{"id":5788,"date":"2012-10-30T11:00:56","date_gmt":"2012-10-30T15:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/?p=5788"},"modified":"2012-10-30T11:18:11","modified_gmt":"2012-10-30T15:18:11","slug":"playing-better-courses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/playing-better-courses\/","title":{"rendered":"Playing better courses"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By nature I am as far removed from snobbery as possible and I historically associate with the underdog.\u00a0\u00a0 I root for the servants in Downton Abbey and I still get misty-eyed every time Rudy takes the field in the waning seconds of his last game as a walk-on football player at Notre Dame.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>But, when \u00a0it comes to playing golf, more and more I find myself enjoying more upscale public and semi-private golf courses.\u00a0Now,\u00a0I have begun to wonder if that face staring back at me\u00a0 in the mirror is the face of a golf snob?\u00a0 Have I somehow become a golf elitist?\u00a0 Frankly, I&#8217;m not sure, but, these feelings of golf snobbery have been creeping into my subconscious at an alarming rate this past golf season.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe it&#8217;s the challenge of playing courses that are more challenging or maybe it&#8217;s just the better overall condition of these courses or maybe it&#8217;s just the ambiance, but, I generally leave these courses with the feeling that I have played on a &#8216;real&#8217; golf course. And, when I go back to the low to mid-level munis or public courses, I find it harder and harder to ramp up my enthusiasm.<\/p>\n<p>So, what&#8217;s the end game?\u00a0 Do I keep striving like Sisyphus to get up the golfing mountain only to find myself back at same old public courses disappointed or do I take a step back and reassess my\u00a0 expectations?<\/p>\n<p>The answer is pretty obvious to me.\u00a0 We&#8217;re all humans and I believe that it\u00a0is in our human nature to want better things in life.\u00a0\u00a0We&#8217;re all hard-wired\u00a0to strive\u00a0for the best and to be the best.\u00a0 Yet, in the end,\u00a0 we are all faced with limitations that force us to make appropriate compromises, but, this doesn&#8217;t mean that we can&#8217;t enjoy each and every experience for what it is.\u00a0 Disappointment is a self-inflicted wound.\u00a0 Failure is only real if we make it so.<\/p>\n<p>So, I&#8217;ll continue to play at all levels of golf courses while admiting \u00a0that it would be nice to have the means to play only the top flight tracks, but, at the end of the day, I&#8217;ll still be out on the course chasing that little white ball around and enjoying the hell out of it.<\/p>\n<span class=\"et_bloom_bottom_trigger\"><\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By nature I am as far removed from snobbery as possible and I historically associate with the underdog.\u00a0\u00a0 I root for the servants in Downton Abbey and I still get misty-eyed every time Rudy takes the field in the waning seconds of his last game as a walk-on football player at Notre Dame.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ricos-rants"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Playing better courses &#062; BuffaloGolfer.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/playing-better-courses\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Playing better courses &#062; BuffaloGolfer.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By nature I am as far removed from snobbery as possible and I historically associate with the underdog.\u00a0\u00a0 I root for the servants in Downton Abbey and I still get misty-eyed every time Rudy takes the field in the waning seconds of his last game as a walk-on football player at Notre Dame.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/playing-better-courses\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"BuffaloGolfer.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BuffaloGolferCom-54172563134\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-10-30T15:00:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-10-30T15:18:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rico\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rico\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/buffalogolfer.com\\\/wordpress\\\/playing-better-courses\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/buffalogolfer.com\\\/wordpress\\\/playing-better-courses\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Rico\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/buffalogolfer.com\\\/wordpress\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d8e25b5ccc761fd367c02c6ad2290f7c\"},\"headline\":\"Playing better courses\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-10-30T15:00:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-10-30T15:18:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/buffalogolfer.com\\\/wordpress\\\/playing-better-courses\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":394,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/buffalogolfer.com\\\/wordpress\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Rico's Rants\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/buffalogolfer.com\\\/wordpress\\\/playing-better-courses\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/buffalogolfer.com\\\/wordpress\\\/playing-better-courses\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/buffalogolfer.com\\\/wordpress\\\/playing-better-courses\\\/\",\"name\":\"Playing better courses &#062; BuffaloGolfer.