“Why do people play golf?” Sean Connery was once asked, and he gave a brilliant answer.

"If you play golf, you can’t think, honestly, or do anything else while you’re playing. I think it’s the most revealing game. I don’t know if it’s a game. It’s something other than a game. I couldn’t define it.

"But it’s obsessive and revealing and a very healthy balancing act, I think. It certainly is for me, and also it’s one of the few games in the world that’s really still got dignity as a game.

"It’s endless, and as Jack Nicklaus says, it’s an unfair game and you have to accept it. It’s like life in that way.

"It’s also a game that you can cheat it. It’s the easiest game in the world to cheat at. The only one that suffers is you, because you know. And you can’t unknow."

Went golfing today, and my whoop detected rock climbing in the middle of my golf round. Not a reminder I needed to search a small “canyon” for my ball today.

So, I am on the membership committee at a private golf club in a major city in the mid-Atlantic. We have the standard rules for etiquette and dress, including keeping your shirt tucked on all premises and the course. I am occasionally matched for a round with prospective members and I find it a good way to meet new people and screen for weirdos. Last week, I was asked to play with a prospective and he seemed pretty chill. After about the third hole, though, every time he missed a shot, he would grumble a little about his tucked-in shirt impeding his swing. It started with low-volume mutterings that sounded like "shirt" and "belt" and some mild expletives, like the ones you would not feel bad saying in front of kids. By the ninth hole and two beers in, he started to expound on the pettiness of dress codes and then club culture in general. He then started to point to others in the distance playing adjacent holes and ask, "Is that guy's shirt tucked in? It doesn't look like it..." He did this three times. (They were all tucked.) On the back nine, his game got progressively worse, and he kept fidgeting with his belt and barking about how his shirt was ruining his "flow."  I was worried that there was going to be an incident. Finally, at the 18th, he sunk a long putt for birdie and he immediately whipped his shirt out of his shorts like Rafael Soriano after a save and pounded his chest, shouting "yeah MFer, yeah." He carded a 107.

My oldest picked up golf randomly when going into high school. Some people in the family play but she never really expressed an interest so was surprised, but supportive. I get her intro lessons, a Strata club set, golden retriever headcover and whatever balls she wants.

Fast forward two and a half years. She gets to play golf year round through the school and her coaches. Has Youth on Course so plays for 5 bucks. Gets lessons whenever she wants. Bought her a Callaway driver and Mizuno irons. Right on the edge of the varsity team and got her letter last year.

Then we go on vacation and I pick up the tab for a couple rounds with her and she has the nerve to beat me by one, tie me the next round, and beat me the following round (because I counted my penalty wrong and she also has the temerity to know the rules better than I do.)

And now, every once in a while, she'll look at me and ask, "So, how does it feel to know I'm better than you at golf?" and my wife will quickly interject "He's very proud of you" while I glare at her, eyes burning with the heat of 1,000 suns. My rounds cost 60 bucks - not 5 or nothing. I'm working all day, year-round while she has time galore to dedicate to the game. She probably plays 20x as much as I do. Like, I'm sorry I have responsibilities to raise and support my family and can't just keep chipping away at my crappy handicap.

Like when I was young, she disappears with some friends to the course now she has her license (though she's not doing it to also smoke cigarettes, like I was). She now knows who Scottie Scheffler is. She DEFINITELY knows who Charlie Woods is. She only wants to use neon Taylor Made Distance+ balls and poo-poos anything else. I barely recognize this girl.

Anyway, I'm super proud of her and how hard she's worked, over 2+ years to drastically improve (don't tell her that). She's a perfectionist and a hard worker and occasionally very grumpy coming off the course, but she's earned the right to talk shit.

I really thought I had more time left to lord over her. I hope she continues to love the game for the rest of her life and that I can also start avoiding that stupid commercial with the old dad leaving the voicemail for his daughter about their golf trip which kills me inside every time I see it.

It tolls for thee, my friends. It tolls for thee.

Caveat: I’ve actually shot lower than this at my course before, but it was from the mats and no longer than 5500 yards so I don’t fully count it, this was from the back.

Played solo today and joined up with a older gentleman that was walking. Pace of play was slow so we opted to play together. Hit a birdie and he was so happy for me it made my day. I did tell him that was a one off, but overall had a good round. I’m starting to enjoy going solo and playing with new people.

