Golfing in the Eye of the Hurricane

There are 3 types of golfers.

There are the ones who get paid plenty of money to travel around the world and play thier favourite hobby. Men and women who have crafted and worked on thier swing for year and years to become the best in the world. That bracket is broken up into a few groups itself, but they are all still in the one whole group.

Next, there are the serious gofers. Men and women who take thier game very seriously but will never make it a living. They will buy the best equipment, join the best clubs and spend more money than a small African country on clothes, accesories and other gofing parafanalia like books, magazines and manuals on how to be a better golfer. This group is broken up by handicap. So, in effect, it doesn't really matter how much you have spent, it all comes down to who can play the best on any one day.

Finally, there is the group that I belong to. The Fun Group. Men and women who play golf for fun. A competition is a silly idea and an ealry tee-off is the best thing you can do, because then there is no one else around to see you do what you do on the 18 holes. In fact, 18 holes is a little stretch and 9 holes make more sense. Belonging to a club is absurd and our kit was bought at Makro. An 18 handicap might as well be scratch and hitting all the fairways is a far away dream.

Golfers like us get no recognition. We never win when we get invites, we aren't mentioned in the club newsletter and we NEVER get TV, radio or magazine exposure. This is YOU!

We are the ones who go out in the worst conditions. While the better golfers are cuddling up in bed or in the clubhouse, we know no better and carry on playing. We are the life blood of any golf course. We might play a little slower than the average super golfer, but we still finish in a reasonable time because we know that when we have hit the ball 10 times on a par 4, we should pick our ball up. We know that if the 4ball behind us are closing in, we will skip a hole. We play golf for the fun, the ourdoors, the birds and the trees and the companionship of the whole day.

Why then do the clubs charge extra for us to play? We are no better or worse than the supergolfer. We use the same showers, the same halfway house and the same grass. Are we inferior because we don't have the time and patience to practice?

If golf really wants to grow and develop and get rid of it's eletist image, then golfers like me need to focused on.

There is your challenge, take it.