h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Golf is the nadir of the soul, a game whose pointlessness is matched only by the absurd amount of time and effort it soaks up.

Rather than getting good at say photography or writing or anyhting which might benefit them, golfers opt for the company of others who see merit in waving a stick at a ball.

They also enjoy meeting like minded folk to share some of those hilarious ball and hole jokes that the rest of us inexplicably left behind in the fifth form.

At the same time, the golf club afficianado can pander to the sort of clique ridden anally retentive rule bound non-entities that are the preserve of the stuffier club rooms.

For this privilege they will stump up vast sums of money in club dues to buy into the class ridden system that should have died a death at the fall of the British Empire.

As for earning the undying adulation of your local taxi driver at holing a putt, I can think of no more depressing end to an otherwise perfect day.

Not very good at golf then...??

Or was your membership application rejected?

"Golf is the nadir of the soul, a game whose pointlessness is matched only by the absurd amount of time and effort it soaks up."
- or it's the height of challenge. As I say elsewhere it's you against yourself. People try to make it competitive by involving others and bets, but you're really trying to achieve self-mastery etc.

"Rather than getting good at say photography or writing or anyhting which might benefit them, golfers opt for the company of others who see merit in waving a stick at a ball."
- and why are they any better as past-times? If you take everything to its conclusion, why do anything?

"They also enjoy meeting like minded folk to share some of those hilarious ball and hole jokes that the rest of us inexplicably left behind in the fifth form."
- or that they put in the thread titles ...

"At the same time, the golf club afficianado can pander to the sort of clique ridden anally retentive rule bound non-entities that are the preserve of the stuffier club rooms."
"For this privilege they will stump up vast sums of money in club dues to buy into the class ridden system that should have died a death at the fall of the British Empire."
- I play my local course with 2 or 3 of my mates on a twilight round for about a tenner after work. We could easily spend the same amount of money down the pub. We talk about our lives, our families, our games. We enjoy ourselves. Golf is a vehicle for continuing our friendship.

BBS