Are you a golfer?

mrwoo

mrwoo

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I don't consider myself to be a golfer and won't until I get my handicap below 20. I'm just someone who enjoys playing golf.
At what stage do others consider themselves golfers?
 
I considered myself to be a golfer the very first time I played on a course and actually holed a putt.

Regardless of ability, everyone who plays on a course is a golfer, whether they're a hacker or someone off scratch makes not one iota of difference in my eyes.
 
Yes, very logical answer and not trying to knock anyone. I certainly didn't feel like I was a golfer the first time I hacked 140 shots round Hinksey (nice views) with my pub mates and always felt that I needed to be around 18 before I would.
 
I get your point mrwoo, when I started playing I think I shot 159 around my local course and I was playing with 2 lads, 1 of which was off 14 and the other off 20 ish and it was embarrasing/frustrating/annoying etc.

I can still remember pulling a 5 iron out for a par 3 that they were using a wedge on and feeling ashamed lol

All that said, I still felt like a golfer, albeit a very very crap one ;)
 
I don't consider myself to be a golfer and won't until I get my handicap below 20. I'm just someone who enjoys playing golf.
At what stage do others consider themselves golfers?
Click to expand...

I am a bit taken aback by this post. Occasionally we get the 'higher H/C should play off 3/4 for comps' comments form lower H'C ers (I did say occasional as I know it is not everyone view) , 'bandit' comments when someone has a great round etc but suggesting someone is not a golfer because they have not reached an arbitary standard is just a kick in the teeth for a lot of people.

Are ladies off 24 when they started at 36 not proper golfers(...awaiting the comments below), juniors the same etc - what about the guy who has been off 15 but over the years has gone up to a position he still plays but socially. What about me - I play....alot.

YES I am a golfer!"!!
 
I not suggesting anyone isn't a golfer (just me). If you play off 36 and are a golfer, that's great. I am going to email Mrs Woo the question, she plays off 34.
 
I have never considered myself to be a Golfer.

I play the game socially and can hit some good shots but I don't feel that you earn the label of 'proper golfer' unless you get down to scratch and put a decent level of commitment and time into the game.

We can all enjoy trying to play the game but the bulk of us need a handicap to make up for our lack of ability in the game.
 
Actually, I can see a point here. Not from my point of view or from the point of view of, I assume, most people on here but from the golfing world in general.

Take my club, this year there are more competitions where the max handicap is 18 and you are not even allowed to enter the club championship if your handicap is over 18.

Look at some of the competitions in magazines etc (GM included) that specify that entry is only open to those 18 handicap and under.

Look at some clubs, only allowed to play the course if you can show a valid handicap under 18.

Seems to suggest that there are quite a few clubs, organisations, courses and manufacturers who do not consider you a golfer until you have an 18 handicap.

That may just be me being a bit precious about it having been over 18 myself until recently but could be interepreted that, whilst fellow golfer see everyone out on the course as a golfer, others may not.
 
Good question.
Let me turn it around a bit by asking the people on here who play or played football on a saturday.
Was you or are you a footballer? the answer is no,we are someone who plays football at the weekend.
If you were semi-professional who got payed,you were a weekend footballer that got paid for playing.
If i was a pro who made my living from playing football then i would be a footballer.
So am i a golfer? the answer is no,i am someone who plays golf at the weekend.
 
Good question.
Let me turn it around a bit by asking the people on here who play or played football on a saturday.
Was you or are you a footballer? the answer is no,we are someone who plays football at the weekend.
If you were semi-professional who got payed,you were a weekend footballer that got paid for playing.
If i was a pro who made my living from playing football then i would be a footballer.
So am i a golfer? the answer is no,i am someone who plays golf at the weekend.
Click to expand...

Good way of looking at it. I'd tend to agree.
 
I think it has more to do with your attitude to the game.

If you appreciate the game and conduct yourself properly on the course then you are a golfer, regardless of how good/bad you are/are perceived to be.

I'd rather go golfing with someone who loves golf but couldn't break 110 than one who broke 80 didn't have any etiquette. Those people who disrespect the course and others playing it, in my eyes, are not golfers. Everyone else, golf on.
 
The other way to look at it is,if someone you didnt know ask you if you were a golfer,in the context of wanting a game.
Your answer would be yes i am a golfer, who would like a game.
So really the answer to are you a golfer,surely comes in the context of how the questions asked.
 
Doesn't this come down to personal interpretation of terminology? As people generally make the distinction of "professional golfer", then the rest of us are, surely, "golfers"?

I can drive a car, so I am a driver. Doesn't mean I have to do it for a living. If I drove a taxi for a living, that would make me an off-duty fireman.
 
I understand what you mean, technically we are golfers as soon as we hit the course, but personally I felt it when I started to hit more consistent shots and hit more greens.
 
Bluenose, I know what you mean. There is point at which it just clicks, at least it did for me. When I was about 14, and suddenly I went from hacker to player, with some clear idea of what I was doing and muscle memory to make it happen.
 
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