So my wife gets a call the other day from a relative out west. The only part of the conversation in which I’m involved is when when she tells said relative “Hold on, I’ll tell him now.” She then proceeds to tell me about the 74 he shot that morning. Now, am I jealous of the score? No, of course not. Well…maybe a little. But what I am jealous of is the fact that he played at all.
See, it was 47 degrees and raining here. But I ask him…”How’s the weather?” His response? “A little cool. It was only around 65 when we teed off. But it warmed up later.” It was then that I though I just might be somewhat jealous of other golfers.
Year in and year out, once the golf season winds down, I find I’m saying to myself “I wish I played more this year.” It never fails. I could have played more than I ever have, but I’ll still find myself repeating the same thing. I know it’s not just me. All my golfing buddies feel the same way. And when I look back at why I may not have played as much as I would have liked…the reasons are usually pretty legit. Many times either me or my wife have something going on in our relatively busy lives, and occasionally it gets in the way of my golf game. If I only had more time…
But here in the northeast, normally only about seven or eight months out of the year are consistently playable. Anything more is a bonus. So naturally, I’m a bit jealous of players from other areas of the country. What if I could play year-round? What if there was no off-season? What if I never had to worry about the season winding down? What if I never had to feel like I didn’t play enough?
However, is there a flip-side to that? To me, there’s something about the feeling of the season coming to a close. The little extra push you give knowing your clubs are about to go into hibernation. But even more, there’s something about the feeling of the up-coming season about to begin. A couple of trips to the indoor facility during the winter, a few stops at the range when the temps again begin to rise…it’s the anticipation really. Something to look forward to.
It would be nice to have the ability to play year round. But if I did have that opportunity, would I take advantage? I honestly don’t know if I would. I mean, in the limited time I have now, I don’t always take advantage. So what if I never had to worry about not being able to play? Would I take advantage, or would I be even more indifferent to it?
Think about anything in life really. If you never have to worry about something going away, you tend to take it for granted, right? Would I feel the same about golf? Not sure. But what if someone else was in my shoes? What if I took a Floridian and put them here in Connecticut? Then I tell them “I know you could play golf every weekend down south…but here you’ve only got the chance to play about 60% of that.” No more taking that time for granted I’m sure. So why do I do it here?
I have no answer. But the best I can figure is that I feel the break is necessary for myself and possibly most other golfers of my skill level, which just so happens to be about 95% of you. The off-season is a time for reflection on the previous season as well as a time of preparation for the next. However, it’s also a time to simply take a break from the sport as a whole. Forget about your crappy game for a while. Forget about your scores. Forget about your frustration toward your handicap which never seems to drop. Just take the time off and relax.
Now would I feel this way had my golf life begun in a place where there is no off-season? Possibly. But it didn’t. Where I live, there’s an off-season. And for the reasons I stated above, I don’t see it being better any other way. I’m not afraid of the off-season. As a matter of fact, I’ll relish it.
Bring on the winter!
