Thanksgiving is a day for family get-togethers, scrumptious food, and entertaining stories. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t squeeze in a few rounds of tee time at your nearest golf course. In fact, trying a few simple golf tips is a good way to while away the hours before the Thanksgiving Dinner starts. But if you’re still not game, then let the following reasons convince you otherwise.
Top Reasons to Schedule a Tee Time on Thanksgiving
To De-Stress Before Thanksgiving Dinner
If you want your Thanksgiving Dinner to be as fun and memorable as possible, then you need to go through it stress-free. By spending a few hours swinging your driver, you’ll be able to effectively unwind and de-stress. Not only does it help your brain produce and release endorphins, but it will also work out some of your muscles. Plus, breathing the fresh air from the golf course is extremely rejuvenating.
To Avoid Drinking
A lot of people tend to spend the night before Thanksgiving Dinner drinking. And more often than not, this drinking binge gets extended during the next day. While there’s technically nothing wrong with that, you should avoid doing so if you’re maintaining a healthy lifestyle. So instead of going to the bar, you should drop by your local golf course instead. To avoid being lonely, you can even bring some of your non-drinking friends with you. That way, you’ll help them avoid drinking, too. Just make sure you guys avoid the clubhouse (in case they’re serving alcoholic beverages).
To Have the Course to Yourself
But if you’re an introvert and you’d rather practice those new simple golf tips on your own, then you’re in luck. Most courses will probably be empty come Thanksgiving Day since people will be at home waiting for dinner. Of course, this could also mean that many of the courses will be closed during that day. So better check first if they’re still open during the holiday.
To Prepare Your Appetite
Nothing’s more satisfying after a workout than a big recovery meal. By playing golf all day on Thanksgiving day, you’ll be able to whet your appetite for the upcoming dinner. You’ll be so hungry that you’ll be able to clean your plate minutes after the prayer ends! Just make sure you don’t eat too fast. Otherwise, you might end up with digestive problems. Oh, and don’t forget to wash down all that food with a refreshing drink.
To Just Have Plain Fun
Lastly, golf is extremely fun. Even if the moves tend to be repetitive at times, you won’t get tired doing it just to get the golf ball in the hole. It has quite a nice learning curve, too, and you’ll soon find yourself refining your technique just to improve your performance and outplay your opponents (assuming you’re playing against another. And you can even bring your family with you so all of you can have fun (not to mention have something interesting to talk about during dinner).
Tips to Maximize Your Golf Session on Thanksgiving
In case you did decide to play golf come Thanksgiving Day, you might be wondering if there are ways for you to make the most of your tee time aside from trying out new simple golf tips. Well, yes there are! Try the following for starters.
Start Your Game Early
Golf courses tend to do two things during Thanksgiving Day: either close so their staff can spend the day with their loved ones; or host Thanksgiving-themed events. In case your local course opts for the latter, then you should make it a point to start your game early. So schedule an early tee time and wake up early. One great upside to doing this is that the course is still empty aside from other early-bird players. Another is the cooler fresh air you can only enjoy during the early morning hours.
Make It Quick
Unless you’re taking your family with you, you should keep your tee time as short as possible. That way, you won’t be seen as uninterested in spending time with them. For best results, try scheduling your game for up to one and a half hours only. More than that, and your family will start wondering where you are. You’ll probably have to play nine holes instead of the usual eighteen, but it will still be fun. You should also take note of the time needed to get to and from the golf course, so best set aside a couple of minutes for that, too.
Disobey the Rules
Rules are important when playing golf, especially if you’re playing against another golfer. But if you’re just at the course for fun, then you can disregard it altogether. As mentioned above, you can just settle for nine holes instead of the usual eighteen, you can forgo keeping scores, and you can use fewer clubs, among other things. Of course, that doesn’t mean you should discard some of the more basic rules (i.e., hitting another’s ball, yelling “Fore!”, etc). And you should still maintain a few etiquettes while playing.
Invite Family and Friends
But if you want to make your golf session more fun and memorable, then you should not play alone. Take your family with you, and invite a couple of golf-loving friends over. This not only dispenses with the need to make your game quick (your family might end up enjoying the sport more than you do), and it makes for an excellent bonding experience.
Play Bets With Your Opponent
Lastly, you can try betting money with your opponents to spice up the game. Raising the stakes through monetary risks has an uncanny way to get your juices flowing, allowing you to sharpen your performance like never before. Plus, few things can compare with the gratification you’ll receive after winning.
Play Golf on Thanksgiving Day
Thanksgiving is a great day to play golf or try new simple golf tips, especially since the course will be relatively empty when you get there. So if you find yourself bored before Thanksgiving Dinner, you might as well whip out your clubs, drive by your local course, and enjoy a few rounds.
