Golf - classic or dud

ahem:
http://sports.yahoo.golfserv.com/apps/courses/profile.asp?Crs=14815

9-hole courses: dud.
18-hole courses where one of the hole designs is repeated a half-dozen times: dud.
Lots of changes in elevation: classic.

Golf is classic so long as you're playing well...

I think "links" golf has something to do with those weird golf course where the 18th green is also the 1st green, the 2nd also the 17th &c. (like uh st andrew's?) hence the name "links", but I'm not entirely sure.

where does the name "links" come from?

No punches are spared for the PGA's awful racist history, and yet, I still want to play at Augusta. And I don't even golf!

the "culture" surrounding it can seem quite exclusive and overdefined in a boring and elitist way but I don't assume all golfers/people who play golf fall into that trap but, since it is the way, they probably always have to compromise to it, a little, which is offputting

I don't mind watching it on the telly but wouldn't choose to, really. I have been to a tournament or so and the day was OK but not for the golf, so much. like any sport I don't really like to watch (a lot of which I (would probably) quite enjoy playing, for fun), I might watch the final day or so, if there's nothing else to do/friends are watching it

my problem is talking about golf

I cannot stand people talking about golf

not talking about a tournament, if it's on, but, I'm sure, I wouldn't be interested in that either

people talking about their own games, especially to people who haven't invited it or expressed any interest

and loudly

one of the most boring things

(he (the person that prompted this) also talks about money and, probably, cars (another two of the most boring things))

(I used to play golf, btw, and was a member at my local club (years ago))

(crazy golf and pitch & putt are, of course, classic)

oh the inevitability of it all!

Woods' playing ws brually clinical and as much as I wanted to see a close finish it didn't matter in the end. DiMarco played v well, great put for par (on the 15th, i think) to stay in touch. Only one winner tho'.

What a finish this year - poor Harrington :-(

And Lineker interviewing Romero in Spanish...

poor Harrington? Poor Sergio more like (ahem choke ahem)

Golf is classic for golf shorts, mini-golf, and a slight high school reputation for badassery earned for accidentally knocking someone's teeth out with a golf club, but everyone assuming you did it on purpose because the victim was a douche.

Golf is not classic for golf courses and the haughty, smug culture.

that was exciting.

Oh Sergio :((((

Apparently there is a big doping problem in Golf these days. madness.

it was great on thursday when they were asking one of the players (can't remember who) about the doping allegations. his response was exactly what I was thinking, which was "I'm note entirely sure how doping would really improve anyone's game"

classic if for no other reason than inspiring goofy golf.

despite myself i rather enjoyed the end of the open. no problem with segio garcia but i was glad the paddy won, especially after falling into the drink twice ont he last hole.

"poor Harrington? Poor Sergio more like (ahem choke ahem)"

Ha! I posted that just after Harrington's ball hit the water for a 2nd time at the 18th.

Poor Sergio :-(

But what a fantastic finish. No probs w/Harrington's win. He played great.

BUT POOR SERGIO :-(

really delighted that harrington won!

PAIDI

hurrah

i like golf, in theory at least. and golf video games are so relaxing!

so happy for him...what a worker he is. must be close to greatest Irish sportsman of all time.

lol yr goin down america

I have loved the game, but I'm looking to sell the clubs now. Too damn hot to play here.

Seve :( hopefully will be okay.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/golf/7673984.stm

nice video there. something about seeing golf brings me back to being 5 and 6 years old, watching with my parents.

i like golf, in theory at least. and golf video games are so relaxing!

the sounds effects in nintendo golf!!! i also like golf in theory and practice

golf is classic, i'll be sad when it snows. also, golf courses aren't so bad - they're good habitats/refuge for all kinds of wildlife - waterfowl, deer, elk, etc etc. not that big of a deal on a course like greywolf in canada, which sits in the middle of forest and mountains, but pretty cool for courses planted in the middle of the city. good course design is about trying to use the land as it is - planting native plants, ensuring proper water drainage, and naturally merging the course into the existing terrain as much as possible.

i also like golf video games, but i might be biased since part of my job is designing and building courses for golf video games and golf sims

Golf is fun. It's a "sport" that one doesn't have to be good at to go out there and try to play. It's a good exercise in concentration and patience. I put "sport" in quotes because people sometimes want to argue if it's a sport or not.

I even love to watch televised golf. The announcers cliched commentary is really amusing as hell, and then they go and say something really stupidly funny that becomes a classic "repeat it" line. I don't fit on on the golf course at all, and can't play for s**** but it's still the only "sport" in which I can even slightly participate in real life and get away with it. Geekiness on the golf course seems to be accepted for some odd reason. I have fun being the "caddy" just walking the course with someone who actually can PLAY the game, and it gives one an excuse to dress up in ridiculously flashy clothes that anywhere else are a clashing eyesore. A golf course is lovely too, all that expanse of green grass manicured and sand traps raked in zen like designs. I think if I have to define it, I like it because it is refined, unlike other sports like football or basketball. (Yep, I am a definite chick).

am i the only dude watching this

With some justice, golf has been called "a good walk spoiled". I can't say I ever loved it and for most people like me it is pretty dud. But my dad loved it and taught me to appreciate its finer points, just as he taught me to love boxing and appreciate it, too.

Golf is all about achieving fine control over how the club face meets the ball. Ridiculously fine control. Tiny deviations from perfection can result in the ball flying off in all directions and doing nasty things to your score. It appeals to people with a lot of patience, because that is what it takes to swing a golf club in an idiotically nuanced manner, time after time.

My dad liked the gentle camraderie of the golf course, the bad, old jokes and jibes, the strange jargon, the slow pace and the greenery. He wasn't a fierce competitor and he never bet more than a pittance, and only when his partner insisted. But he could whup about 95% of the other players and do it graciously, almost apologetically.

So, in honor of my father, whom I dearly loved, I will say classic.