Some people actually play golf for fun.
Crazy notion, I know! These “golfers” don’t head to the course thinking about swing mechanics, handicaps, or MOI. Some don't even keep score, They just want to play golf. They appreciate good shots, an occasional par, and rarest of birdies, but those things are truly secondary to a simpler goal; enjoying time on the golf course. For these guys, golf is no different than going to the movies, spending the day at the beach, riding a bike along a bike trail, or hiking in a park. Playing golf is exactly that. Playing. It's fun, it's not an obsession.
We call these people Recreational Golfers.
The Overlooked Market
While golf companies aren't oblivious to the recreational demographic, they struggle to truly address its needs. TaylorMade took a shot with their Hack Golf program, and then briefly again with the Adams Blue line, but neither concept never really took off, and both have basically been buried since.
Proving that the recreational golf market is not to be ignored, however, is the incredible success of Top Golf. Golfers go in droves to Top Golf to enjoy the experience of smashing balls at lit up targets, not hone the swing plane or angle of attack. Grab some friends, hit some balls, hoist a beverage (or two, or three), and have some serious fun.
When the recreational crowd sets out to purchase equipment, however, their choices are almost totally limited to golf gear aimed at the more serious golfer. We cover that stuff every day. Today, let’s explore some gear that could enhance the experience of The Recreational Golfer.
Callaway XR OS Hybrids
Recreational Golfers sometimes struggle to get the ball into the air with a long iron, and long iron shots from the rough can be especially difficult. Playing hybrids rather than long irons can help the casual golfer with getting the ball airborne and moving through the grass.
Callaway XR OS hybrids are an excellent choice for the recreational golfer. They are super game-improvement hybrids, well-suited for those who tend to explore various parts of the face. Even if precision isn't part of your game, for most, hybrids will still produce longer shots than an equivalent iron.
What makes the Callaway XR OS line more appealing to the recreational golfers is that the line-up has more (literally more hybrids) to offer than most other lines. The Callaway XR OS line goes all the way up to a 31°, #7 hybrid. Yep, you could replace your 3 to 7 irons with easier to hit hybrids.
Easier to hit clubs means better shots with less frustration, which is exactly what the recreational golfer is looking for.
Cleveland Smart 2.0 C and S Wedges
The Recreational Golfer probably doesn’t have the time, or the inclination, to master the chip or the flop shot, and they view sand as actually being an insurmountable trap. Cleveland understands this, and produces the Smart Sole 2.0 C (chipper) and Smart Sole 2.0 S (sand wedge) to simplify these short game situations, improving the Recreational Golfer’s chance to hit a successful shot.
Let's start with the chipper - the Smart Sole 2.0 C. Though the Cleveland site says you can use it from 125 yards and in, it’s really going to earn its keep around the green. All of us hate the flubbed chip. You want the ball to jump and run ten feet, yet you chunk it, so it only goes three. The Smart Sole 2.0 C has a broad sole that will help it glide along the turf, reducing the chance to accidentally dig it into the turf. Chipping simplified.
The Smart Sole 2.0 S sand wedge makes it easier to get out of the sand, likely because it has a wide sole. Really wide. Like Kardashian wide. It will take a Herculean effort to get the Smart Sole 2.0 S to dig too deep into the sand. The sole just won’t really let you. This means that you can swing at the ball with confidence (aka hard), and the ball should actually get out of the trap. The Recreational Golfer doesn’t likely even care where the ball ends up on the green, they just need the ball to get out of the damn trap.
Volik Vivid Golf Balls
Why do I think that the Recreational Golfer should play the Volvik Vivid?
They come in bright, fun colors, and that's not just cool, it's functional. The uber bright colors of the Volvik Vivid are extremely easy to find. Let’s face it, the Recreational Golfer is probably going to hit some balls into the rough. These Volvik Vivid balls are beacons in the turf. Though they don’t actually glow, the bright matte colors seem to do just that. Finding your ball just got easier, and that will actually allow you (and everyone behind you) to play faster. Six-hour rounds are not recreational for anyone.
Finally, the Volvik Vivid is that it is a ball that should match up nicely with the swing specs of the Recreational Golfer. I know that everyone on the internet swings at over 110 mph, but the casual player probably swings the driver in the 70’s-90’s mph range. That is the target for the Vivid. It has a soft feel, good distance, good spin, and a price at $30 a dozen that won’t break most banks.
