The Opinionator

The Theology of Golf

Golfing with Priests and other Religeous activities 

I only played golf once in my life, and that was with two Catholic priests whom I suspect cheated when they kept score. Yet, I live in one of the golf capitals of America. My town has two public golf courses as do most of the towns on the Cape. Each of these towns might have three or four private courses as well.

Retirees move here to play golf all the time. They play in the early morning when the sun is coming up and the sprinklers are coming on. They play in the dead of winter using yellow balls on snow covered fairways. There are always conspiracy theories floating around the towns about the subtle manipulations which go on to assure town residents of prime reservation time on the links. It is a dilemma, because the town relies on golf tourist revenue, yet the residents see these facilities as something like their private clubs.

High schools in the area have a history of winning state championships with their golf teams. Probably the high schools of Cape Cod can boast of producing more professional athletes than any other high schools in the country. These professionals are usually golfers, not baseball or football players, but they are professionals none the less. I have not yet seen night golf down here, but I imagine it is around the corner, as may be golf for the blind.

At the Annual Town Meeting I have observed for years that the politics of golf assume as much space on the agenda as public safety or education. They debate intensely about golf revenue, fees, refurbishments, and land acquisition. You could fill a hall with hundreds of golfers to advocate for new sprinklers. If you were firing half the high school English department, I doubt you could match even a fourth of the turnout.

For many, golf assumes the trappings of a religion. The club houses can be a chapel; I saw a list of do’s or don’ts on the door of a club house in Dennis which reminded me of the Ten Commandments. Fellowship is stressed here, the ethics of scoring brings in a moral aspect and the role of tradition, and going back to Europe is an important part of golf heritage. Even the harried public administrators of golf courses are like pastors who work untiringly to respond to various constituents. They, like the pope, must provide leadership both for those with their foot on the brake and those with their foot on the accelerator. I haven’t seen music at the club houses to fill out the church analogy, but maybe it is there. I know there are golf saints like Francis Quimette and Jack Nicklaus.

My father-in-law loved to play golf. In the few years that I knew him, he would explain to me that its appeal was that the more you played, the better you would get at it. You could always improve your game. I liken that feeling to my involvement with writing. Practice can always improve it, editing upon editing yields better and better copy. That is a bit like the way some look at going to church and prayer.

We are not talking about sport when we discuss golf on the Cape. We are talking about church.