Golfing in Salt Lake City

[Admin]

I still don't understand the vitriol against golf? What's wrong with hitting a ball in a hole? When you play basketball you throw a ball in a hole. In baseball you hit a ball and run. In football you throw/catch a ball and run.

You're hurting your own argument, not helping it. :lol:

 

[rfarren]

I still don't understand the vitriol against golf? What's wrong with hitting a ball in a hole? When you play basketball you throw a ball in a hole. In baseball you hit a ball and run. In football you throw/catch a ball and run.

You're hurting your own argument, not helping it. :lol:

Am I missing something? I still don't get it. I point out that sports come in all shapes and forms and I'm hurting my argument? Ok... well if you don't want to play golf you don't have to.

 

[Tony Crocker]

I guess I should mention that when q is in Bend to ski Mt. Bachelor, that area is a golf Mecca with something like 25 courses.

I could also mention to some of the insulted that EpicSki is more golf-friendly than FTO. There was an extended thread over there about those who are addicted to both.

I last touched a golf club in 1978, at Pebble Beach no less (actuarial meeting). No coincidence 1978-79 was my first big ski season at 30 days. Golf has a slow learning curve and I realized that it would require a steady time commitment to get anywhere. I preferred to give that commitment to skiing. I might try again when I'm retired and have more time. As noted elsewhere, retired = midweek is probably even more important for golf than skiing.

 

[Admin]

Am I missing something? I still don't get it. I point out that sports come in all shapes and forms and I'm hurting my argument?

I have a similar view of just about all ball sports.

 

[Marc_C]

Am I missing something? I still don't get it. I point out that sports come in all shapes and forms and I'm hurting my argument?

I have a similar view of just about all ball sports.

Sports involving balls = 99% boredom.
The only possible way to make flog or baseball truly interesting is with land mines.

In skiing you... you control gravity, and that is fun.

That's one way to look at it. Or you could consider it either a dance with gravity or wingless flight - both far more entertaining than controlling something. And controlling something is the essence of all the ball sports.

Yes, there is the aspect of controlling fear and your mind in skiing, rock climbing, white water, and a bunch of others, but again, far more rewarding. Besides, is it really controlling, or instead learning how to channel that energy?

 

[rfarren]

That's one way to look at it. Or you could consider it either a dance with gravity or wingless flight - both far more entertaining than controlling something. And controlling something is the essence of all the ball sports.

Yes, there is the aspect of controlling fear and your mind in skiing, rock climbing, white water, and a bunch of others, but again, far more rewarding. Besides, is it really controlling, or instead learning how to channel that energy?

Pshaw... that is just semantics. I agree with you Marc on the poetry of skiing. For me though, I've also enjoyed the natural side of skiing: being in the mountains, using gravity, all in all playing with mother nature. It is that very same thing that I like about golf. You are in a manicured garden, yes, however, often great courses seem to spring from nature like good trails which have great fall lines.

I visited Banff once during the summer and played on the course behind the Banff Springs hotel where I was lucky to be staying. The course there was tucked into the mountain and I must say I felt miles away from the city. Many a great course, even here on the heavily populated east coast, seem to be oasis' where all that surrounds you are woods. You use the natural landscape, hopefully, to your advantage while playing.

Golf is a sport that I like to play. Baseball is a sport I like to watch. Ski racing is a sport I like to watch. Skiing, however, is my favorite activity. I just don't think of it as a sport.

 

[Admin]

Golf is a sport that I like to play.

No, golf is a game you like to play. Hence the word "play." It's not a sport. One look around the 19th hole is all the proof you need that athletic prowess is not required. You don't play skiing. No matter how strongly golf advocates may argue otherwise, golf is a game.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

You don't play skiing. No matter how strongly golf advocates may argue otherwise, golf is a game.

Q, are you sure you want to golf in a city filled with people like that?

Come back east... rfarren and I will take you to Bethpage Black, a proper public course. If you break 100 from the white tees, drinks and dinner are on me.

 

[rfarren]

Come back east... rfarren and I will take you to Bethpage Black, a proper public course. If you break 100 from the white tees, drinks and dinner are on me.

I like the sound of that!

No, golf is a game you like to play. Hence the word "play." It's not a sport. One look around the 19th hole is all the proof you need that athletic prowess is not required. You don't play skiing. No matter how strongly golf advocates may argue otherwise, golf is a game.

I'm sorry, I didn't realize sport was also a verb.
I guess I like to sport ski racing and golf.

If you're going to judge whether something is a sport based on the athletic prowess of amateurs then I guess all "sports" are "games." Go tell tiger woods that he doesn't play a sport. He competes against an even field, where swing mechanics make the difference between winning and losing. That is no different than how a pitcher in baseball uses his mechanics to dominate, or a ski racer using his technique to carve a cleaner carve and hold more speed.



BTW, I've seen just as many fatties skiing as playing golf.

 

[Admin]

Go tell tiger woods that he doesn't play a sport.

Sure, where is he?

