Playing golf under the umbrella of sunshine and rain, those of us who are lovers of the pursuit are, often, amazed at the presentation of the game in the media. We, who regularly toil with the small white ball within the green cathedral, find it strange, indeed, that golfers and the game are regularly portrayed as nefarious agents within the community at large. How many times have you seen a movie, or TV show, where the villain or villains, are shown consorting together on the golf course? More than a few times I am sure. It seems, that the game of golf has become a meme for untoward behaviour in the halls of power. For it is always, high status criminals, being portrayed on the fairways and greens of golfing courses around the globe. You rarely observe the blue collar criminal partaking at the game of golf.

Not Just for the Left-Handed

Golf as performed by those, left handed among us, remains in the minority. The word ‘sinister’ being derived from the Latin for left handed. It is relevant, however, and useful to be conversant with such discriminatory labels at this point in time. Because it is, always, far too easy to point out such divisive labels, when discussing the diversity inherent within societies of human beings. Why has golf been a, consistently, easy target, for those wishing to portray those who play the game as profligate and evil?  The sins of recreation, immediately, springs to mind.

Poor People Don’t Have Time to Play Golf

Only rich folk, have the leisure and inclination to play, something as stupid, as golf. I am sure, that this presumption is, probably, widely shared by many who do not play the game. Knocking a little white ball around vast distances of environmentally managed land, is not perceived, by many, as responsible behaviour in the twenty first century. Especially, when there are billions starving and barely surviving in war torn nations around the globe. What is the ultimate validity of this argument in the 21C?

Golf is Not The Problem

The truth is that wealthy folk, living in developed nations around the world, are more concerned with their own families and situations, whether they are sedentary or not. Walking a course of some 7000 metres and swinging a variety of clubs, does not change that in any significant way. Golf, as exercise and as a sporting pursuit, does not influence that primary resolve, one way or another. In countries, like Australia, where land and modest wealth are profligate, golf is a working person’s pursuit and not the reserve of the wealthier classes.

Golf the Presidential Pursuit

The overwhelming influence in the media, surrounding the game of golf in recent years, has been the Presidential pursuit. Golf is portrayed in the media, as the ultimate pursuit of our society’s most elite: The President of the United States of America. Even, the black American social worker President, Barack Obama, played golf and was televised doing so, regularly. Presidents’ Bush, Clinton, Ford, and so on, all prominently played golf in their official leisure time; golf was the pursuit of the most powerful among us. Power is seen as omnipotent and that power is, often, portrayed retrospectively, as corrupt and misused. Golf is perceived as guilty by association, with these powerful individuals on that basis. And yes, that appalling President Donald Trump was and is a keen golfer but there are bad apples in every bunch.

©Robert Hamilton