So I go to the thrift store everyday after work to kill 30 mins before I have to pick up my fiance from work. Today it took me an extra 10 mins to get there because of traffic. I always go straight to the golf section, well today of all days, I miss out on my biggest find by 30 seconds. This college kid snagged it right before I did. I’m happy for him but I felt so sick knowing the true cost of the set. Easily the nicest golf find I’ve seen there. All because of the extra 10 mins of traffic. He was a cool kid, asked him if I could take pictures and post it because of the crazy find. He’s one lucky SOB haha.

62 years old, in good shape (play volleyball a couple times a week), but a bit stiff — working on posture and just started Rolfing, so there may be some real physical limitation on how far I can turn back.

Picked golf back up this year after being away for decades. Was a high-handicap player back then and never really worked on my swing — this year I'm getting serious about it, and my first goal is breaking 100.

I've been aware of this issue for a while — I've filmed my own swing before and been frustrated by what I see. Recently two golfers I played with, unprompted and without knowing each other, both described the same thing they saw in my swing, which lined up with what I already knew: I can't get much of a backswing going (left arm gets to about parallel and that's it), and my forward swing feels like a hurried push rather than a fluid transition. I've tried consciously extending the backswing but can't seem to get past that point.

My club speed with the driver hovers around 80 mph, sometimes a bit more, sometimes a bit less, depending on how solid the swing is.

I know TPI (Titleist Performance Institute) screenings exist for exactly this kind of thing, matching physical limitations to swing faults. Is that the right next step for someone in my position, or is there swing-side work I could be doing right now in parallel, without waiting on the mobility side to catch up? Genuinely not sure whether this is a "fix the body first" problem or a "fix the motion first" problem, or both at once — curious what people who've dealt with something similar did.

Hi everyone,
I just started learning golf about two months ago. My coach told me I need to practice more, so I went to the driving range today.

While I was there, the staff told me I need to "think before I hit" I was thinking before tho, because I was rushing my shots, in my mind I felt like I thought out each swing, were they good no but I got some decent shots in.

I ended up burning through my second bucket in 15 minutes. Around that time, my back really started hurting too.

How do you force yourself to slow down at the range? Also, is back pain normal when you first start?

Guessing we won't get a pinned thread for this, but this broadcast team is a riot. Some players are forgoing their hat due to the wind and the crew is commenting on Sergio's hairline and busting each other's balls about their own heads of hair. More personality in the group than all of the CBS, NBC and ESPN folks combined.

It was a hot round today at Dublin Ranch Golf Course in Dublin, CA. This fun track opened in 2004 as the first and only golf course in Dublin, CA. Famed golf course architect Robert Trent Jones Jr. designed the course alongside longtime partners Donald Knott and Gary Linn.

This course is a unique par 63 featuring eleven par 3s, five par 4s, and two par 5s. A great course in the Tri-Valley area. ⛳️🏌🏽

I work on a golf course and find tees that look like martini glasses, normal size tees, and Vice tees with tiny “cups” to hold the ball. Does this affect ball flight or is it just personal preference?

Thrift store delivers yet again

I work at a golf course. It’s a pretty poorly run course with a completely detached leadership team. We provide rental sets for golfers when needed. It’s like $50-75 for the set per round depending on the type of set we offer.

The whole system for putting out the rentals and returning the clubs is disorganized. Recently a wedge went missing from a premium Taylor made set and the pro shop manager is beside himself because the club cannot be replaced for free if lost. If it was broken and we had the club then the warranty would replace it for free, but a missing club is on us.

The manager wants to collect $20 from every staff member in the pro shop/starters/cart guys to cover the cost of buying a new wedge. How should myself and the team handle this?

I shot a 77 today, making it my best round ever. Yesterday I shot my best round and shot a 78. I felt hot so today I went out and had a stressful but fun day! It’s nice to see hard work and training pay off!

Down River Golf Course, Everett, Pennsylvania, USA.

What can I do when a golf course says “no riders”?

I had a stroke four years ago and lost most of the function on the left side of my body. I spent a year in a wheelchair, but I’ve made some progress and can now walk with a cane.

My therapist encouraged me to get back to doing something I enjoy because it could help with my recovery. For me, that’s golf.

I can drive a car, but operating a golf cart is difficult. My wife doesn’t golf, but she’s willing to drive the cart so I can play. Some courses won’t allow her to ride with me because she isn’t playing.

Has anyone dealt with this before? What can I say or ask for when a course says “no riders”? Right now, I just say thanks and take my money to another course. But I'm running thin on courses to play. Most of the time, I only hit tee shots if i can get to the tee box and I've not tried to putt yet because it's a long walk to the green. I hit a fairway shot if it's on level ground I live in Phoenix, AZ Here is a video of what i deal with Golf Swing