Golfing on weed

[Soloman1]

I think there are three things that can make you really stupid.

• Watching the news
• Reading the Internet
• Smoking dope

[BIG STU]

On 11/4/2023 at 6:28 AM, golferdude54 said:

There’s a lot of golfers on here that are sober and take their sobriety seriously, this sort of question belongs on a Reddit thread rather than here.

Well everyone is entitled to their opinion and here anyone can post about anything they want to as long as it does not violate forum rules. I see no problem with the discussion here. I also can not see why it does not belong on here. If someone is sober and taking it seriously I have no problem with it at all. If it offends those like you then feel free not to read this thread

[dan360]

Couldn't do it.  Would be too paranoid of Sasquatch.   The trees are big out here, they can hide. 

[Mrgreen36]

Do you do drugs Danny?

 

A lot. 

[Hclinegolf1]

On 11/2/2023 at 8:45 PM, dashanks said:

Anybody try this?  Personally, I can hit the wiffle balls in my back yard like Ben Hogan when I'm toasted sometimes, but it's never really improved my performance on the course.   Hard to say if it has hurt since I am not a great golfer anyway.  And just to be clear, I can also dink the wiffle balls around pretty badly at times.   Pretty much like I do when I'm straight.   But there are those moments when I am comfortably numb that I really feel as though I understand what the swing is about.  Totally let my body just become a vehicle for the golf swing.   I guess those moments happen when I'm straight also.   They just seem a lot more profound on the Ganja.  Basically there's no difference, I suppose.  So, like Emily Litella used to say, never mind.   (Obviously, I'm not opposed to posting when I'm stoned either.)

Pretty sure this post just made my day!

[sittingbull]

Man i have a few buddies think there willie and snoop dog smoken the devil cigarette. Sometimes after a few grandpa's cough medicine drinks i will take a few puffs and next thing i know im playing like phil 15 yards in the woods and trying to hook a 4 iron 210 yards over water.

Edited November 9, 2023 by sittingbull

[Pepperturbo]

On 11/2/2023 at 10:22 PM, bobfoster said:

Glad you said something. Was going to actually start a thread due to a round last weekend, but try to limit my "get off my lawn" old guy posts.

 

I tried it a couple times in college. Never really got the attraction. Experience was basically coughing a lot, getting slightly dizzy, eating an entire bag of Doritos and falling asleep - only to wake up the next morning with a headache, and feeling slightly dull witted for a couple hours (was kind of like "why does anyone think this is fun?") And that was many years ago ... from what people say, it has apparently gotten immensely more potent these days. Have some friends, in fact, that have been smoking it regularly for some time, and it does not seem to have good effects. They've got the short term memory of a gnat. (That said, also have had a couple of friends that went through chemo for cancer, and it apparently was almost a godsend.)

 

But anyway - it was just very recently legalized recreationally where I live, so people can now smoke in the open. Last weekend was the first time I had a serious experience with it. Walked on as a single, and got put with a threesome. That were quite avid partakers, like, off and on continually taking a hit or two on every other hole or so. Two comments:

 

1. It did not help their games. Two of them were so-so golfers (probably usually 90s) but one guy was actually really good ... for the first few holes. By the turn, performance was noticeably degrading. Oddly, what I noticed with him (in fact kind of with all of them) was that distance control went to hell. Not just with irons and wedges, but especially with the putter. First few holes the guy almost holed a couple of 10 - 12 footers. Solid putting stroke. But as the round went on, his green reading (weirdly) didn't change - his lines were still good - but distance control went to hell. Saw him blow a couple 6 footers 5 feet past the hole. 

 

Note - this was probably an extreme case - these guys smoked a lot. I can also easily understand @mizuno player above, that uses it sparingly to mitigate nerve pain. Can see how that could be quite beneficial. But ... but! ...

