December 17, 2025
By Mark Ohrenschall
President, Jackson Park Men’s Golf Club
Every golfer has moments when a question emerges: “Why am I playing this [insert adjective] game?”
It can arise from a bad shot, hole, round or stretch of golf; disagreeable playing partners; an injury or health-related issue; misfortune on the course; slow play; inclement weather; or any other trigger of despair this game can provoke. Sigh …
But then, for most of us, golf continues to beckon. We keep investing time and money, and enduring bruised egos, to play this silly yet captivating game.
Why, indeed, do we golf?
My answers include challenge, camaraderie and connections, competition, exercise, problem-solving, creativity and the sublime aesthetics of courses and their environs (links golf, especially). Many of you likely share some or all of these, and have your own additional reasons.
As a way to further consider this question, I recommend to you a video by Jon Sherman, shared by our esteemed JPMGC Tournament Chairman Jeff Schoening.
You can watch it here (8:42): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UWCkW-HyM8
At the risk of a spoiler alert, Sherman outlines many benefits of golf, focusing on physical and mental health, social connections and longevity. Although he acknowledges the absurdity of “chasing a little ball around a field,” he concludes by calling golf “the best walk you’ll ever take.”
So the next time you (or a significant other) question your commitment to golf, you can respond: I want to live well and long.
That’s also worth remembering the next time this game delivers you one of its regular doses of humility.
Happy Holidays to all of you and yours, and here’s to a 2026 filled with more golfing adventures (and undoubtedly misadventures too!).