Real Fun For An Amateur Golfer

As I watch the US Open golf tournament, I am reminded that golf can be a humbling game, even for the best golfers in the world.  And I’ve talked to a fair number of amateur golfers this week who have all agreed on one key point about the US Open:  They all really enjoy watching the pros look a little bit more like the rest of us.Almost all of us still hit double and triple bogeys, some of us more often then others.  And to see the course set up and the elements at Pebble Beach give the pros fits, for some reason just warms my heart a little bit.  Why is this?  Do we just enjoy seeing others struggle?  Are we just mean spirited?  No, I don’t think so.

But as much as I love golf and as much as I respect all of the pro golfers (men and women) on the professional tours, for me personally, a lot of tournament golf has become a little boring.  Except for the major tournaments where it just seems that the pros have to really work hard to score and to win.

So, for me, it just makes me feel a little closer to those pros.  It’s not just me and the rest of the amateur golfers who struggle with this game.  These guys and girls are so good that it takes some pretty extreme challenges to really let the game of golf do it’s thing to them like it does it to us sometimes.

I also find it interesting to see how the men and women of the PGA and LPGA react to these circumstances.  You get to see a side of them that we normally don’t see week in and week out.

Now this got me to thinking about an interesting question.  Should the professional tours make the golf courses for the regular tournaments a little more difficult?  In other words, when we are not watching The Masters, The US Open, The Open Championship, or the PGA, do we really enjoy watching pro golfers shoot -10, -14, or even -22?

I’ve never really asked myself this before, but in watching the US Open so far and thinking about it, I’ve decided that I am in favor of this.  I believe that, especially with Tiger at a major turning point in his career (more about this in a later post), that not only will this make golf more interesting, but the game of golf needs this.

You may agree or disagree, but I think that professional tournament golf (other than the majors) has become a little boring.  And as always, I am interested in your thoughts.  So, if you would, take a minute and complete this poll question below.  I’ll post the results in a few days.