How a trip to Reynolds Lake Oconee taught me to appreciate the sport of golf

#5: Golf is a lifelong sport.

A photo from the Farmfoods European Senior Masters event

If you are still playing within Major League Baseball, the National Football League or the National Basketball Association as a 40-something, you are in rare company. If you are professionally active as a top-ranked skateboarder, professional wrestler or an athlete in another sport requiring quickness and agility in your 40s, you are not only rare, but are undoubtedly going to be called "old."

This is very different in the golf world. For starters, the PGA has an internationally-broadcasted Senior Tour with major tournaments and recognized championships. And many of those full-time players on the Senior Tour -- which is for golfers aged 50 and over -- were notable PGA champions, as Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino were among the legends that that won a Senior PGA Championship. In turn, the sports of golf has more respect for its elders than other major sports, which may only incorporate their legends with a once-a-year "old timers game."

As South Carolina-based journalist Bill Bauer told me at Reynolds Lake Oconee: "Golf is a lifelong sport. One of few where the game adjusts to one’s age and ability. With multiple tee boxes creating playable lengths and properly designed generous landing areas, as well as a certifiable handicap system, men and women of all ages and abilities can enjoy the competitive nature of the sport."

Commented Joe Barks of Club & Resort Business: "A real trend right now is for clubs of all types -- public as well as private -- to create short or 'executive' courses that greatly reduce not only the time required to play but also a lot of the game's difficulty, which have been the two biggest impediments to attracting new players."

Barks continued: "These are 6 or 9 or 12-hole courses that are shorter in length and put more of an emphasis on shotmaking and the 'short game' -- irons, chipping and putting -- versus having to be a stud who drives 300-plus yards. These are proving to be very attractive as entry points for many new players, as well as older players who just can't hit it as far any more, and those who are time-pressed or have shorter attention spans. These courses take just a couple of hours to play."

Whether it's on a traditional course or the new sort that Joe Barks talked about, Dan Vukelich of New Mexico Golf News emphasized that your appreciation of the overall golfing experience is related to the company you keep on the course: "It's a cliche that you learn a lot about a person by playing 18 holes of golf with them, but it's true. Are they honest? Do they cheat? Can they handle adversity or success well? Can they solve a problem? Are they self-absorbed, tantrums, club-throwers? A large portion of the Rules Of Golf are aimed at setting a standard of courtesy by a player toward his or her fellow competitors."

Thanks to the natural beauty of Reynolds Lake Oconee, and the insight of journalists Joe Bark, Bill Bauer and Dan Vukelich, I look forward to returning to a golf resort for another on-the-course outing in the near-future.