Ever since men (ladies started later) played the first game of golf around the middle of the mid 15th century, it has been a tremendously enduring and popular sport. It’s said that King James II of Scotland banned both golf and soccer because it drew his archers away from their work of protecting the castle.
His successors, the III and IV James, kept the ban going for a while until it eventually did evolve into our modern game in 1744 with rules set down in the great city of Edinburgh.
Thank goodness that the game prevailed because millions of people, some in the remotest of places, love the sport. Grantland Rice said: “Eighteen holes of match or medal play will teach you more about your foe than will 18 years of dealing with him across a desk”.
Golf has entered our everyday lives in more ways than you can imagine. Many golfers love the sport and welcome gifts associated with one of their favorite pastimes.
Golfing is a big industry and thousands of people in the U.S. alone work within it either teaching, making equipment, playing the game professionally, or teaching others how to get the most from the beloved game. Everyone from presidents to kings and the smallest for children and everyone in between loves the game. It’s also a great way to get exercise out in the fresh air and it stretches your mind out, as well as your body.
Here are seven awesome golf gifts for dad:
1 – Clubs in many sizes, price ranges and types (check with someone in the know on this if you have to – perhaps one of your dad’s golfing buddies)
2 – GPS locator (worn like a watch and helps with your approach)
3 – Gift cards to a golf supplier (either online or brick and mortar)
4 – Clothing (not plaid plus-fours – unless your dad likes those, of course!)
5 – Specialty items like left-handed clubs (yes, they do exist
6 – Balls and tees
7 – Lessons with a pro
Remember what John Updike once quipped: ‘Golf appeals to the idiot in us and the child. Just how childlike golf players become is proven by their frequent inability to count past five’. What Updike is saying, many believe, is how dedicated people can get to golf – and at any age. Remember how young the greats were when they started?
Think Tiger Woods.
That classic and memorable singer and actor, Bing Crosby, once sang in ‘Straight Down The Middle’:
‘Fore!
Straight down the middle It went straight down the middle Then it started to hook just a wee wee bit That’s when my caddie lost sight of it
That little white pellet has never been found to this day But it went straight down the middle like they say’.
Many people love everything about golf and one of the ways to get your golf fix at home is by listening to your Crosley jukebox and enjoying tunes about golf, and pretty much everything else you or your dad would love to hear. This wonderfully styled jukebox plays music and songs you can download from iTunes and could be an additional, and eighth gift, to think about for dad on his day.
Letting your dad teach you how to play golf, if you’ve never tried it, is a great gift on father’s day. It’s also a good way for you to draw out some family history from your father. After dad tells you about how he met a lot of his friends on the golf course, or how they played ‘back in the day’ etc., you can write (or have written) up a little family history of golf for your dad, and give that to him on another occasion.
There are many books available on how to play golf and what to buy to set yourself up. They range from information available for rank beginners through to the most professional of players. And the golf clubs you can get – who would have thought that there would be so many kinds? Looking at the hundreds of clubs out there and the price ranges they encompass, can boggle your mind.
If you have in mind to get your father a piece of golfing equipment for Father’s Day, you can also include him in the shopping for it. That way he will let you know exactly which club or new ‘toy’ he’d love to have.
About the author: Kelly has graduated from the Maine Maritime Academy, and now works on a drill ship in the Gulf of Mexico. This keeps him away from home for weeks at a time when he’s out to sea. He has worked in the industry for over 30 years and 20 of them were spent on and around oil tankers. When he isn’t working on the water, he sometimes teaches at maritime colleges because he finds the challenges of the work stimulating. He loves to collect things and one of the items he’s long sought to get, but hasn’t yet, is a retro Pac-Man arcade game which you can browse on MensHideaway.com.
Photo credit: Eric Acevedo