The secret to enjoying golf

The key question that will lead you to a more fulfilling relationship with the game

There are tour pros out there who love pro-ams, but for most of them they are at best a duty and at worst a chore. The image of the tour pro, silent and separate over the 18 holes, has been common enough over the years to have become a cliché.

Although the picture isn’t especially edifying, it’s a great example of a golfer playing the wrong game of golf. The typical tour pro doesn’t get into golf to have a chat and a laugh: what they love about the game is being competitive and shooting as low as possible. That’s why, for some of them, the pro-am is about as pleasurable as the casual, social golfer teeing it up in the club championship.

Make no mistake: if you are playing the wrong game of golf for your character and temperament, your enjoyment of the sport will always be a shadow of what it could and should be. This is why “Why do I play golf?” is one of the most profound questions you can ask yourself. Most people reading this article will never have asked it of themselves, but I’d urge you to do it this week – and set some time aside so you can have a proper think about it.

Why do I play golf? It sounds like such a simple question… until you really start to delve into it. Most people will be tempted to say things like “to improve and shoot lower scores”, or even “to win events”. It seems the obvious call; after all, do we not idolise elite players and covet their ability? However, we do not all possess the competitiveness of the elite player, or their appetite for practice. This conditioned quest for lower scores is a major reason many club players end up playing a game they don’t especially enjoy, battling that stubborn handicap and scrapping with the scorecard.

Why do I play golf? Of course, there are stacks of options. Professional long drivers like World Champion Joe Miller (below) just love the feeling of giving a ball an almighty thrashing. “Watching the ball fly straight, watching it fly, and fly… and then keep flying. That’s the unbelievable part of it,” he says. “I will never get tired of it.” The social side is another fantastic element; so is the enjoyment of being outdoors, in a beautiful environment. You can also list exercise, or the thrill of hitting a great shot. You can even add the pleasure of being out there on your own. In asking yourself why you play golf, leave yourself open to these or any other answers. And give yourself permission to adopt them, even if they don’t sound ambitious or aspirational.

None of which is to say ‘shooting a low score’ or ‘competing and winning’ are not good reasons to play the game. Of course they are. The point here is to gain a better understanding of the things you really love about playing the game, and then tailor your golfing experiences accordingly. It’s time to start playing the game you love, not the one you’re expected to. When I ask myself this question, the answer I get is “to hit some good shots” and “play great courses” – and this informs how I go about interacting with the game. Chances are you will also end up with a blend of two, three or four reasons for why you play golf. That’s absolutely fine; just make sure you start creating a golfing environment that allows them to flourish. It is even entirely possible that you might enjoy the social and competitive sides of golf. Although rare it does happen, Lee Trevino being one of the best examples. In this case realise that, as Lee proved, the two are not mutually exclusive. Trying your darnedest to shoot a low score doesn’t preclude having a chat and a laugh while you do it; neither is there anything to stop you turning up the heat a bit in a social knockabout.

But above all, just ask yourself why you play the game.

Approach the question honestly, commit to the answers you get, and you are opening yourself up to an enriched and far more pleasurable life in golf.

‘It’s time to start playing the game you love, not the one you’re expected to. Ask

yourself why you play’