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Five Reasons Golf and Fishing Go Hand-In-Hand

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The pond Stinky Golfer Chris grew up fishing in (photo by Greg D'Andrea)
The pond Stinky Golfer Chris grew up fishing in (photo by Greg D’Andrea)

One of my first memories of a golf course as a kid is going fishing at one.  No kidding.  I remember a small pond my dad and I would go to that was right by a road, not far from my neighborhood.  It wasn’t a spectacular place, but we always caught a few fish every time we went, which was all that mattered to me.

I don’t think I ever really paid much attention to it being a golf course until one time when I saw a splash about 30 feet or so away.  Thinking it was a fish jumping, I cast my line in that direction.  Three or four minutes later, a guy comes wandering by swinging his club through the reeds.  My father told him; “It went in.”  He thanked my dad and wandered off, muttering something under his breath.  I remember him being none too pleased.

Twenty years or so later, I hit my ball into that very same pond.  And when I did, I remember thinking to myself about that day, that guy and if any of his buddies busted his stones the way mine busted on me.  Good times.

I’ve been fishing about twice as long as I’ve been golfing…but I’m just as bad at one as I am at the other.  No matter.  Much like each other…I do both because I enjoy them, not because I’m good.  I don’t always fish at the greatest spots and I don’t always play the greatest courses.  I don’t have expensive fishing gear, just as I don’t use expensive golf equipment.  But it doesn’t take away from the experience.  As a matter of fact, golf and fishing have several things in common…

  1. They are both very relaxing –  Well, if you’re doing them right that is.  If you’re out on the course or out on a lake and you’re stressed out and pissed off, then you’re doing this all wrong.  There are few things more relaxing than standing on the side of a picturesque lake, surrounded by trees, birds chirping and otherwise peace and quiet, mindlessly tossing a line into the water.  The same can be said for golf.  Walking through the grass (mostly the taller grass), surrounded by trees, birds chirping, the occasional furry woodland creature and otherwise peace and quiet.  OK, other than your playing partners making fun of the worm-burner you just hammered off the tee, what could ruin this?  You taking it too seriously instead of just having fun, that’s what.  And speaking of your partners…
  2. You can do both alone, or with some buddies – You can show up to a golf course alone or with some friends and enjoy your round just as much either way.  The same goes for fishing.  If any friends or my kids can’t go or aren’t around to go, I’m just as happy going by myself.  The only difference between the two being, in golf, unless we’re lucky enough to have the course to ourselves, we can’t exactly move at our own pace.  In fishing, I move where I want, when I want and do what I want.  Speaking of which…
  3.  You can enjoy a beer or cigar during either – How many other sports can you participate in with a beer in hand and stogie between your jaws?  Well OK, I guess there’s a few.  But it’s more likely than not that in most other sports, it might be frowned upon.  But golf and fishing…not only is it OK, it may even be expected.  So crack one open and light one up!  Just dispose of them properly…don’t be that ass who throws your bottle in the woods or your butt in the water.
  4. You’re outside on a beautiful day – And let’s face it, that beats being inside on a beautiful day.  No, golf and fishing are certainly not sports that are going to give you a good workout like, say, a pickup basketball game.  But that isn’t exactly relaxing now, is it?  Would you rather watch golf on TV or actually go play golf?  Would you rather watch fishing on TV or actually go fishing?  See what you want to do is participate but still relax…and golf and fishing allow for both.
  5. Both are life-long sports – How many times have you hit the course and seen many older players out there with you?  How many times did you go fishing with your grandfather?  The point is, both golf and fishing are sports you can continue to play long after you can’t swing a bat with any power or beat your defender down the court for a layup.  Golfers and fishermen can enjoy their sports years past their athletic primes and still enjoy the sport just as much as they always have.
Here in the northeast, golf and fishing season pretty much run parallel, and the start of both are right around the corner.  Despite one possibly taking time from the other, both are sports I’ll continue to enjoy for as long as my body and health will allow me to do so, which hopefully is for quite a long time more.  But I will say this, if when I was a kid, I knew what that guy who drove his ball into the pond was thinking at the time, I may have just stuck to fishing…

Do You Find Golf Relaxing?