 

2. To your point @PJE, even outside, the smoke seems really thick and dense and clingy. I've never had a problem with guys smoking on golf courses. Cigars have long been sort of part of golf. In fact there's a lot of guys who really only smoke cigars on the course - it is somehow part of their weekend round away from the wife and kids. But the smell of pot on tee boxes last weekend was completely different. I found it sickeningly sweet almost to the point of being nauseous. Was seriously irritating. 

 

Got me thinking. I've bounced back and forth between playing public and joining clubs. Plusses and minuses to both. You belong to a club and you usually just play that club (since you are paying for rounds whether you play them or not). I've got a lot of good public courses near me right now, so I've been enjoying the variety.

 

But the last couple years things previously considered incredibly rude suddenly became normalized. Loud music blasting from Bluetooth speakers & etc. Now we're adding pot? Found myself thinking good grief - this is a golf course, not the freaking Harlem projects. If I wanted to spend my life getting stoned and listening to hip hop, I wouldn't need to spend all this money on clubs. 

 

Very likely to go private club again next year. One that enforces at least something resembling traditional etiquette. 

 

I get that I'm probably in the minority these days. And this is totally a "get off my lawn" old guy post. But I'm not criticizing anyone for doing what they want to do. There's over 15,000 US golf courses, and everyone can find some that suit their particular comfort zones. 

 

 Would just mention to pot smokers that I hope they can have at least a little respect for those that are really bothered by the smell (I'm definitely not the only one). 

Couldn't agree more; you're not alone. 

 

I am not bothered by labels.  I've done a lot for my country, including putting my life in the line of fire, many times.  Willing to die to protect our population, including the idiots who are doing their best to ruin the greatest country on the planet. 

 

California LE and Federal agencies are now learning the social effects and consequences of legalizing the drug.  A few friends are users for actual medical purposes, they don't abuse it so that I understand.  But the related poor judgement and miss use is worsening. 

 

When I encounter users, like drunks, I do my damnedest to be polite, until impaired judgement affects me or those around me.

 

 

[bobfoster]

7 hours ago, Pepperturbo said:

Couldn't agree more; you're not alone. 

 

I am not bothered by labels.  I've done a lot for my country, including putting my life in the line of fire, many times.  Willing to die to protect our population, including the idiots who are doing their best to ruin the greatest country on the planet. 

 

California LE and Federal agencies are now learning the social effects and consequences of legalizing the drug.  A few friends are users for actual medical purposes, they don't abuse it so that I understand.  But the related poor judgement and miss use is worsening. 

 

When I encounter users, like drunks, I do my damnedest to be polite, until impaired judgement affects me or those around me.

 

 

Yes. Don't want to go too far down this rabbit hole, but ... I was irritated by pot use on the course, but a lot more concerned about the fact that those three guys I played with - that smoked off and on for 18 holes ,and had increasing problems with fine motor control as the round went on (their putting went to hell) - were also going to be sharing the road with me on the drive home. We already have enough of a problem with the irresponsible use of alcohol, not thinking we need to legalize yet another behavior altering drug. It is legal for medicinal in all but four states (and actually does have quite legitimate uses), but it is now legal for recreational use in 24 states (and the number is growing) - close to half the country. In fact, far more than half the country considering the states - CA and NY alone have close to 50MM (out of 330MM) people.

 

As of yet there have been almost no longitudinal studies on the long terms effect of it however (in contrast to alcohol or cigarettes, where there's volumes of evidence - anyone that uses them does so knowing the full ramifications of that choice). The data just isn't there - largely because it was completely illegal until very recently, so doing the science was nearly impossible. Even the basics of controlled studies were highly problematic (what, exactly, is a "dose" ...  when  the subjects you are studying are buying whatever they can from whomever they can get it from?) The politicians on the recreational bandwagon are doing it almost entirely for tax revenue - with little apparent concern for it's long term effects.

