Is Golf A Good Hobby To Take Up – Everything You Need To Know

Is Golf A Good Hobby To Take Up – Everything You Need To Know

I’ve been involved in golf since my childhood off and I remember plenty of my summers playing golf almost every day with my friends as a teenager to the point where we were playing better golf than most adults we were seeing on the course.

Golf incorporates an extensive list of the characteristics one would look for from a hobby including being able to play solo or in a group, get good exercise, get progressively better, meet influential people in your community, watch it on tv, play competitively or for fun and even get a golf vacation in the sun during the winter. Golf is one of the largest sports in the world and whatever your level, golf can be become a major part of your life if you take a shine to the game and you can enjoy as little or as much as you want.

Of course there are pros and cons to every hobby and golf possesses plenty of both that we will go through in detail in this article along with tips for getting started and improving.

 

Reasons Why Golf Is A Good Hobby

#1 Golf Is Easy To Pick Up & Difficult To Master

For me, a great hobby can be practiced by anyone and mastered by few and that is exactly what golf provides. You can easily hack your way around the course but equally can spend decades trying to improve to decent level.

There is no secret initiations or magic pills to get into the golf game. Once you can perform a basic swing and connect with the ball, you can start to practice for a real round at the driving range.

Once you get equipped a basic set of beginner golf clubs, you are ready to hit the mecca of golf improvement that can be found in every city and county in the world, the driving range.

This is where you can practice your driving, iron shots, pitches and chipping to hone your skills and get yourself ready for to play on a real course.

If you are struggling with getting started or just want to start with some expert advice, every club and driving range will have resident pro that can give you lessons to help get your game off the ground.

If you still find the thought of playing a real round daunting, you could check out a par 3 course or a pitch and putt course to get your confidence up before trying out the real thing.

While golf is easy to pick up and play, it is a very difficult game to master. Just look at some of Tiger Woods highlights though and you will realize that it is a game of skill and beauty once mastered and once you set off on the path to try and master it, it can become as addictive and challenging as any other sport in the world.

 

#2 It Is Great Exercise For The Body And Mind

Golf is one of the few sports where you get to combine having fun with getting a really decent amount of exercise which is surely a bonus for anyone.

Even the act of hitting the ball is good for burning calories, reducing stress and increasing mobility but there is also a ton of exercise in navigating a golf course on foot as long as you are not using a drive on golf cart.

A standard game of golf where you are carry your bag or using a push cart can burn up to 900 calories depending how you travel around the course which is more than an intense boxing class so remember to bring a couple of snacks and a bottle of water on your round with you.

 

#3 Golf Is A Great Stress Reliever

If a hobby can take you from a stuffy office headache to a tranquil, stress busting, nature rich and fun sport in less than an hour, it gains brownie points in the Hobby List for me.

We have all been there, stressed out after a tough day at work or dealing with some stress in our lives.

The truth is that, the modern world is full of noise from all of our technologies and our work lives are busier than ever these days but golf can become a welcome escape and retreat from all depressants of modern life.

Golf courses are quiet, peaceful and are built around nature and beauty. A golf course can give you time to think and inhale some fresh air while play.

 

#4 Play Solo Or With A Group

When we think about the qualities of good hobbies, being able to practice them alone, with friends, at home and competitively is surely an ideal quality to look out for.

The driving range is the perfect place to go when you are on your own and if the course is quiet you can always get out for a round by yourself as well.

If you want to take golf to the next level, you can even practice in your own home with Putting Mats, Hitting Nets and Chipping Nets that will allow to have fun and improve your game at the same time.

Home golf has gone to the next level recently with the advance in technology that has come from golf simulators like Skytrak, Optishot 2 and The Mevo Plus that allow to play Virtual rounds of golf in your living room.

Catching up with friends over a game of golf is a great way to stay in touch with people over time in a fun and relaxed yet competitive environment. You could even invite your buddies over for a Saturday night virtual golf tournament for an exciting way to spend an evening with friends.

 

#5 Take Your Career To The Next Level

As a hobby, if it can be fun and get you connected with influential people in your area, it has got to be a plus for the great sport of Golf.

Golf Courses hold open tournaments for members and the members of golf clubs are usually among the elite of society so if you want to make some new connections for your career or business, golf can be an amazing way to do it.

Not only for connections for business but just for making new friends and connecting with people in general, golf is a great way to get in touch with the people who matter in your city.

That is not even mentioning how lucrative a career in golf could be if you can become a professional and reach the PGA tour. Those guys salaries are insane.

 

 

#6 Golf Is Fun For The Whole Family

We live in a busy world and if a hobby can bring our family together for bonding, that is another big plus and Golf ticks the box as well.

Teaching your kids how to play golf is a great way to set them up for success in the future. Golf is the sport of business and many business deals are hatched on the golf course. Just take a look at how often US presidents play golf to understand how important golf is for building relationships.

