I’m writing this article on a cold wet day in February not exactly a day for being out on the golf course!

But this month is, in many parts of the World, the month of romance.

Local supermarkets are full of meal for two deals, bouquets of roses and heart shaped chocolates.

Restaurants have love themed specials on the menus and card shops are a sea of red!

All not very subtle signals that we’re supposed to be celebrating whoever, or whatever, is the love of our lives!

Here are the top 5 themes on “Why we love golf”:

5: Relaxation: It gives us the space to escape the everyday grind and stresses.

4: Fulfilment: If golf is anything it’s a challenge and opportunity for continual improvement – for some of us the challenge may be greater and the improvement may be slower than for others – but we get the point!

3: Exercise & Health: We can regularly participate in some form of physical activity, whatever age or skill level we achieve.

2: The Great Outdoors: As golfers we can legally hack around some of the most stunning landscapes in the world, and that can only be good for the soul!

1: Social Experiences: By it’s nature golf is a social activity, played with friends and like-minded people. Both on and off the course, golfers have a common interest they can share, enjoy and talk about.

READ ON BELOW FOR MORE DETAIL FROM OUR RESPONSES PLUS THE REPLY THAT MADE US LAUGH THE MOST…

A typical response to our question “Why do we love golf?”

While planning this article it occurred to me almost everyone who reads (and writes) it, shares a common love interest.

At some point in our lives we’ve all fallen driver over wedge, shank over hook in love with the game of golf.

Although like any relationship, that can be tested on occasions!  After a severe case of sliceitus last time out I’m certainly wondering if we need to take a break from each other!

Despite my own issues it did get me thinking about why do we love something as simple yet as frustrating as hitting a small ball with a big stick around a field?

So in the name of research I took to a popular social media platform of opinions and passions – and this is what I discovered…

To find out the answer I decided to ask real golfers about their own passion for the sport.

So a couple of weeks ago I posted the simple question “Why do we all love golf?”

As you might imagine the replies were wide and varied.

I guess everyone is attracted to different qualities – some more bizarre than others, and so, as turns out, it is with golf!

But here are the top 5 themes from the responses:

We all know that feeling of pulling up to the clubhouse after a hard week grabbing our clubs from the car and heading to the range or first tee wound up like a spring!

A few holes or buckets later and our mood has lifted, the energy has returned and our shoulders feel lighter.

For us this is one of the key reasons we love golf – it gives us the space to escape the everyday grind and stresses.

That little white ball takes all our focus and the troubles of the day seem to melt away.

For golfers being out on the fairways is the ultimate mindfullness!

If golf is anything it’s a challenge and opportunity for continual improvement.

Admittedly, for some of us the challenge may be greater and the improvement may be slower than for others – but we get the point!

That’s why we spend hours perfecting our imperfect swings or investing in the latest technology that will lower our scores.

The sense of achievement and progress we get from holing that 15 footer for birdie on the last, wipes away any memory of what happened on the previous 17 holes and gives us encouragement we need to tee it up again next time!

Exercise and health benefits for golfers are high on the lists for why we love golf.

This is always a hard one for non-golfers to appreciate especially with the “good walk spoiled” quip!

The average distance walked to complete a round of golf is 4 to 5 miles or 10000-14000 steps.

Add in around 70 club swings (not including putting), and that’s a pretty good workout.

Playing golf allows us to regularly participate in a regular physical activity, whatever age or skill level we achieve.

But you don’t have to take our word for it – just take a look at the findings from an R&A report into the health benefits of playing golf:

Numbre 2 on the reasons why we love golf is the opportunity to get out in the fresh air and the great outdoors.

As golfers we are privileged to be able to legally hack around some of the most stunning landscapes in the world.

Hopefully, most of us appreciate all the hard work and skills of the greenkeeping teams that keep golf courses in such amazing condition.

Some of the scenery we get to play around and the manicured fairways we get to walk on are amazing.

Let us just make sure we leave these beautiful surroundings in the same state we find them – we’re looking at you divot diggers and litter chuckers!

Before we go into detail of the number 1 reason golfers love the game of golf I need to share this one response with you.

Most of the replies to my question were focused on the positive but this one  stood out from the rest both for it’s content and humour!

It seems not all of us are in agreement about our golfing passions!

Judging by our research the number 1 reason we all love golf as a favourite pastime are the social experiences it allows us.

By it’s very nature golf is a social activity, played with friends and like-minded people.

Both on and off the course, golfers have a common interest they can share, enjoy and talk about – and we all know those who can talk quite a lot about it!

When we looked through our responses we realised the social side of the game was the bond that brings together all the other reasons we received.

A round with our golfing friends or even if we go solo can help us relax, get better together, share some exercise and enjoy the outdoor lifestyle.

But perhaps most importantly, especially for men it is the opportunity to talk to friends and share experiences while benefitting from all these other factors.

Unlike other sports, thanks to the beauty of golf’s handicap system golfers or all ages, experience, genders and skill-levels can play together in a competitive game that everyone can enjoy.

What better feeling is there than being able to have a round of golf with your son or daughter, grand-daughter or grandson, and share the joy of this great game across the generations?

If you’re also playing well then there can be no better place to be sometimes than walking off a tee box towards a fairway splitting drive with your golfing friends chatting alongside…

…and we believe, that in a nutshell, is why we all love golf!

So from our simple question we got some revealing answers from golfers all around the world.

So from our simple question we got some revealing answers from golfers all around the world.

The top 5 reasons “Why we love golf?”:

1: Social Experiences

2: The Great Outdoors

3: Exercise & Health Benefits

4: Fulfilment

5: Relaxation

Apart from our slightly disgruntled friend, the number of people who mentioned the importance of the social side of the game, the friends we make, stories we tell, and experiences we share was quite touching.

Because these are the values we hopefully build into every Greencard Golf event.​

We really appreciate the importance and value of the social side of the game.

It has been a foundation of our events for over 40 years that everyone who joins one of our golf holidays, whether it’s their first time with us or 100th, is guaranteed a warm welcome and quickly made to feel part of group.

All the trips are fully escorted, and we take care to build social occasions and trips into our holidays to ensure no one is left out either on or off the golf course.

We’re proud that some of our clients have been travelling with us for over 30 years.

During that time many have made life-long friendships and shared some of life’s major milestones together.

All starting from a shared love of golf!

As someone once said “Greencard is like being part of a top golf club that travels the World!”

Whatever your relationship status is with this wonderful game at the moment…

…we’re probably all grateful it came into our lives, stole our hearts and gave us something to meet for, and talk about…even if it is over a  meal deal for two that costs less than a sleeve of Pro V1’s!

Who says romance is dead?!