This summer like most can get pretty hectic. It is great to get away for a few days, if you can, to enjoy the summer and spend some time with your family.
We all have different ways of relaxing. Some people exercise, garden, walk, or curl up with a good book. I have never been much of a reader, instead I prefer to be outside on a sunny day in the fresh air, listening to the birds sing and enjoying the great outdoors.
A couple of weeks ago I had an opportunity to slip up to our family cottage in Quebec. It gave me a chance to relax, unwind, and recharge my battery. It also gave me the opportunity to play some golf and finally get the dock in the water for the first time this season.
I’ve always enjoyed fishing because it gives me a chance to relax. There is nothing like sitting in the boat on a quiet morning while the mist hangs over the lake and the only sounds you can hear are the waves, a calling loon, and the warm breeze as it gently swings your boat around to face the magnificent pine trees.
It never really occurred to me until just recently just how many similarities there are between golfing and fishing. Both golfing and fishing are ‘quiet’ sports. Both are relaxing pastimes that provide you with the opportunity, if only for a few hours, to get away from it all.
You can golf and fish all over the world. There are no age or gender limits and you don’t have to be very good to enjoy fishing or to golf.
In golf you need to know how to set your wrists in your backswing in order to create more power in your swing. When fishing you need to understand how to properly set the hook, so that that ‘big one’ doesn’t get away.
Both require skill to be able to maneuver around hazards. Golf has trees, bunkers, lakes, ponds, and streams, while fishing has rocks, stumps, floating docks, and sandbars.
Both sports require bug spray and both make worms very nervous.
Both require proper etiquette. You need to be quiet, take your time, and maintain your space between yourself and others, and of course, both sports teach you patience.
Both sports allow participants to stretch the truth. The story about the one that got away, or the shot that you made out of the trees from the bunker, over the lake and onto the green always sound better after the fact.
A true golfer/fisherman will never find it too hot or too cold to enjoy their sport. You have good days and bad days in both sports. It’s the good days that keep bringing you back!
Both sports have hooks, while golf has mostly slices!
Each sport has their own superstitions and idiosyncrasies and players follow these to a tee. Either sport can be played competitively or just socially. Golfers like to stay out of the water, while those who fish prefer to keep their lines in the water.
Although it is fun to fish and golf alone, it is often more enjoyable to share the experiences with others.
I enjoy both sports because they truly create an environment where it is you against yourself. Both golf and fishing force me to relax and my performance in both sports is usually better when I don’t try too hard.
I always look forward to the fall because I know that the golf season is winding down and that I again will have time to spend on the lake at the cottage. As always, I’ll be bringing along my golf clubs with the added fourteenth club – my fishing pole.
Cameron Burechails (Teaching Professional) The Georgian Bay Golf Academy @Meaford Golf Club (705) 441-0865 baygolfacademy@bell.netwww.meafordgolf.com
