why do you play golf?

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Because every so often something happens and - like this evening - I played 13 holes and did them in 1 over gross - How come? - dunno - it just happened

 

[lyden]

A level playing field , in competition, means that the rules and conditions are the same for everyone. This ensures that winning is based on ability. The handicap system is the opposite of a level playing field. In effect it unlevels the field based on ability. To keep it simple you make the best runner run uphill and the worst runner run down hill. If we could do this accurately it would be a draw. If someone 'wins' it is madness to conclude it was from ability and not from the inaccuracy of the tilt.

It is the handicap system that makes it a pointless exercise from the off. We can't know why the winner won if it isn't played on a level playing field.

Have to agree in part but there would be no competitive element if it didnt exist. You dont put a Premier league team and a sunday league team up against each other every week youd soon lose interest. I tied and eventually lost to a 14yr old because i gave away 1 shot in matchplay.....but im still the better player and thats the way i view any golf competition if i dont have the lowest gross i havent truely won. I wont be winning truely for a while.....

 

[Region3]

That's 3 people who would rather play all comps off scratch. 2 off 11 and iirc PZ is around 10?
Would you all really be happy paying comp fees with almost zero hope of winning?

If the group I usually play with played off level I would win 8 times out of 10, where's the fun in that?

To answer the OP, to see how good I can be.

 

[lyden]

That's 3 people who would rather play all comps off scratch. 2 off 11 and iirc PZ is around 10?
Would you all really be happy paying comp fees with almost zero hope of winning?

If the group I usually play with played off level I would win 8 times out of 10, where's the fun in that?

To answer the OP, to see how good I can be.

Its a man pride thing

 

[Bomber69]

A level playing field , in competition, means that the rules and conditions are the same for everyone. This ensures that winning is based on ability. The handicap system is the opposite of a level playing field. In effect it unlevels the field based on ability. To keep it simple you make the best runner run uphill and the worst runner run down hill. If we could do this accurately it would be a draw. If someone 'wins' it is madness to conclude it was from ability and not from the inaccuracy of the tilt.

It is the handicap system that makes it a pointless exercise from the off. We can't know why the winner won if it isn't played on a level playing field.

Well said. Top Bloke :thup:

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

You win by having the most inaccurate handicap on the day

That is a very weird if not warped way of viewing things - and actually a pretty fundamental misunderstanding of the way in which your handicap reflects your ability and how it works in handicap competitions.

I'm also baffled why some hold handicaps in such low regard. I think they are forgetting how hard golf is and how we need all the encouragement we can get on a knock by knock basis.

 

[Pro Zach]

Have to agree in part but there would be no competitive element if it didnt exist. You dont put a Premier league team and a sunday league team up against each other every week youd soon lose interest. I tied and eventually lost to a 14yr old because i gave away 1 shot in matchplay.....but im still the better player and thats the way i view any golf competition if i dont have the lowest gross i havent truely won. I wont be winning truely for a while.....

So with you being premier league and the 14 year old being Sunday league you have to give him 1 shot so you don't lose interest?

 

[Sweep]

A level playing field , in competition, means that the rules and conditions are the same for everyone. This ensures that winning is based on ability. The handicap system is the opposite of a level playing field. In effect it unlevels the field based on ability. To keep it simple you make the best runner run uphill and the worst runner run down hill. If we could do this accurately it would be a draw. If someone 'wins' it is madness to conclude it was from ability and not from the inaccuracy of the tilt.

It is the handicap system that makes it a pointless exercise from the off. We can't know why the winner won if it isn't played on a level playing field.

Absolute tosh. Sorry. What the handicap system does is to reward the player who plays best against his /her usual ability. If an 18 handicapper plays against and 1 handicapper on full difference and wins, do we all think the guy off 18 is the better golfer? No, of course not. But the handicap system allows for a close competitive match. I personally revel in trying to get my handicap as low as possible. Your handicap is the measure of your true ability. Have you considered how many comps there would be without the handicap system?

 

[Fader]

Why do I play? Because i'm clearly a sadist who enjoys punishing himself mentally. At least that's how I feel after today!

Another round with a dozen pars that I just tossed into the scrap heap with a Quad, 2 doubles, and 4 bogies! Just compounding silly mistakes again and again!

I play to get as low as I can, maybe I should just start trying to enjoy it again

 

[Pro Zach]

That's 3 people who would rather play all comps off scratch. 2 off 11 and iirc PZ is around 10?
Would you all really be happy paying comp fees with almost zero hope of winning?

If the group I usually play with played off level I would win 8 times out of 10, where's the fun in that?

To answer the OP, to see how good I can be.

Unfortunately I'm off 15. I'd love to shoot 10 over. It would feel good having people patting me on the back and congratulating me. Sorry, I forgot golf was a social game because of the handicap system, so I'd actually get complete strangers calling me a cheat.........very sociable.

I would, and have in other sports and games, pay an entry fee with no realistic chance of winning. As you point out there would be no fun in winning 8 out of 10 times, so you clearly understand it's not about winning.

The best player at my club has played for years, has more talent than me and practices most days. I am a lazy fat talentless 47 year old who rarely practices. I deserve an equal chance of winning because?? I could shoot 15 more shots than him and win first prize. Where's the fun in that?

I have no realistic chance of beating a scratch golfer. Knocking 15 shots off and pretending I did is at best meaningless, and at worst immoral.

