Watching Golf In Person

One of the reasons I did not write in the blog last week was that I spent time watching one of my kids play in the Iowa Girls' State High School Golf Tournament. After being at much of that 2-day tournament, plus other meets duing the year, here are some observations about high school girls' golf:

1) Girls golfers have a much better temperment than boys. Case closed.

2) Girls golfers are not nearly as good at putting as boys. Why is this? I compared it to driving a car, meaning young females are not as good as males at that either. Yes, boys are more reckless, but they are innately more competent at driving at a younger age.

3) Girls golfers play faster than boys in regards to addressing the ball and hitting the shot. This is not always a good thing, but it is good more often than not.

4) Girls golfers' moms are very much helicopter parents when watching golf. Most of them know absolutely nothing about the game, other than their husbands play it, yet they are deeply concerned about every stroke their daughter takes. It's actually a bit annoying to us dads, to have a spouse encroaching in our territory!

And speaking of women encroaching on mens' golf territory, I felt the same way while attending a day of the PGA Senior Tour event in Des Moines last week. The place was crawling with girlfriends and wives (and perhaps mistresses) who were only there to look good, and eat and drink at the corporate tents. These fakers are much worse than the helicopter moms, because at least the moms are genuinely passionate about what they're watching.

In the end, watching golf in person is significantly less satisfying than playing golf.