Some limits on how much golf one person can play comes down to finances, priorities, physical fitness, weather, and course availability. When these areas start to have a negative impact, you may have reached a limit.
Ever feel like you could play golf everyday and be perfectly content?
Golf can be an amazing experience, we often refer to it as a journey. The journey to get better, play as much as possible and have a great time!
Being outdoors on amazing courses, with friends and family, trying to shoot your best score can be rather addicting and something we want to do everyday or at least as much as possible.
However, does it ever get to the point where one might ask, how much golf is too much?
Let’s give into that question!
How Much Golf Is Too Much?
Factors to watch for when monitoring how much golf you are playing:
- Finances
- Priorities
- Physical Fitness
- Weather
- Course Availability
Looking to set a world record?
According to golf-escapes.com, the record for the most amount of golf holes played in a year is 14,626. These were all played on one course in Hawaii. Canadian golfer Chis Adam accomplished this feat! This averages out to 812.5 18 hole rounds played.
Maybe this is a goal I can set in retirement!
How Much Golf It Too Much and Limiting Factors
Of course, we all have to watch for the 5 factors that are going to limit us and let us know when we are playing too much golf. We have to be careful to keep things in check and monitor these 5 areas.
Factor #1: Finances
Most people are not independently wealthy or retired yet. Most people have to work a job to make money to pay the bills. Also, the cost to play golf can be rather expensive. Green fees alone can be rather costly at an average of $40-$50 per round a golfer could expect $14,600 to $18,250 if they were to play golf every day of the year.
Other factors that come into play are the cost for golf gloves, golf shoes, golf balls and golf clubs that the golfer will need to make playing everyday possible. Many people dream of retiring someday and playing as much golf as possible.
The point where it gets too much is when you are not able to cover the basics in life because you are playing golf everyday at an expensive rate.
One possible solution to this is a golf membership where you pay a monthly or annual fee for access to the course. There are wide ranges of golf courses that include municipal, public, semi private and private country clubs. Depending on the quality of the golf course that you want and the overall experience, you can expect to pay different ranges of money. For the most part it will be less expensive than paying the amount calculated above for daily green fees.
You might even be able to afford several public golf course memberships to be able to change up where you play as to not grow tired of the same course every day!
One way to offset the cost of playing golf is a membership.
Resource: Is a golf membership worth it?
Factor #2: Priorities
The second limiting factor is that many people have different priorities in life. While golf might seem like the most important, if it starts taking away from relationships in family or other necessary priorities in life, then golf can become a bad thing. If one spends more time at a golf course than with their spouse, they may have certain papers ending the relationship.
Finding this balance is important for many people and they must navigate these priorities in life with some quality balance.
The best combination is when you have a family or spouse that can join you at the golf course to enjoy playing golf. Then you get to spend quality time with family members, while enjoying the golf experience!
Factor #3: Physical Fitness
In order to play as much golf as you would like, you have to make sure you are physically able to handle the demands of golfing everyday. Even if you are riding a cart for every round, you have to ensure your back and other parts of the body will hold up from swinging a golf club frequently.
It is important to stay in shape through walking and stretching at minimum. Preparing for playing golf frequently will help you maximize your number of rounds.
I would recommend starting some yoga and daily walks to ensure you have the proper flexibility, strength and base with your legs.
If you have ever played golf with a sore back, you understand the limitations placed on the golf swing and how important it is to stay healthy through a quality stretching routine and overall activity. If you are someone that dreams about playing a lot of golf in retirement, make sure you are taking the daily actions to be physically fit in your 60s and 70s. Start something today!
Factor #4: Weather
Depending on where you live, there are limitations with weather. Living in the midwest part of the United States, there are several months out of every year where playing golf is nearly impossible outdoors. The snow, cold and lack of daylight make playing golf nearly impossible.
While we are able to sneak a couple of rounds on those warm 40 degree days, playing golf in December, January and February can be difficult. Even March isn’t the best month!
If one is fortunate enough to live in a warmer climate like Florida or Arizona, playing golf in the winter is much more accessible! One alternative that I have found for the weather is an indoor golf simulator I have built in my garage.
This golf simulator allows me to play golf 365 days a year regardless of the weather or amount of daylight. Playing daily and being able to hit balls in the winter has helped me lower my scores and get through the difficult winter months. Of course, playing Augusta, Pebble, Whistling Straits and St. Andrews in the winter months is amazing on my SkyTrak Golf Simulator.
Check out the current packages offered at Rain or Shine Golf at the link below. Rain or Shine provides quality pricing on packages and excellent customer service. You can get financing at pretty good rates.
They are worth checking out. Here are some resources on building your own golf simulator:
Factor #5: Course Availability
Last but not least, course availability is something that limits the amount of golf. Once again, a course membership can go a long way in providing you with access to the golf year round. The difficult times in some locations are on those very nice days early in the season when golf courses are packed.
If you are someone that wants easy access to a golf course, it might be worth a membership at a semi private or private golf course where the general public does not play.
On days when I am unable to play on a real course, I turn to my golf simulator. I have now plate close to 800 rounds in the 3 years since owning the golf simulator and having it set up in my garage. The great news is that a round of simulator golf only takes around 45 minutes. YOu never have to wait on a tee for a slow group and you get to hit plenty of golf shots.
It is the perfect practice round for those that want a quick round where you get to practice many different shots.
Final Thoughts: How Much Golf Is Too Much
Once golf starts to negatively impact your finances, relationships, or physical fitness you have probably reached your limit.
Until then, love the game, enjoy the journey and play as much as your can. For me, this meant a golf simulator to help balance out the different limitations that many of us face when trying to play golf as often as possible!
In the meantime, enjoy your journey and if are looking to improve your scores. Check out our recipe below for game improvement!
Take Action – What You Can Do Today to Get Better
What does this mean for you? I believe in the following recipe to get better:
1 – Improve your motion in the golf swing by identifying a golf instructor. Here are some options:
Here is a list of golf instructors that we have reviewed:
2 – Train to swing faster and improve your swing speed. Here are some options:
Looking to gain more Speed and Distance in your swing. Two Options:
3 – Understand course strategy and work to break through your next barrier. Here is a series on breaking through:
We have provided guides on how to break 100, 90, 80 and 70. Check out more below, if interested.
4 – Practice Frequently
Did you know that I build a golf simulator in my garage and have played over 500 rounds of golf on my SkyTrak system? It has been a game changer and one worth checking out. Here are some of my other posts on golf simulators frequently asked questions:
- Is a Golf Simulator Worth It?
- How to Build a Golf Simulator?
- What is the Best Golf Simulator?
- Golf Simulator Accessories?
- How to Build a Golf Simulator for under $7000
- Top 11 Reasons to Buy a SkyTrak
- How to Build a Golf Simulator for Under $1000
- Why Build A Golf Simulator?
- What Space is Needed?
- Can A Golf Simulator Improve My Game?
- How Much Does A Golf Simulator Cost?
- Don’t Forget to Check out our 15 best golf swings of all time.