I would however enjoy beating other 10-20 handicap golfers playing on a level playing field. I don't need a prize, just the challenge of a fair competition.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Unfortunately I'm off 15. I'd love to shoot 10 over. It would feel good having people patting me on the back and congratulating me. Sorry, I forgot golf was a social game because of the handicap system, so I'd actually get complete strangers calling me a cheat.........very sociable

Eh? No you wouldn't!

Do it too many times in 'friendly' golf and you might get some ribbing and maybe a bit of a reputation - but doing it repeatedly in competitive golf - given you be cut each time now that would take some doing. In a medal a couple of months back I knocked it round in 6 under h/cap - 8 under CSS (off 12). Everyone without exception congratulated me - I have not heard a single mention of me being a cheat - that's an absurd notion.

Are you serious or have I missed the joke?

 

[Pro Zach]

Eh? No you wouldn't!

Do it too many times in 'friendly' golf and you might get some ribbing and maybe a bit of a reputation - but doing it repeatedly in competitive golf - given you be cut each time now that would take some doing. In a medal a couple of months back I knocked it round in 6 under h/cap - 8 under CSS (off 12). Everyone without exception congratulated me - I have not heard a single mention of me being a cheat - that's an absurd notion.

Are you serious or have I missed the joke?

Not exactly a joke, but I feel you missed the point.

 

[tyke]

If you'd met my Mrs you would all realise why I play golf

Oh and BTW a 6 hour round is all the better for me

 

[Cheifi0]

The fresh air, the scenery, the competition against the course and fellow competitors. The fact that you can hit one amazing shot that can make an awful round. Its just an amazing game to watch and play.

 

[TheClaw]

That's 3 people who would rather play all comps off scratch. 2 off 11 and iirc PZ is around 10?
Would you all really be happy paying comp fees with almost zero hope of winning?

If the group I usually play with played off level I would win 8 times out of 10, where's the fun in that?

To answer the OP, to see how good I can be.

In all honesty I play in comps to get my handicap down. So I do like having a system that shows progress etc. but when you talk about a zero hope of winning I look at it another way...I can't believe that people are happy with a 'win' where someone has actually played the course much better than them (gross).

I've played different sports all my life and I prefer the better player winning, whether it's me or not. People that are poor at something do not deserve to be competitive.

 

[Sid Rixon IV]

The fresh air, the scenery, the competition against the course and fellow competitors. The fact that you can hit one amazing shot that can make an awful round. Its just an amazing game to watch and play.

I totally agree and would add camaraderie of sitting around after a game with a drink, chewing the fat, recalling the good, the bad and the plain ugly and plauding and "ripping" each other.
(I used to play team squash and we did exactly the same - I miss it but golf is proving even more rewarding).
Im off 28 and recently got drawn against 8 and 12 handicappers with my partner off 17.
We had a great "close" game on points and sat around chatting for half an hour afterward.
Last week I got "press ganged" into joining the club vets team despite my protests on grounds of my handicap.
They'd have none of it and Im (deliberately) partnered on Monday with a 5 handicapper against the visiting team.
I'm told he's a great guy and happy to partner me.

 

[Foxholer]

A level playing field , in competition, means that the rules and conditions are the same for everyone. This ensures that winning is based on ability. The handicap system is the opposite of a level playing field. In effect it unlevels the field based on ability. To keep it simple you make the best runner run uphill and the worst runner run down hill. If we could do this accurately it would be a draw. If someone 'wins' it is madness to conclude it was from ability and not from the inaccuracy of the tilt.

It is the handicap system that makes it a pointless exercise from the off. We can't know why the winner won if it isn't played on a level playing field.

The handicap system is one of the major reasons why Golf is popular. Handicap systems have been an essential part of the game for as long as it has been recorded.

Winning a 'Nett' competition doesn't make the winner the best Golfer - unless they also have the lowest Gross score!

For me.
Exercise
Company
Scenery
Score/Challenge

 

[Crow]

I play golf for the friendhsip and the challenge of trying to improve.

And on the handicap side, which the thread seems to have taken a side path down, I think golf would be much less sociable without it as players would tend to play more against those of simialr ability. Handicaps give a measure of your ability and any improvement you may be making, and has been said several times already, it allows for all skill levels of player to have competitive game against each other.

As for winning handicap competitions, I'm on two boards at our club, am I proud of this? Yes and no.

Yes - because on both days I played much better than I ever have before in competition and scored 6 below my handicap of the time.

No - because I'm fully aware that in terms of ability within the club I'm still a long way from getting close to the best (although in the second of the above I was fifth best gross score out of a field of 117 players, which was the most pleasing aspect of the day!)

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

...and believe it or not there are low h/cap players out there who actualy enjoy playing with higher h/cappers as they can help the high guys out a bit whilst playing their own game. Besides for a low h/capper a friendly match against a 'good' high handicapper is a real matchplay challenge. Can be pretty disheartening experience playing against a bandit in a comp - but even in a comp the challenge of playing an improving high handicapper is good - and the pleasure in winning all the greater.

And I play golf becuase at the age of 13 I discovered my best mates were disappearing off to play so I thought I'd better take it up 'seriously' as well. And as golf was cheap and all my mates played it I just kept playing. And when in teens my folks used to take us regular weekends during the summer camping in Dunkeld - our tent pitched in a fermers field bordering Dunkeld & Birnam Golf Club. So my dad. bro and me all joined. Bliss. So that's why I play golf.

 

[shooboo]

The fresh air, the scenery, the competition against the course and fellow competitors. The fact that you can hit one amazing shot that can make an awful round. Its just an amazing game to watch and play.

That's me too. The peace and quiet, the social life, and the mental challenge to improve in something are my reasons.