I have a confession to make. It is rather an uncharacteristic sequence of events. A story not in keeping with my behaviour over the last few years. It is not an easy thing to say out loud. Not quite a dirty secret but something I have been keeping under my cap. Well, the long and short of it is that I have not been playing much golf lately. In fact, I have played hardly at all over the last several months, possibly longer. Why? What went wrong I hear you say? I mean a man who played 5, 6 times a week for years, suddenly goes cold turkey. WTF?

Golf Playing Eaten Up By Cost Of Living Crisis

Hells bells, I got a job. Yeah, an old fashioned tax paying job. The post- pandemic, high inflation cost of living crisis had finally eaten up all my savings. All those expensive new drivers, putters, and golfing accessories were now a thing of the past. I sold a bunch of near new golfing equipment. I gave away sets of old golf clubs, bags, trolleys, and multiple single clubs. The economic reality of the neoliberal ‘user pays’ for everything world we live in had eaten my lunch. Older than before I was forced by circumstances to go and get a job.

Golf Goes The Way Of The Dodo

I thought that I would keep playing on weekends and balance my work/life commitments but it did not happen. Work sucks you into its own demanding vortex. Plus, I was forced to move out of my apartment and find alternative accommodation. The labour force has its own appetite for your time and recovery has to be factored in from physically demanding jobs. In the old days, I would party in that downtime and rest in oblivion thanks to drink and drugs. Today, it is a different story for a variety of sensible reasons.

Playing Golf A Rich Person’s Pursuit

Is golf a rich person’s game? In this current era? I mean, it began as a game for wealthy folk. Did you know each player used to have 2 caddies, one to carry the clubs and a fore-caddie who would find the ball? Rich people didn’t like to do any of the hard stuff in life and in golf. Hey, its still pretty much that way. The fore-caddie is why we still call out “fore” when we hit an errant shot that might strike someone. You would have to agree that looking for your golf ball is one of the least pleasing aspects of the game of golf. I bet billionaires like Elon Musk don’t waste time looking for their ball. Better to pay someone else to do that boring stuff.

Golf & Human Evolution

I have not been playing much golf lately. It can be good to have a break from something that you have been obsessing over and doing a lot for a long time. Familiarity breeds contempt, as the saying goes. And yes, my game had become contemptible in terms of scoring and satisfaction levels of late, prior to my break from the game. Golf can be a demanding task master and is no walk in the park if you are seriously infatuated with it. I mean, you can wake up afterwards and take stock of your life, thinking was I really devoting all that time to such a silly pursuit. Chasing a small white ball around a field, to hit it into a slightly bigger hole in the least number of shots and getting upset when I didn’t. I mean, come on, is this what the human race has descended to after millions of years on this planet. Actually, some astronaut did hit a 5 iron on the moon!

Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of several books on golf.

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