- Joined
- Mar 25, 2014
- Location
- Miami, Florida
- HCP
- Old Age
- Local club/country
- Killian Greens Golf Club
- Irons
- JPX-919 Hot Metal, 5-GW
- Driver
- ST-X
Due to arthritis my hands, I've had to cancel quite a few golf games recently. Voltaire Gell or Tylenol arthritis formula really don't help and up to now, my Rheumatologist has not wanted to prescribe something more powerful.
For whatever reason, coupled with decluttering the house to sell it, as I throw things away or give things away, I find myself often with philosophical thoughts I wouldn't usually feel come naturally to me.
It's made me wonder if anyone else approaching or in old age, (I'm 77), feels the same way.
Physical issues have made me shorten my swing. As slow as it is now, modern tech offers me no more distance or accuracy than a couple yards, so the purchase of new equipment is no longer interesting or worth the cost. As an example, I'm now about 30 yards shorter with every iron. Until the bone spurs in my shoulders returned after surgery, I figured on my 5 iron going about 175 yards, but now, it's about 135-140 at the most. A 180 yard 3 wood is now about 150. If I hit a driver over 200 yards now, it's a good drive.
Allied to that, equipment reviews in the monthly golf magazines are only about new equipment, never anything along the lines of some cult following like I know there is for the Taylormade SIM Max driver, nothing about what used clubs hold their value because they offer something more that has held up over time.
Also allied to the magazines, I've decided to let my subscriptions to Golf Digest and Golf Magazine expire. I also get Golf Journal because I make a donation to the USGA every year, so that's a maybe. The point is, the magazines just don't interest me anymore. The instruction never applies to people my age. The biographies of modern players don't seem to interest me like they used to and the resort articles are lost on me, not willing to spend the kind of money so many weekends at the featured places cost. I've been "financially fortunate", but a $5000 US weekend to play some of the resort courses isn't something I care to spend on golf when I'm just as happy to play locally.
As I watch tournaments on t, I find myself more familiar with the players on the Euro Tour or the LPGA Tour. Some of the up and coming players on the PGA Tour just bore me. I know every generation will change and through my life I definitely remember feeling odd, how I didn't relate immediately to my own age group when players like Lanny Watkins or Tom Watson became popular winners, because they replaced my heroes like Arnold Palmer, or my neighbor down the street Bobby Nichols. As a child I almost resented them.
Now, I find my interest lies in a generation following Tiger, players like Xander, Scotty and a few others I'm interested in like Akshay Bhatia, but my main interest seems to be more in players like Tommy Fleetwood, Rory, Collin or Matt Fitzpatrick, players with personality who don't constantly spit out cliches during interviews.
Going back to the arthritis, it scares me that I might be seeing the ned of my love affair with golf, hich has lasted about 73 years at this point. I wonder if my golfing future is tv and books? That scares me to death...
Is anyone else feeling this way?
For whatever reason, coupled with decluttering the house to sell it, as I throw things away or give things away, I find myself often with philosophical thoughts I wouldn't usually feel come naturally to me.
It's made me wonder if anyone else approaching or in old age, (I'm 77), feels the same way.
Physical issues have made me shorten my swing. As slow as it is now, modern tech offers me no more distance or accuracy than a couple yards, so the purchase of new equipment is no longer interesting or worth the cost. As an example, I'm now about 30 yards shorter with every iron. Until the bone spurs in my shoulders returned after surgery, I figured on my 5 iron going about 175 yards, but now, it's about 135-140 at the most. A 180 yard 3 wood is now about 150. If I hit a driver over 200 yards now, it's a good drive.
Allied to that, equipment reviews in the monthly golf magazines are only about new equipment, never anything along the lines of some cult following like I know there is for the Taylormade SIM Max driver, nothing about what used clubs hold their value because they offer something more that has held up over time.
Also allied to the magazines, I've decided to let my subscriptions to Golf Digest and Golf Magazine expire. I also get Golf Journal because I make a donation to the USGA every year, so that's a maybe. The point is, the magazines just don't interest me anymore. The instruction never applies to people my age. The biographies of modern players don't seem to interest me like they used to and the resort articles are lost on me, not willing to spend the kind of money so many weekends at the featured places cost. I've been "financially fortunate", but a $5000 US weekend to play some of the resort courses isn't something I care to spend on golf when I'm just as happy to play locally.
As I watch tournaments on t, I find myself more familiar with the players on the Euro Tour or the LPGA Tour. Some of the up and coming players on the PGA Tour just bore me. I know every generation will change and through my life I definitely remember feeling odd, how I didn't relate immediately to my own age group when players like Lanny Watkins or Tom Watson became popular winners, because they replaced my heroes like Arnold Palmer, or my neighbor down the street Bobby Nichols. As a child I almost resented them.
Now, I find my interest lies in a generation following Tiger, players like Xander, Scotty and a few others I'm interested in like Akshay Bhatia, but my main interest seems to be more in players like Tommy Fleetwood, Rory, Collin or Matt Fitzpatrick, players with personality who don't constantly spit out cliches during interviews.
Going back to the arthritis, it scares me that I might be seeing the ned of my love affair with golf, hich has lasted about 73 years at this point. I wonder if my golfing future is tv and books? That scares me to death...
Is anyone else feeling this way?