 

Note: Probably seems like I know bit too much for a guy that doesn't touch it ... 😉 ... but there's a reason. I run a consulting  company, and have (and have had) federal government contracts. Some of which require my people to get particular sorts of clearances. Which dumps a huge legal mess into my lap. At the Federal level, marijuana is still classified as a Schedule 1 Controlled Substance by the DEA - the most severe classification ("Substances in this schedule have no currently accepted medical use in the United States, a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision, and a high potential for abuse.) ... i.e., it is not even permitted medicinally, as things like opiates are. It would take Congressional legislation to re-classify it (e.g., the FDA couldn't just decide to make it okay for doctors to prescribe). Trouble is, 46 states have approved it for medical, and 24 for recreational - which (obviously) is a pretty huge legal conundrum. What has actually happened is that as states started wanting to approve it, the federal government (starting in the Obama years - not exactly surprising given his college fun) just decided to "wink-wink, nod-nod" it. Let it be known informally that it wouldn't mess with states. However, no laws were changed. So technically, at any moment, the DEA could shut down and arrest anyone involved in a pot store or grow operation anywhere in the US, regardless of whether it was legal at the state level or not. The federal government could even take a state government to court over their laws. But it basically just decided to ignore the entire plate of legal spaghetti.

 

But that leads to really fun days for me. For instance, recreational is now legal in NJ. I can (and actually have to for insurance purposes) legally enforce a "drug free workplace" - being high at work is a cause for termination. But I can't use marijuana use as an exclusionary reason for not hiring. Much the same as I could fire someone for being drunk at work, but could not use drinking during on their off hours as a reason to fire, or not hire. Alcohol is perfectly legal on one's own time. And now pot is too. My HR people basically say "just don't even ask" unless someone appears altered at work. The fun part? Because it is still a Schedule 1 drug at the federal level, if I hire someone to go on billing on a federal contract, and they get drug tested as part of the clearance process, and pop positive for pot - they cannot work on that contract. 

 

So ... fun! The state not only allows marijuana use, it forbids me from using it as a hiring criteria. But the federal government not only doesn't allow it, it actively forbids me from tolerating its use by any employee at any time (a basic urine test will test positive for pot if you've used it at all in the past month). But alas, navigating the ever growing irrationality of the US regulatory environment is just part of the joy of running a business. (Sometimes its a wonder anyone actually gets anything done.)

 

Really didn't mean to go down this rabbit hole, but this particular topic gets me a little grumpy.

Edited November 10, 2023 by bobfoster

[johnrobison]

I think this is a really interesting topic. There have been a few discussions over the years about whether others drink alcohol on the course and how it affects their game. Those posts weren't met with some of the criticism this one has received, though. I grew up with drunks as well as stoners and I prefer a stoner over a drunk all day long. I trust them more, too, and I think the judgement and facilities of someone drunk are FAR more impaired than those of someone high. Why the negativity? Probably quite simply because marijuana has been classified as a controlled substance for so long. Nothing more than that. People, especially as we age, don't like to see things change. We want life the way we knew it to stay that way.

 

I agree with the posters who've said that if this topic bothers you, just pass right by it. There was no obligation to click in.

 

I tried years ago to drink while on the course and it was NOT good! I was lightly buzzed, not hammered by any stretch, and didn't enjoy golf one bit. Some people say they're better but I haven't seen proof of that. They're just as bad, they just don't get frustrated by it. I could see that happening if I smoked weed. I haven't smoked in a couple of decades but would imagine if I tried it on the course my game wouldn't be particularly good. I'd just be far less upset about bad outcomes. Theoretically that *could* help someone play better - not being hung up on results and fearing their miss and such - but my guess, based on knowing myself, is that it's not likely to improve my game and unlikely to improve a high percentage of others' games. I used to play with a guy who smoked weed during his round. Not fully baked, just a bit high. He played that way most of the time but I also played in some events with him when he couldn't and he was never good. Less hard on himself when he smoked but his game wasn't any better or any worse.

