I’ve often wondered why people are drawn to a golf course community? Besides the obvious reasons of beauty and serenity usually is associated with golf courses. I believe there is something less apparent, yet possibly much bigger.

It may be the key to great golf for the majority of normal run-of-the-mill golfers, like myself. Those of us who would love to be paid to play our favorite game, but it just isn’t in the cards. It all lies in the power of community, a sense of belonging, fellowship, or that feeling you get being a part of a family.

I’m not saying that you have to live on a lot or have a home on a golf course to be a part of a golf community. My husband and I do not live directly on a golf course, yet there are a few courses that we frequent enough to feel very at home there. It’s rather like the theme song to “Cheers” that goes: ‘Sometimes you want to go, where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came…” We feel that way when we go to those clubs.

Nor do I think you need to belong to a specific country club, though for many that is a real basic need for them to feel their life is complete. Even this phenomenon is not just a matter of people’s need for social standing. Again it is a means of feeling connected to like-minded individuals, in the earliest of days it might have been considered a “tribe” that one was part of.

Golf course communities help to affirm a person’s sense of identity. This is especially true for a golfer. It brings golfers together. It is somewhat like today’s dog parks. People started to see the need for their dogs to have the opportunity to play and hang out with other dogs. (Since I love my two dogs and take them to dog parks, this example was not intended to offend). It gives golfers a chance to associate with people who share their passion for the game.

This may be the answer to why a golf course community could be the key to great golf. Who you associate with, has a major impact on who you are and who you become. I find that if I stay away from the golf course community, my burning desire to get out on the golf course and play starts to cool down. I don’t talk golf as much, think about golf as much, and become less identified personally with the game. I become a little less of a golfer, and more like the rest of the non-golfing world, (sad but true). My game also suffers terribly. Not just from lack of playing, but not playing with other golfers.

When I play with other people I find my game improves, especially if the people I am playing with are playing well, this is especially true in league play. You connect with the energy of the people you are golfing with (I have to watch out, not to connect with their negative energy if they are having a bad day, that can work against me). It helps to have the example of how you would like to hit the ball, performed right in front of you.

The more time I spend in the golfing environment, the more I desire to have golf be an integral part of my life, in fact I begin to expect to have the ability to golf, not just physically but financially. I make sure I’m taking the right steps to make that continue to happen on a daily basis. I exercise, eat well, golf regularly and basically fight the aging process like a 5 star general. I also make sure my financial future is keeping spry and fit, with multiple streams of income, and appropriate attention to my business.

I dare say for some, it’s not until their country club membership is threatened that will they notice the dire financial state of the economy. It would be for many the loss of a symbol of who they are, what they have accomplished and one of the aspects of their lives that brings them joy. They would lose the interconnection with a source of their power, people who are also accomplished like themselves. Do you get the magnitude of a country club membership for a great many people? » Read more: Why A Golf Course Community Can Be Key To Great Golf