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golf-fishingI work with a guy who is one of those people that just can’t ever sit still or relax.  He’s always doing something.  He wakes up when it’s still dark outside to go to the gym, probably works a 9 1/2 to 10 hour day on average, goes home to do some kind of household project because he can’t not change things, and when he’s not doing that he’s teaching a spin class at his gym.  On the weekend, it’s more of the same.  Go, go, go – it never ends.  He doesn’t realize it, but he almost always looks stressed – like if he doesn’t do something, things will be amiss.  I recently asked him if he ever just sleeps in or if he ever simply takes the time to grab a beer, sit down and do nothing for a little while.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a look of such confusion before that moment.

In one of the most recent conversations, a couple of us brought up some plans to go fishing over the weekend.  Again, my co-worker…totally lost.  He says “I don’t understand how you guys can go fishing.  You just sit there and…” and he imitates casting a line and reeling it in.  We all respond with “Exactly” or “Yeah, pretty much.”  But the main response was “It’s relaxing.  Just sitting by the water, maybe having a beer and just relaxing…not having to think about a thing.”  Still…that doesn’t register with him.  He responds with “That and golf.”

We all proceed to tell him that he needs to learn how to slow down and relax once in a while or he’s going to have a heart attack in a year.  He then attempts to justify it to us by explaining why he doesn’t like fishing or golf.  He says of golf, he doesn’t like the sport because he has no control over the ball.  Once he hits the ball, he has no control over what happens.  He can’t control the wind, the conditions of the course or where the ball is going to go once he hits it.  I try to explain that the better you get, the better you can control where the ball goes.  I also tell him that the conditions of the course as well as the weather are just part of the game – they can’t be controlled so you work with them.  I also try to explain that a good part of the reason I play is because I’m spending time with friends, having conversation and doing something while we’re hanging out.  It’s not just the sport itself.  My score is secondary.

He goes on to tell me that he can’t understand how the results are secondary.  When he bikes or runs, he challenges himself to beat his last time, so he tries to beat himself.  That’s relaxing to him.  I explain how that’s the same dumb logic that golfers use to try to explain why their game is so unique when, in actuality, it can be applied to any sport.  I also explain to him that when you are riding your bike or running, pushing yourself to beat a time, it is not relaxing.  It’s competition.  No one considers competition to be relaxing.  In the end, for him it comes down to control.  For a person who tries to play the “I’m not a control freak” card…we finally got him to admit that he, in fact, is.

So am I wrong here?  Or is he?  Both of us?  Neither?  My opinion is that golf is completely relaxing!  That is, as long as you’re not taking it too seriously.  But I get the idea that he wouldn’t know how to NOT take it seriously because he doesn’t know how to just relax.  I believe that unless you are playing professionally, or at least competitively, you need to take it down a notch both for the good of your sanity as well as the good of the game.  But, more importantly, some of us need to find a way to relax in general – even if it’s not while golfing.

Swing ’til you’re happy!

What’s The Attraction Of Winter Golf?

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When is it too cold for golf? (Photo by Greg D’Andrea)

47, 39, 41, 39, 36.  Audibles from a quarterback?  Lottery numbers?  Nope, neither one.  These numbers represent the reason I will not be golfing anymore until the spring.  They are the high temperatures for the next five days here in my area of CT.  And believe me, they don’t get any higher for the remainder of the year. 

I’ve mentioned before that I don’t golf when the temperature drops below 50 degrees.  However, it’s not so much the cold air.  I mean, that’s part of it.  But for the most part, I don’t mind a little cold air.  It’s the bundling up to play golf.  See, I don’t want to look like I’m skiing when I’m really trying to play golf – like the guy in the photo above.

How do you comfortably play golf in a thick, hooded sweatshirt and winter gloves?  If I can’t get out there and play comfortably, the way I would want to, then what’s the point?  Don’t get me wrong, I love playing golf.  But I don’t love it enough to put myself through the cold and wear clothing that’s going to hamper and restrict my game even more than it already is. 