A trip to the driving range, the pitch and putt course, the local par 3 course or even the local 18 hole course can be a great way to bond with your family and have a little bit of fun on the weekend.

It can also be a great way for your family to network as a whole as well.

I know one Entrepreneur who even groomed his son to become a professional golfer, getting him to spend a ton of time on the course and getting him to world level because of the handsome careers that golfers can have. We are not saying to take a leaf out of his book but just bear in mind what is possible with the sport.

 

#7 Travel The World With Golf

A hobby that allows you to travel the world is rare and valuable indeed, another green tick for the greatest sport in the world.

I remember our high school summer holidays, we had all of our friends in one place and we partied non stop. As we get older, holidays with friends happen less often and are generally not as fun as they used to be due to all the commitments we pick up along the way.

If you’re hobby allows you to go on a holidays with a group of lie minded people, play golf in beautiful places where the sun shines all year round and have a ball with the rest of your time, I would say that your hobby is pretty awesome indeed.

Some of the best locations n the world for golf include California, Florida, New York, Ireland, The UK, Spain, Portugal, Thailand and plenty more.

Get involved with a golf club that suits you and get ready to have some fun with golf trips and holidays.

 

#8 Retire With Golf

A hobby that you can grow old with, not just a one night stand. Golf is a loyal partner.

It’s almost cliché these days to say ‘Retire With Golf’ but golf can be a great way to fill your time once you do decide to stop working.

It keeps you healthy, keeps the mind occupied, gets you out of the house, gets you around people and friends and is an enjoyable past time.

If you play during the week the golf is going to quiet as well so you can enjoy your round without any pressure.

 

#9 Watch It On The TV Or Attend Live Matches

When you want to kick your feet up on a Saturday, play some fantasy golf or visit the sports book, Golf has got your back again.

When I think about good hobbies, I think about how many different ways can I enjoy that hobby or is it just a one hit wonder where you just perform the activity for an hour and there is nothing else to engage you.

Golf is one of those hobbies that be enjoyed all day every day. You can go out and play your round on a Saturday and then come home and watch elite level players doing what you could only dream of with the ball in high quality events, year round like the Masters and the Ryder cup.

What’s more is that you can actually attend these events if you are lucky enough and see some amazing feets of the game from McIllroys’ all round brilliance to DeChambeaus’ 500 yard drives.

Golf has it all as a hobby once you really start to take a shine to it.

 

#10 All The Gadgets And Gizmos You Could Image

The Best Hobbies have plenty of gear for you to buy or drool over, depending or you needs and budget and golf is right up there at the top in this regard.

Golf clubs alone come in so many different variations, qualities and styles for beginners, intermediates and pros that you can find the perfect clubs for your budget and also keep an eye on the premium clubs that the pros use.

Gadgets like Launch Monitors, Golf Simulators, GPS Devices, Golf Watches, Rangefinders and even all the apparel is enough to keep anybody who takes up golf as a hobby interested for a liftetime.

One thing to keep in mind is that your wife might not be too happy if you blow the vacation fund on a new set of irons but it may still be worth it.

 

Disadvantages Of Golf

There is a plus side and a down side to everything in life and the same is true for golf but we hope that this article has at least highlighted to you that the advantages far out weigh any potential downside.

Either way here are some examples of disadvantages.

 

#1 It Can Be Expensive

When we think of characteristics of great hobbies, affordable is usually one of them.

From buying clubs to the proper attire to joining a club, golf can get expensive fast if you don’t play it smart and while that golf vacation sounds awesome it also comes with a price tag.

I rang a local course looking to join recently and they said the fees were $15k but I can get rounds in at plenty of different courses for $20 or $30 and sometimes even less if playing at off peak times.

There are plenty of other ways to keep the costs down like buying quality second hand clubs or getting an off peak membership.

All in all, price may put some people off but the vast majority will be better off playing it safe and jumping it.

 

#2 It is Frustrating

As A Hobby, having a love/hate relationship with your past time is probably not entirely bad, you can always kiss and make up afterwards.

Sometimes, the more you try to correct an errand stroke at the next tee box, the worse it goes and sometimes your game will completely disintegrate on the back nine.

We have all been there and when it does happen, we need to take a deep breath, be patient and keep our eye on the big picture. Take ourselves back to when we were playing better golf and realise how far our game has come since we started.

 

Conclusion

Golf is a great past time and hobby, you can play by yourself or with a crew and you can get as involved or uncommitted as you like while still counting it as a hobby.

You can practice in the comfort of your own home or play some of the greatest courses in the world while travelling to some of the best destinations on the globe.

All in all, golf is one of the best hobbies available for the whole family and we would encourage anyone to pick up the clubs and start playing as soon as you can.