What Type of Person Plays Golf? (Find it Out!)
John Miller
Once the sport of the elites, golf has become incredibly popular over the last few decades and has become the sport of choice for a diverse range of players.
This means that today, golf courses are attended by people from all walks of life.
Golf has become a shared interest for individuals of different gender and age, coming from varied social and financial backgrounds, and with vastly distinct interests outside the sport.
All this diversity and different types of personalities getting together on the golf course make the game even more fun and exciting.
However, even though every player is unique and brings their own style and personality to the game, certain character traits are shared by most golfers, especially those that are more successful.
Below, I’ll look into what type of person plays golf and what a character profile of a typical golfer look like.
Table of Contents
What Type of Person Plays Golf?
Most of the traits that define the type of person that plays golf are not unique to this game and are frequently seen in other sports, as well as in other aspects of life.
However, when combined, these characteristics create a rather unique type of personality that pretty much sums up the kind of people you may meet at a golf course.
A golf course is also a place where you can learn much about other people, as most of their general human qualities generally translate to how they play golf and behave when they hit the links.
Every strength or weakness of a person comes forward during a round of golf, so we are able to see golfers for who they really are.
As you play more and more golf, you’ll quickly notice that there’s a pattern and that most people who are drawn to golf share several common traits.
Honesty and Integrity
Unlike most other sports, golf revolves around personal integrity and honesty.
Players are supposed to follow the set rules, but they do so without any outside interference or authority such as an umpire or referee in some other sports.
Players are the ones who keep the score and call penalties for themselves.
This, of course, implies that there’s supposed to be a great deal of mutual trust between competitors on the golf course.
Players rely on each other’s integrity to ensure that they have a fair and enjoyable game.
Dishonest people truly have no place in golf and even those who come to the course with dishonorable intentions are rather easy to see through and often get called out by their playing partners.
A person who is willing to cheat on the golf course is very likely to repeat similar behavior in real life.
Patience
There’s hardly a sport that can test your patience in the way golf does.
Even within a single round, there will be multiple situations where you will have to stay patient and keep your composure for the game to move on as it should.
People who can easily get frustrated commonly lose their cool after only a few strokes and, in most cases, don’t stick around and make golf a regular part of their lives.
Several bad breaks in a row, consistently missing short putts, and getting held up by slow-playing partners or another group of golfers are all things that are more than common on the golf course.
It takes a person of great patience and willingness to endure to stay calm in these circumstances and still enjoy the game.
This is why most golfers are known as persons who have high patience limits even in everyday situations.
Ability to Focus
Every shot demands that the player’s whole focus is on that shot, their swing, the ball, and the target which may be a few hundred yards away.
However, at any given time on the golf course, players are met with numerous distractions.
The player’s partners, opponents, another group of golfers, wildlife, or weather can all easily divert the golfer’s attention from the critical shot which usually results in a mishit and can ruin the player’s score.
Also, besides usual distractions, golfers need to be able to leave their previous blunders and mistakes and keep their minds in the present moment.
Therefore, people who play golf usually have a high ability to focus, either naturally or by learning it through years of playing and practice.
The best golfers are commonly those who are capable of completely eliminating any distractions surrounding them and focusing only on their strategy and the shot at hand.
Confidence
Golfers are commonly rather confident people and that becomes even more true as a player moves up the levels of the sport and becomes a part of more competitive games.
Playing well without confidence is more or less impossible.
Of course, that confidence has to be earned.
Most players are able to boost their egos and draw their confidence from the knowledge of all the hard work and practice they’ve put in to become solid golfers.
Often, especially as a player becomes better, this confidence can even grow into cockiness.
This is not necessarily a bad thing on the golf course and can even make your game better, but there is also a danger of alienating your playing partners.
Creativity
While it may not look like that to outsiders, golf demands a high level of creativity.
While players spend hours practicing their stock shots, full swings, and the same putts over and over again, putting it all to work requires a creative mind.
Each golf course is different and, even on the same course, you may meet new challenges on a different day.
This variance of conditions and situations on the golf course usually demands of players to be able to improvise and adjust.
While most golfers have some sense of creativity, those who are the most creative are typically the most successful in responding to these unpredictable situations.
Conclusion
Golf is a beautiful, but very complex sport. Even with the enormous rise in the popularity of the game, it’s still clear that it takes a special type of person to get into golf.
Golfers are commonly able to tell if another person plays golf even if they have never met on the golf course.
There are certain personality traits that almost every golfer possesses and they’re easily identifiable even in life outside the game.
You will rarely get a chance to meet a golfer that is not honest, focused, patient, confident, and creative.
This is why golfers all around the world, no matter their background, can always feel like a part of a special brotherhood of like-minded people.
