Golf
Golf
(OP)
I have no interest in golf, and every place I've worked, my co-workers and managers have felt the same way.
Lately I've encountered vendors, professional organizations, and potential employers who invite me to golf tournaments.
I always feel sub-par (over par?) when I have to decline the invitation or find some way to sneak out of it. Usually these events are on weekday afternoons, when the rest of us are working. It would be nice to learn how to play, but I believe this would take too much time and money away from my family. Thus another conflict of values.
Am I missing good opportunities to "Improve Myself to Get Ahead in My Work" by shunning the game? Anyone else have a thought on this?
Lately I've encountered vendors, professional organizations, and potential employers who invite me to golf tournaments.
I always feel sub-par (over par?) when I have to decline the invitation or find some way to sneak out of it. Usually these events are on weekday afternoons, when the rest of us are working. It would be nice to learn how to play, but I believe this would take too much time and money away from my family. Thus another conflict of values.
Am I missing good opportunities to "Improve Myself to Get Ahead in My Work" by shunning the game? Anyone else have a thought on this?





RE: Golf
Maui
RE: Golf
Yes you are.
Got my first bank loan arrange on one of these outings.
RE: Golf
RE: Golf
I used to play 4-5 times a week and had a 3 handicap...and with all that money I could have bought a new car...or two maybe. Now my clubs just collect dust...I dont' miss it a bit.
Brian
RE: Golf
RE: Golf
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Hg
Eng-Tips guidelines: FAQ731-376
RE: Golf
I invite people to play all the time that have no or little skill at the game. I always partner with them and give them pointers, have them drop their ball where I hit when they hit bad shots, joke around, etc...anything to make them get into the game.
Don't let the fact that you are in a tournament scare you, these are some of the best places to learn. Often tournemants are captain and crew where everyone hits from the best ball out of the 4 of your. Great way to learn, and your input to the team doesn't mean anything, unless you hit a good shot.
Golf can be as cheap or expensive a game as you want to make it. It does take up 4 to 6 hours a round, thus the attracting for business to have that much undivided time with clients. Give it a try, rent clubs, let the people who you are going with know your skill level, they will take you in, and have fun!!!
Bob
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Hydrae
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RE: Golf
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If we learn from our mistakes,
I'm getting a great education!
RE: Golf
The next year, I returned the coach's clubs (they were left handed) and apologised saying that I needed to spend golf time on academics. He said it was okay, there was a Sophamore who moved to town and was a scratch golfer.
I have only needed to borrow clubs twice in the intervening 35 years, both times, I was working as a corporate Chief Engineer and was expected to play. Both times the beer was free at each tee and each green and it was served by the Hooters girls (for those outside of the USA, a restaurant (Bar) chain called Hooters has rather buxom waitresses who wear short-shorts and tight T-shirts with the Hooters logo), so it wasn’t a bad experience…as memory serves me, my playing got better exponentially with each beer consumed…then again, my memory got exponentially poorer with each beer consumed
I remain,
The Old Soldering Gunslinger
RE: Golf
I've heard of many business deals getting finalised due to Golf networking. It may not be a bad idea to learn Golf.
HVAC68
RE: Golf
RE: Golf
RE: Golf
it's a game.....nothing else...it allows you (and your mind) to get outdoors, in a social situation, practicing ediquette, strategy, communication skills, and humility. All important skills for an engineer that many do not possess and should practice often. Not a bad return from a game I would think....
Bob
RE: Golf
Perhaps spending $100.00 for a round of golf is a good idea (that's what it costs in Tucson when the temperature is under 90-degrees F) from the standpoint of improving our social skills and throwing logic to the wind (Putting a little white ball into a little hole using a stick with an enlarged end...)
Now if the business world would only switch to a few Beers at the pool-hall, I have a couple of beautiful McDermott cues and find the geometry of eight-ball, Nine-ball, Roatation quite relaxing.
Different strokes for different folks.
The number of shots taken by an opponent who is out of sight is equal to the square root of the sum of the number of curses heard plus the number of swishes. ~Michael Green, The Art of Coarse Golf, 1975
"Golf is a game in which you yell "fore," shoot six, and write down five." ~Paul Harvey
Golf is a good walk spoiled. ~Mark Twain
I remain,
The Old Soldering Gunslinger
RE: Golf
ScottyUK,
Just curious, you mean I am not the only Scot that doesn't play golf?
Haggis
RE: Golf
No you aren't, however my Scot blood has been thinned by generations of interbreeding, Yank style.
Let's see here...
Norwegian, Scott, Czech, Austrian, Swiss, German, Dutch, Irish...(American!)
The Scott blood is active, however. A neighbor practices the pipes Sunday afternoon on the Softball diamond behind my house. I like to sit outside and enjoy the music with a glass or two of single-malt. If I ever play Golf again, it'll be too soon.
I remain, The Old Soldering Gunslinger
RE: Golf
Yes Sir, sounds like my kind of game! Not the softball or golf, but the elbow excercise.
Haggis
RE: Golf
I'm a Scott by name and an Englishman by birth, but I'm a Geordie by the grace of God.
OrneryNorsk summed up my feelings toward golf pretty well. If people enjoy whacking a little ball around a field and simply for the pleasure of it, then I'm happy for them. I do have a problem if people find it necessary to play golf just to progress. I really object to it being a 'requirement' for me to play golf in order to advance my career!
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If we learn from our mistakes,
I'm getting a great education!
RE: Golf
The extra stars. One for your post,one for being a Geordie.
Haggis
RE: Golf
Best Regards,
Heckler
Sr. Mechanical Engineer
SW2005 SP 2.0 & Pro/E 2001
Dell Precision 370
P4 3.6 GHz, 1GB RAM
XP Pro SP2.0
NIVIDA Quadro FX 1400
o
_`\(,_
(_)/ (_)
Do you trust your intuition or go with the flow?
RE: Golf
RE: Golf
RE: Golf
RE: Golf
Baseball is better. You hit the ball as far as you can and someone else chases it. ;)
RE: Golf
That's just my thoughts - then again I like golf.
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RE: Golf
RE: Golf
RE: Golf
On most recnt trip to most honorable US
Obsevered many people on place called golf course
playing game called AW-SH*TT !!!
Remember...
"If you don't use your head,
your going to have to use your feet."
RE: Golf
Bigbillnky,C.E.F.....(Chief Electrical Flunky)
RE: Golf
RE: Golf
Techmaximus