I see the game as fun and I play the game strictly for fun.  So if something is going to take away from the fun of the game, then I don’t see the point in being out there.  But it never fails.  On a cold day I’ll drive by a golf course and there are people out there.  They’re bundled up like they’re at the mid-way point of the Iditarod, but they’re out there nonetheless.  

So what am I missing?  What’s the draw to playing in the cold? I like fishing, but not enough to go ice fishing.  Someone needs to explain the attraction to me because I’m obviously missing something.

Swing ’til you’re happy!

Golf, Fishing And Brewing Beer

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So far this summer has been a wash for me as far as golf goes. Some of you know that I’ve been recovering from heart surgery and with that comes very little physical activity.

It’s been a couple months since the actual surgery and the doc’s have cleared me for light physical activity. Even though golf isn’t that demanding, a healing sternum impedes your swing and rules out a quick 9.

What to do, what to do…how about fishing? For smaller fish obviously, nothing that’ll pull me in. Believe it or not, the whole time I was fishing I thought about golf and how the two are similar. For example, a good golf swing definitely helps in striking a ball well. As does a good cast. If Skippy over there can’t cast well, there’s a good chance someone’s getting hooked. Just like when I tee off…there’s a good chance you’ll have to duck.

I have to say, the biggest similarity between the two would be they both end up pissing me off. I flub, shank and hook shots all day. I snap a line, barely get any bites and the ones that do bite get away. Oh yeah, lots of fun. Just thinking about it raises my blood pressure. Where’s my beta blockers? Maybe these “relaxing” activities aren’t as heart-healthy as I thought.

That said, it leaves one last activity…brewing my own beer. I have found that as I consume beer, it lowers the stress and anger levels that golf (and fishing) might bring. Therefore, I brewed my own beer for three reasons. 1) It’s beer 2) golf and beer just go together and 3) it helps me cope with my golf game. Now that I have stocked-up on my own home brew, I am ready to hit the links once the doc gives the thumbs up. Isn’t golf great?

Hit’em long…yell FORE!!!

Finally…Golfing Weather! So Why Wasn’t I Golfing?

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Mid- to upper 60’s, a bit of a breeze, only a few clouds to be seen…this is fantastic golfing weather! There have been several nice days so far this year, just not on a weekend. So what more could I possibly ask for? This is the perfect day to hit the links for the first time this year.

But I didn’t. Instead, my boys and I hopped in the car this morning and made our way to the bait shop. We grabbed a couple dozen night crawlers, headed out to a nice lake and proceeded to spend the next few hours casting our lines into the water hoping to reel in a good fish tale.

But I have to ask myself…is there something wrong with me? What I mean is, I have waited all winter for a weekend day like this one to get out on the golf course. And when this day finally comes…I go fishing instead! I guess the easiest way for me to explain it is that I have a connection with fishing that I don’t have with golf.

You see, I began playing golf only about thirteen or fourteen years ago. But fishing? I can’t even remember when I began going. Despite living practically around the corner from a golf course as a kid, it never really called out to me as much as the lake hidden back in the woods across the street. I can’t begin to explain how many days my friends and I would spend back there, for hours on end, pulling out bass, trout, perch and catfish. It’s a connection with my childhood that I don’t want to lose. Golf will never have that connection for me since I took it up much later in life.

But fishing isn’t something I get to do very often anymore due to hectic schedules, kids playing sports and my newer summertime love…golf. But every once in a while, I have to take the time to get back to my childhood. And then, golf has to take a backseat. It helps that my kids enjoy it also. They were as excited to go as I was.

People ask me how I can fish for hours, possibly not catch a thing, and not get bored out of my mind. The answer is, I have no idea. The connection with my youth? The potential to catch “the big one?” Just spending time outside, relaxing at a nice place on a nice day? Maybe it’s a little bit of all those things. But, in some ways, I can equate fishing to golf. But none better than this…

While sitting on some rocks on the side of the lake, a ranger (we were at a state park) comes by and asks my boys how they were doing. My oldest responded “OK, we haven’t caught anything yet.” The ranger then responds “That’s OK. It’s a nice day and you’re outside. What’s better than that?” After the brutal winter we have just come through…he’s right…what could be better?

Swing (or cast) ’til you’re happy!

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