 4 rounds over the Xmas break my good lady turns to me and says "Golf, golf, golf, your bloody addicted to it".

This got me thinking, playing on the course, going down the range, this forum, viewing various online retailers and purchasing, practicing pitching and putting at home etc. etc. I have to say she's got a point!

So, my question is this, just like smoking etc. could you give all of this up immediately?

 

[haplesshacker]

Like smoking - No!!

 

[GB72]

I could only give up if I replaced it with something else. I need a competive sport and golf took over when I quit playing rugby. I could possibly swap golf for an addiction to another sport but I need some form of competition in my life.

 

[Parmo]

To addicted to think about stopping.

 

[HTL]

I could only give up if I replaced it with something else. I need a competive sport and golf took over when I quit playing rugby. I could possibly swap golf for an addiction to another sport but I need some form of competition in my life.

I am exactly the same. I need the competition and getting away from work etc time.

 

[haplesshacker]

I could only give up if I replaced it with something else. I need a competive sport and golf took over when I quit playing rugby. I could possibly swap golf for an addiction to another sport but I need some form of competition in my life.

I am exactly the same. I need the competition and getting away from work etc time.

Ditto.

I think it is the competitiveness of it that keeps me ticking. If it wasn't this it would be something else.

It was sailboat racing for 30 years, but I needed a change.

 

[TWM]

Gary Leboff describes it, in the January GM, precisely as it applies to me. The word is obsession.
When I restarted golf after a break of 25 years, I ceased to practice my oil painting. I had become proficient as a painter, more than I will ever say about golf, and even began selling the work. People stop me to ask about my painting and I have to say that golf has taken over my life.
Now it is time to follow Gary Leboff's advice and apply myself to painting in addition to golf. Perhaps I will be able in future to post on here about my relaxed and trouble free game.

 

[ricardodaintino]

The wife managed to wean me off of cigerettes, but no chance with golf. No amount of chewing gum can get me out of the driving range!

 

[ademac]

I've quit smoking for 4 weeks now, I've been addicted to a few other things that I won't mention and I've managed to escape them, BUT GOLF! Golf is something else! I've told the girlfriend that I'm not going to win this battle!
at least while I'm playing, practising,reading about, talking about golf, then I can't be getting up to anything else!

 

[theeaglehunter]

Give it up- you must be joking!

 

[Beaker]

Theres no way I could stop! Even if I lost an arm or a leg i'd still try find aways to play?

I think its partly my competitive nature but also that when i play, i almost always come off thinking it could of been better and i think this is what it is with most people? You you keep trying, playing, practising etc to play the perfect game?

Also things like, watching a pro swing in slow mo on tv or just watching golf on tv, makes you think "I can do that!"

Plus you have the social side of golf. I've got so many friends from playing golf and friends i'll have for life so its not just about the golf that gets you addicted

And just to add another point, I hate those people who take the p*ss out of you for playing golf but they've never played? They call it a rubbish game but they've never played?!! I bet if they played they would understand why we want to play come rain or shine!

 

[davykyle]

To have an addiction is an admission of having a problem. None of us here have a problem ! That's our story and were sticking to it.

 

[RGuk]

So, my question is this, just like smoking etc. could you give all of this up immediately?

Um, at the moment, NO! (neither! )

But I did once and it was an instant break that lasted many years.

I quit boozing overnight in 1999 and have only got back to having the odd tipple in the last year or two (about as long as playing golf again!)

 

[ricardodaintino]

So, my question is this, just like smoking etc. could you give all of this up immediately?

Um, at the moment, NO! (neither! )

But I did once and it was an instant break that lasted many years.

I quit boozing overnight in 1999 and have only got back to having the odd tipple in the last year or two (about as long as playing golf again!)

Are you insinuating that our glorious game has driven you to drink!!!

Probably right!

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I went from 40+ pints a week to 0 overnight. OK granted I was carted into hospital in an ambulance and was an hour away from croaking but I think I cracked it. Actually it was the only real vice I ever had (never smoked a cigarette or tried drugs). Anything else probably not suitable for this type of forum.

I can't give up golf. It is in my consciousness every waking minute. I'm always thinking about some facet or another, either through the TV on here, writing about the stupid game or thinking about my swing and next/last game.

Fortuantely HID has given up on asking about the unique fascination and accepts the sound of clicking keyboard every night as she sits downstairs rotting her brain on soaps as I try to find the ultimate golf swing and equipment set up.

Every round is competitive whether I am on my own, playing for £1 per head with my mates or fighting it out in a monthly medal or local open competition. It is me against my demons, the elements and the course. I lose more than I win (especially against my demons) but when I do beat my handicap there is nothing like it except....... (not suitable for this type of forum!!)

 

[CarpeDiem]

Only if I had to stop because of an illness etc but other than that no.

 

[time_vans]

I have quite an intense competitive nature and after spending 30 years match fishing with reasonable success I have been partly forced and partly by choice given up fishing and adopted golf.Yes I am addicted and although a total novice I am experiencing the same sense of excitement from my early days at fishing.So unlike many on here I'm embarking on a new adventure with golf and getting a right good buzz from it. Give it up? Why..... it's the healthiest addiction I've ever had !

 

[Herbie]

I used to be addicted to this game many yrs ago, practice after work, frequent evening rounds during the week in summer,often 72 holes at the weekend,practice in the kitchen, garden, playing fields, always getting golf mags, always watching golf on the telly, went to watch a number of pro comps and played as many clubs as I could get away with over those particular yrs. I wasnt happy, but I could play comfortabley to a 6 or 7 then. I play off 9, I dont play excessively, I love playing when I do play, I love playing comps but dont lose my mind if I dont play comps, Im chilled out and happy even with the frustrations of MS. So I am a reformed addict.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

The stupid thing is I'm more addicted now than when I was 16 and up at Wimbledon Common from 7.00am every morning to hoover and open the shop, play/practice, work the shop and go out for 18 holes after work. In those days all I was interested in was getting low enough to turn pro and get my PGA exams. I had so much fun working the shop and meeting different people every day and watching the world go by ont he common with a cup of tea outside the front of the shop chatting up the stable girls from the village.

BUT, the feeling I have now is more tangible. At that age I just thought I'd meander through being a decent player, get an assistant job then my own pro shop and that would be my golfing career. Now it is something from within. A quest if you will to prove that I can be good again (never as good) and that I can master my home course. I can win a trophy per season. I can take my mates money every weekend. I can write about golf and get published. I can relate and communicate with like minded souls.

Its inside me and I can't see it leaving

 

[Ken_A]

I quit smoking cold turkey one day, the money saved pays my dues.
There is no chance of me quitting golf unless it was a choice between my family and golf.