Golf – a marriage maker or breaker

Well, with Big Break: X Michigan focusing on “couples” of all sorts, and the drama between them, I decided it was time to bring out the GFW post I did earlier this year about golf being a marriage maker or breaker (hated to see a good post go into the same big black hole like the magazine did – sniff 🙁 )

Anyway…here it is and it’s just as applicable today as it was a few months ago…

I was browsing through the newspapers one day looking for golf stories and came across this article that, at first, made me happy, but ended up getting my golf nickers in a twist!

Therapist and author, Neil Rosenthal, was doing a nice job of sharing how couples should continue dating throughout their relationship and have fun by doing things together. All very sound advice for keeping the romance alive when boredom can creep in without you even realizing it.

Mr. Rosenthal quotes research that confirms that couples should learn how to date again and rediscover fun. And then he gives some tips on putting together a “fun list” to which you can both commit over a 12 month period. Okay…sounds a little “marriage vowish” to me, but I’ll go with it for now…

He suggests we keep trying new things ‘as a couple’ such as skiing, waterskiing, gardening, Frisbee, bowling, walking or running in a race. And then he mentions…miniature golf. Hmmm…miniature golf…For some reason, this made me want to laugh and cry at the same time. Why didn’t he just say golf!

Is it just me, or do a lot of cavemen still see golf as a non-couples sport? Do men want to keep the links to themselves? Is it a territory thing for them? Or…Are women to blame by not pushing harder to join in this links adventure with their boyfriends before they get married?

Certainly there are some ladies out there who haven’t discovered the joys of golf, but I bet many non-golfing ladies tried it once (or maybe twice) and gave up saying “I hate golf”. I can understand that; been there…done that… years ago, I gave up without really giving golf a chance.

But 20 years later I saw the light and discovered that golf can really be a romance maker or breaker in a relationship, depending on how you approach it. The cliche that “Couples who play together stay together” must have been written for the game of golf.

But there are gotchas, and ladies must be very careful to follow these important do’s and don’ts to make sure golf is NOT a marriage breaker:

The DON’T is worth repeating – Never ever try and learn golf from your spouse or partner.

That is like asking them to teach you to drive a car, NOT!!!! It’s the one sure way of killing a relationship.

And men…STOP telling your wife/GF what they are doing wrong on every shot. I had a rule with my golfgal early on…”Okay..you can tell me 3 things in 18 holes – just 3 – so make them good ones or you’ll be biting your tongue for hours on something you should have said but were too busy just mouthing off!”

25% of the 26 million golfers in the US are women – up 36% since 2000.

Lots of us golfgals are turned on by golf and our golfguys. Keeping romance alive by having fun is great advice and there’s no better way to have hours of fun than golfing with the one you love (okay…maybe there is one better way ;))

Golfgal
http://www.golfgal-blog.com/

Keep romance alive by having fun
NEIL ROSENTHAL
The Dominion Post
06 Mar 2008

MOST of the time, the couple who play together, stay together. Once a relationship has a commitment, people tend to stop dating— and the fun slows down. What we then have is a variety of responsibilities and obligations— all the things we ‘‘have to’’… read more…