YETI Hopper 20 Cooler
One of my friends once told me that he doesn’t drink beer when he plays golf because he takes beer and golf too seriously to mix them together. While I get where he was coming from, the Recreational Golfer is not afraid to enjoy a fine beverage or a tasty snack out on the golf course. What’s wrong with making the afternoon of golf more picnic-like?
YETI coolers are known for their durability, and for their ability to keep things cold for an unusually long time. Summer golf for me means triple-digit temperatures. Normal coolers mean well, but halfway through the round, the ice is liquid and the food and beer are warm.
With the YETI Hopper 20, this is not an issue. The insulation in this thing is amazing. It just shrugs off the heat, keeping its contents icily entombed. If you pre-chill the cooler before adding your favorite beverages, the air-tight zipper on the Hopper 20 will keep your libations cold through the round, regardless of how hot it is on the course. The Hopper 20 is soft-sided, allowing it to easily fit into the basket on the back of the cart, remaining flexible enough for you to stuff other gear in around it.
It’s not a cheap item, but seemingly everyone who buys one swears that they will never buy a non-YETI cooler again.
UE BOOM 2 and UE MEGABOOM Speakers
I’ve previously written detailed reviews of the UE BOOM and UE MEGABOOM speakers in the mygolfspy forum. Just click on the links in the previous sentence to go right to those reviews. Based upon my experiences, I believe that these speakers are the best Bluetooth speakers in the marketplace. Their sound is exceptional, their batteries last forever between charges, and both have the ability to be paired with multiple phones.
The UE BOOM 2 is the smaller of the two speakers, but it still produces significant volumes and deep bass tones that I did not think possible from such a compact speaker. The UE MEGABOOM does what the name implies - it goes bigger than the BOOM on all accounts. The sound quality from the MEGABOOM is nothing short of amazing. Adding to the fun, you can pair these speakers together for simultaneous play. That way, both of the carts in your foursome can be rocking the same tunes. Both BOOMS support multiple Bluetooth connections, so your foursome can also take turns choosing the tunes. I'm sure your group can figure out a way to tie music selection into a fun reward/penalty system.
Soapbox digression ahead: Music on the golf course is a divisive topic, and it has been for some time; think Czervik vs. Smails, circa 1980. You have a camp that would likely welcome the music, and another likely detesting it. The Recreational Golfer welcomes the music, but also knows that golf is still a game of manners, and thus doesn’t bombard other golfers with the tunes. Spending an afternoon arguing with other golfers about too loud music is not a recipe for a fun round of golf.
The Ball Retriever
The ball retriever, or what some call the 15th club, is truly a symbol of the golfer with recreational inclinations. Not every player with a ball retriever is a non-serious golfer, but having that retriever in your bag likely indicates that you find alternate pleasures on the golf course. Perhaps the retriever can even reveal one’s frugal impulses.
The number of balls found during the round with your retriever becomes another way that you can measure success on the course. Maybe you didn’t break 100 this time, but I’m sure that you told everyone that you fished out two dozen balls. That won’t help your scorecard, but it should earn some points in the round’s fun column.
If nothing else, using the ball retriever should allow the Recreational Golfer to save a bit of money on golf balls. If you catch your limit a couple of times out, you likely won’t need to buy a ball for the rest of the season!
Can The Serious Golfer become more Recreational?
To be fair, I don’t know if playing golf purely for fun is even possible for everyone. Many of us are obsessed, and between the abundance of data now available during every round of golf and the internal golf monologues we constantly subject ourselves to, focusing on fun is often harder than it should be. We have an idealized view of how our round should go, and enjoyment is often closely tied into how well expectation matches execution.
How often does that really happen.
A more recreationally-inclined focus is appealing. Why not hit better shots with easier to hit clubs? Wouldn't it be nice to always find your ball in the rough? What if you never struggled to get the ball out of the sand, and chips actually went where they're intended? Toss in some cold beverages, music, and a few friends, and we've got ourselves a great afternoon (even if the round takes longer than four hours).
Perhaps the Recreational Golfer’s focus on the journey of golf, rather than its destination, is just the kind of perspective that could bring more enjoyment to all of our rounds.
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