As a golfer, I know how the game can look to a non-golfer: Boring. I’ve heard it time and again from my non-golfing friends. They wonder how I can chase a little ball around the course all day. Of course, they’re just watching the game on TV. Hey, I’m bored by that also. I don’t watch golf on TV either. I’d rather just go out and play myself. But what if you are a golfer and the game seems to be getting a little stale to you? Maybe you need a few things to spice your game up a bit. Why not give a couple of these a try?
1. Put a little money on it – Nothing makes a game a little more interesting than a friendly wager. Maybe you throw down a few bucks on the round? Maybe you’re feeling a little more daring and you go a few bucks per hole? Maybe not…so you play instead for a round at the 19th hole. No matter what you play for, there’s no questions that a golf bet makes your round much more interesting.
2. Play a game other than your normal 9 or 18 – Most of us golfers go out and simply play our normal game with routine scoring. Is that getting a little tired? Especially if one guy in your regular foursome is constantly beating the rest of you? Try a little something different – play a different game. How about a skins game? Or maybe you could play a round of best ball? Maybe you just want to stick to your regular game, but your tired of your buddy wiping the floor with the rest of your foursome. Why not take your handicap into account? After all, getting beat every time you play can certainly suck the wind out of your sails. Leveling the playing field a bit certainly makes the game more fun for all.
3. Ride the new guy – Call me a jerk, but I find it quite entertaining to poke a little fun at the new guy as he stumbles through his first time doing, well.., just about anything really. So why not incorporate that into your round? Think about it – you’ll be doing the game a service by introducing it to someone new. But at the same time, you’ll be laughing your way through the round as your new golfing buddy learns the rules, both of the game and of etiquette. He or she will leave their bag on the wrong side of the green, forget their putter in the cart or have to play the rest of the hole with their pants around their ankles for not reaching the women’s tee on their drive. OK….maybe not that one or your round might be over much earlier than anticipated. But you get what I mean…
4. Leave some clubs in the trunk – Want to try a little something different out there? Play with only half of your clubs. It’s a little something my stinky golfing buddies and I have tried a couple of times. Granted, it’s a game better suited for a short or executive course, but fun nonetheless. Choose either five or seven clubs, plus your putter, and see what you can do. The fun starts when you have to decide which clubs you choose to exclude. Wait until you get to that first time you would use your six-iron, only to find out you didn’t bring it along. Fun? Well, I can understand how that might be questionable. Good luck!
5. Step outside of your comfort zone – Are you the type who plays the same course or two all the time? If so, then you are severely missing out. Half the fun of golf is the variety that it offers from course to course. Do you play a muni on a regular basis? Well once a year or so, go treat yourself to a higher-end course. Maybe go try out a par-3 or executive course. Ever play golf at night? Now there’s something different. In golf, different is fun!
Look, if you’re not on the course to have fun, then either you’re a PGA pro, or you’re doing it wrong. It’s become our mantra here at GolfStinks – Golf is a game, you should have fun playing it. If you take the game too seriously and get angry when you don’t play well, you need a change in your mindset. Let me help – The sooner you accept that you will never be a pro golfer, the sooner you will begin having fun. The sooner you accept that you stink at this game, the sooner you’ll have fun playing it. If you’re that type of golfer who gets angry at every poor shot, slams your club into the ground or tosses it into a lake…you need to rethink the reason you’re out there. Not only are you not having fun, but you’re ruining it for the people who are playing with you and around you.
Again, it’s a game. It should be fun. If it’s getting stale to you, then maybe you need to switch it up a bit. Put a little wager into your round. Play something other than your standard scoring. Introduce someone new to the game. In the end, just do what it takes to make sure you keep giving yourself a reason to be out on the course. And for crying out loud, have fun!