He competes against an even field, where swing mechanics make the difference between winning and losing.

It's a skill, no different than the skillful stroke of a pool cue but I doubt that anyone would've called Minnesota Fats an athlete.

 

[Marc_C]

It is that very same thing that I like about golf. You are in a manicured garden, yes, however, often great courses seem to spring from nature like good trails which have great fall lines.

Just never forget what Mark Twain said about flog.

 

[Admin]

Just never forget what Mark Twain said about flog.

"Golf is a good walk spoiled."

 

[rfarren]

It's a skill, no different than the skillful stroke of a pool cue but I doubt that anyone would've called Minnesota Fats an athlete.

From that quote alone it is clear to me that you have no clue what you are talking about. A golf swing requires whole body movement and proper weight transfer. In order to play it well requires a lot of athleticism and intelligence. It is very different than pool, decidedly so.

It's a skill, no different than the

skillful weight transfer to go smoothly from one edge to another.

"The coldest winter I spent was summer in San Francisco." Yet when I visited SF in july I needed a t-shirt.

 

[Admin]

It's a skill, no different than the skillful stroke of a pool cue but I doubt that anyone would've called Minnesota Fats an athlete.

From that quote alone it is clear to me that you have no clue what you are talking about.

You're the one who brought up swing mechanics, not me.

A golf swing requires whole body movement and proper weight transfer. In order to play it well requires a lot of athleticism

Really? My father was a six-handicap golfer, but no one would have ever called him an athlete. In order to "play" golf well you have to have excellent skills, not athleticism.

and intelligence. It is very different than pool, decidedly so.

Pool players have to be experts at physics: the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection, remember?

It's a skill, no different than the

skillful weight transfer to go smoothly from one edge to another.

I don't ever recall seeing a golfer breathless from the exertion of hitting a drive from the 11th tee, but take High Boy top to bottom and tell me how you feel.

It's a game.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Gee, it only takes a week or so of mediocre ski conditions in SLC to get the locals grumpy.

 

[Admin]

Gee, it only takes a week or so of mediocre ski conditions in SLC to get the locals grumpy.

Grumpy? No, not at all...I enjoy fishing! :lol:

 

[rfarren]

6 handicap :lol: :lol: :lol: That's like saying my father skied black diamonds. You don't have to be particularly athletic to get down a black diamond. To do it with grace, power and skill, athleticism will certainly help. IMHO athleticism is the difference between hitting a 300 yard drive and a 250 yard drive, between shooting under par consistently or shooting 6 over par. My question is: was he shooting 6 over par (78ish) on US open conditions? Was the rough a foot high? Did he have enough club head velocity that he could punch a 5 iron out of the gorse 225 yards? When the conditions were prime was he shooting 8 under (64ish). Did his swing generate enough torque that eventually he needed knee surgery. Tiger is skillful, but there is a lot of athleticism behind that swing.

After walking 36 holes, hitting 1000 balls on the range, you'll be tired. I'm not saying it requires the same physical exertion as skiing the toughest lines on the hill, however, it requires athleticism. To consistently replicate pure mechanics in any sport requires athleticism, whether it is shooting a basketball, pitching a baseball, or initiating a turn.

I've always been of the belief that great athletes can play a myriad of sports well. For example: there is an anecdote where Babe Ruth and the 27 yankees beat up on the top college basketball team in the country. My bet is that had top athletes, such as tiger woods, endeavored in other sports with the veracity and work ethic engaged within their respective sports, they would be as successful.

I used to think like the admin on this. However, having been to a few PGA tournaments changed my mind. The difference between them and that friend of yours who is a 2 handicap is absolutely astonishing. Seeing it in person could change your mind....
:dead horse:

 

[rfarren]

Gee, it only takes a week or so of mediocre ski conditions in SLC to get the locals grumpy.

Grumpy? No, not at all...I enjoy fishing! :lol:

:roll:

Please don't say fishing is a sport. :-&

 

[Admin]

My question is: was he shooting 6 over par (78ish) on US open conditions?

Frankly, who gives a shit? It's still golf. It's still a game.

After walking 36 holes, hitting 1000 balls on the range, you'll be tired.

And after shopping with my wife all day or after a day of painting the downstairs bathroom I'm tired, too. But that doesn't make either activity a sport.

The difference between them and that friend of yours who is a 2 handicap is absolutely astonishing. Seeing it in person could change your mind....

Yep...more skill. That's all.

Please don't say fishing is a sport.

My point went about three miles over your head.

You should've been in the car driving back from Jackson this past summer. I had Skidog going for well over an hour on this one! :lol:

 

[rfarren]

You should've been in the car driving back from Jackson this past summer. I had Skidog going for well over an hour on this one! :lol:

:lol: :lol:

Ok, I get it. You're like [-( and I'm like [-X .
:snowball fight: :sabre fight:

You're wrong and that's cool.

But seriously, fishing? Don't tell me you like Nascar? :lol: :lol: :lol: