One of the best ways to get out and see the magnificent countryside is to meet up with a few friends and play golf. It’s cool to grab your golf clubs and head for your fix of fresh air and beautiful views.
If you’re a world-class professional golfer, you’ve no doubt played on some of the best golf courses of the world – Aphrodite Hills in Cyprus, the Oconee Course at Reynolds Lake in the USA, the Kawana Golf Club in Japan, the Leopard Creek Country Club in South Africa and many others. Of course, if you’re holidaying in Portugal, an Algarve holiday has to include golf, as this incredibly beautiful area has many awesome golf courses of which just one is Clube Golf Oceânico Faldo, designed by the famous golfer, Nick Faldo.
Learning to play golf can be quite difficult, and you will need to understand the rules before you start. You will also need the correct equipment – golf clubs, balls as well as the correct shoes. You don’t need a full set of clubs to start playing though, and there are some perfectly adequate beginner sets.
Even though there are many good reasons to start playing golf, we look at five of them.
1. Play Golf while You’ve Still Got Breath
Perhaps one of the main reasons why you should start to play golf is that it’s not like other sports where you hear people saying of 35-year-olds ‘they’re getting past their prime now – it’s time they retired’. Golf can be played till people reach retirement age and beyond. In fact, people who have never played sport can look forward to taking up golf for the first time once they reach their retirement years.
2. Good For health
Golf involves lots of walking, and staying physically active is key to good health well into the later years. Physical activity such as walking has tremendous health benefits such as lowering the risk of heart disease or dealing with depression.
3. Makes You Mentally Sharp
You have to be mentally sharp. We’ve all heard of how people need to be kept mentally active to ward off the dreaded disease of Alzheimers and dementia. You have to be continuously working out the best strategies in golf to keep ahead of your opponents. Also, a skillful, practiced swing will only come after you’ve mastered the right grip and stance. It’s not just a case of teeing off either – you have to take into account the force of the wind as well as the location of the hole.
4. Meeting Like-minded People
People who play golf enjoy being outdoors. They love the peace and quiet and the sheer beauty of the golf courses. If you want to socialize but don’t know how golf offers excellent ways to mingle with people who have similar interests. Golf courses always have clubs and these provide a great way to make social contact. You can play golf, enjoy health benefits and make friends at the same time.
5. In The Middle Of Nature
You enjoy close encounters with wonderful wildlife. Playing golf gives you the chance to be close to nature, and often wild animals wandering onto the golf courses is part of the deal. Hares, squirrels and other animals have all made a presence on the top golf courses around the world.
Golf – It Ticks All The Right Boxes
Golf is an amazing game, period. Its all about nature and peace, and in the 21st century, it’s the tonic everyone needs. It’s entertaining, it gets you thinking and it can be played by people of all ages. There aren’t many sports that tick all the boxes, but golf does, and if you’re thinking of taking up a sport, golf needs your serious consideration.