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/buffalogolfer.com\\\/wordpress\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-10-30T15:00:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-10-30T15:18:11+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/buffalogolfer.com\\\/wordpress\\\/playing-better-courses\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/buffalogolfer.com\\\/wordpress\\\/playing-better-courses\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/buffalogolfer.com\\\/wordpress\\\/playing-better-courses\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/buffalogolfer.com\\\/wordpress\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Playing better courses\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/buffalogolfer.com\\\/wordpress\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/buffalogolfer.com\\\/wordpress\\\/\",\"name\":\"BuffaloGolfer.com\",\"description\":\"The guide to golf in Buffalo-Niagara\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/buffalogolfer.com\\\/wordpress\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/buffalogolfer.com\\\/wordpress\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/buffalogolfer.com\\\/wordpress\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"BuffaloGolfer\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/buffalogolfer.com\\\/wordpress\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/buffalogolfer.com\\\/wordpress\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/buffalogolfer.com\\\/wordpress\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/BuffaloGolferForBDGA20232024-Medium.png?fit=922%2C768&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/buffalogolfer.com\\\/wordpress\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/BuffaloGolferForBDGA20232024-Medium.png?fit=922%2C768&ssl=1\",\"width\":922,\"height\":768,\"caption\":\"BuffaloGolfer\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/buffalogolfer.com\\\/wordpress\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/BuffaloGolferCom-54172563134\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/buffalogolfer\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/buffalogolfer\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/buffalogolfer.com\\\/wordpress\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d8e25b5ccc761fd367c02c6ad2290f7c\",\"name\":\"Rico\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/buffalogolfer.com\\\/wordpress\\\/wp-content\\\/plugins\\\/wp-user-avatar\\\/deprecated\\\/wp-user-avatar\\\/images\\\/wpua-96x96.png\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/buffalogolfer.com\\\/wordpress\\\/wp-content\\\/plugins\\\/wp-user-avatar\\\/deprecated\\\/wp-user-avatar\\\/images\\\/wpua-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/buffalogolfer.com\\\/wordpress\\\/wp-content\\\/plugins\\\/wp-user-avatar\\\/deprecated\\\/wp-user-avatar\\\/images\\\/wpua-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Rico\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/buffalogolfer.com\\\/wordpress\\\/author\\\/rico\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Playing better courses &#062; BuffaloGolfer.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/playing-better-courses\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Playing better courses &#062; BuffaloGolfer.com","og_description":"By nature I am as far removed from snobbery as possible and I historically associate with the underdog.\u00a0\u00a0 I root for the servants in Downton Abbey and I still get misty-eyed every time Rudy takes the field in the waning seconds of his last game as a walk-on football player at Notre Dame.","og_url":"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/playing-better-courses\/","og_site_name":"BuffaloGolfer.com","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BuffaloGolferCom-54172563134\/","article_published_time":"2012-10-30T15:00:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-10-30T15:18:11+00:00","author":"Rico","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rico","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/playing-better-courses\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/playing-better-courses\/"},"author":{"name":"Rico","@id":"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/d8e25b5ccc761fd367c02c6ad2290f7c"},"headline":"Playing better courses","datePublished":"2012-10-30T15:00:56+00:00","dateModified":"2012-10-30T15:18:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/playing-better-courses\/"},"wordCount":394,"commentCount":1,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Rico's Rants"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/playing-better-courses\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/playing-better-courses\/","url":"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/playing-better-courses\/","name":"Playing better courses &#062; BuffaloGolfer.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-10-30T15:00:56+00:00","dateModified":"2012-10-30T15:18:11+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/playing-better-courses\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/playing-better-courses\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/playing-better-courses\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Playing better courses"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/#website","url":"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/","name":"BuffaloGolfer.com","description":"The guide to golf in Buffalo-Niagara","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/#organization","name":"BuffaloGolfer","url":"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/BuffaloGolferForBDGA20232024-Medium.png?fit=922%2C768&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/BuffaloGolferForBDGA20232024-Medium.png?fit=922%2C768&ssl=1","width":922,"height":768,"caption":"BuffaloGolfer"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BuffaloGolferCom-54172563134\/","https:\/\/x.com\/buffalogolfer","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/buffalogolfer\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/d8e25b5ccc761fd367c02c6ad2290f7c","name":"Rico","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-user-avatar\/deprecated\/wp-user-avatar\/images\/wpua-96x96.png","url":"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-user-avatar\/deprecated\/wp-user-avatar\/images\/wpua-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-user-avatar\/deprecated\/wp-user-avatar\/images\/wpua-96x96.png","caption":"Rico"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/"],"url":"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/author\/rico\/"}]}},"views":3813,"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p20nYT-1vm","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5788"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5790,"href":"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5788\/revisions\/5790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buffalogolfer.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}