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 May 2006 Back to Table of Contents Back to Archives Main Page Section: Summer Guide 2006 Golf, Of Course! By Biff Henrich
The pros play on the best courses, in the best conditions, every time they tee it up. They rarely have to make a decision about where to play, unlike the rest of us hacks. What goes into that decision varies upon the day. If it is a special occasion, with your out of town guests or best business client, then the fancy-man, lots-of-amenities course is the destination. If it is Tuesday evening and you are looking to play nine holes before dark by yourself, then the closest, easiest access, shortest bag-line course is the place to go. The golf industry would have you believe that if you aren’t playing the five star championship course with electronic rangefinders built into the required cart and a beverage available every two and a half holes with a spa waiting at the end, then your golf experience is sub par and your golf score considerably over par. This could’t be further from reality for most of us on most days. Remember why you started playing golf in the first place. Your friends played and you wanted to hang with them. Your co-workers played and you thought it might be a career asset to play with them. You didn’t have to be good, just show up and not hold anybody up. Worse than being bad is being slow on the course. All golfers will tolerate somebody who rolls it down the course and never gets the ball more than seven feet in the air, as long as they don’t slow the pace of play. If you’re screwing around licking your finger to check the wind and taking six practice strokes just to knock the ball off the cart path, into a pricker bush sixty yards ahead and thirty yards right, you’re wasting everybody’s time. That’s what golfers hate. The fact is, amateur golfers aren’t that good. If you don’t regularly shoot below 80 then get up there and hit. You’re there for socializing and companionship. That the game happens to be fun is the bonus. A lot of us started as kids with our parents and friends. At that time you have no delusions of being pro-golf good, although you think you may get there in a week or two. You are out there for the sheer fun of hitting the ball, finding it and hitting it again. The course never mattered. It still doesn’t. We learned on average courses and the game was a blast. Make no mistake; it is enjoyable to go to different courses of varying quality and degrees of difficulty, but they are merely accessories to the experience of spending a few non-electronic hours with family or friends or perhaps actually meeting new people and getting to know them a little bit. By the third hole, their golfing behavior will reveal what they are truly like. On the Niagara Frontier, there are courses for every mood, ability and social moment. With most golf courses you get what you pay for. The $150 per round, pricier venues tend to be more challenging with more customer service amenities. The experience is to be enjoyed as a special event. Most golfers won’t score well there; they’re not that good. Neither am I, but I like being pampered once in a while. You can also play the $12 muni cow pasture. I’ve had equally memorable experiences going low rent as I have high-priced. It depends on the people. Since golf is the proverbial game for life, it had better be about the people because we’re not going to get any better as we get older. Ken Green enjoys hitting a golf ball so much that his spongy hotel mattress was good enough for him. You have to love the pro that will still hit the ball for the joy of it. Who knows, it may have been more fun than a perfectly groomed golf course. back to top back to table of contents Current Issue | About Forever Young | Where to Find | Advertise | Our Advertisers | Community Calendar | Contest | Clubs | Contact Us | Archives | Home |