[Pepperturbo]

18 hours ago, bobfoster said:

Yes. Don't want to go too far down this rabbit hole, but ... I was irritated by pot use on the course, but a lot more concerned about the fact that those three guys I played with - that smoked off and on for 18 holes ,and had increasing problems with fine motor control as the round went on (their putting went to hell) - were also going to be sharing the road with me on the drive home. We already have enough of a problem with the irresponsible use of alcohol, not thinking we need to legalize yet another behavior altering drug. It is legal for medicinal in all but four states (and actually does have quite legitimate uses), but it is now legal for recreational use in 24 states (and the number is growing) - close to half the country. In fact, far more than half the country considering the states - CA and NY alone have close to 50MM (out of 330MM) people.

 

As of yet there have been almost no longitudinal studies on the long terms effect of it however (in contrast to alcohol or cigarettes, where there's volumes of evidence - anyone that uses them does so knowing the full ramifications of that choice). The data just isn't there - largely because it was completely illegal until very recently, so doing the science was nearly impossible. Even the basics of controlled studies were highly problematic (what, exactly, is a "dose" ...  when  the subjects you are studying are buying whatever they can from whomever they can get it from?) The politicians on the recreational bandwagon are doing it almost entirely for tax revenue - with little apparent concern for it's long term effects.

 

Note: Probably seems like I know bit too much for a guy that doesn't touch it ... 😉 ... but there's a reason. I run a consulting  company, and have (and have had) federal government contracts. Some of which require my people to get particular sorts of clearances. Which dumps a huge legal mess into my lap. At the Federal level, marijuana is still classified as a Schedule 1 Controlled Substance by the DEA - the most severe classification ("Substances in this schedule have no currently accepted medical use in the United States, a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision, and a high potential for abuse.) ... i.e., it is not even permitted medicinally, as things like opiates are. It would take Congressional legislation to re-classify it (e.g., the FDA couldn't just decide to make it okay for doctors to prescribe). Trouble is, 46 states have approved it for medical, and 24 for recreational - which (obviously) is a pretty huge legal conundrum. What has actually happened is that as states started wanting to approve it, the federal government (starting in the Obama years - not exactly surprising given his college fun) just decided to "wink-wink, nod-nod" it. Let it be known informally that it wouldn't mess with states. However, no laws were changed. So technically, at any moment, the DEA could shut down and arrest anyone involved in a pot store or grow operation anywhere in the US, regardless of whether it was legal at the state level or not. The federal government could even take a state government to court over their laws. But it basically just decided to ignore the entire plate of legal spaghetti.

 

But that leads to really fun days for me. For instance, recreational is now legal in NJ. I can (and actually have to for insurance purposes) legally enforce a "drug free workplace" - being high at work is a cause for termination. But I can't use marijuana use as an exclusionary reason for not hiring. Much the same as I could fire someone for being drunk at work, but could not use drinking during on their off hours as a reason to fire, or not hire. Alcohol is perfectly legal on one's own time. And now pot is too. My HR people basically say "just don't even ask" unless someone appears altered at work. The fun part? Because it is still a Schedule 1 drug at the federal level, if I hire someone to go on billing on a federal contract, and they get drug tested as part of the clearance process, and pop positive for pot - they cannot work on that contract. 

 

So ... fun! The state not only allows marijuana use, it forbids me from using it as a hiring criteria. But the federal government not only doesn't allow it, it actively forbids me from tolerating its use by any employee at any time (a basic urine test will test positive for pot if you've used it at all in the past month). But alas, navigating the ever growing irrationality of the US regulatory environment is just part of the joy of running a business. (Sometimes its a wonder anyone actually gets anything done.)

 

Really didn't mean to go down this rabbit hole, but this particular topic gets me a little grumpy.

Yep, it's a pain in the derrière.  I've been down a similar road with government contracts, and political party contracts.  They chased the same Fed'l regulations, so my nationwide staff had to measure up.  It wasn't much of a concern until we brought on some youngsters who balked at the requirements, thinking their voice should be heard...NOT.  We had a come to Jesus talk that led to a few being let go, that's when others heard the music and straighten up.  Young whack nuts have no idea how much of their payroll expenses are covered by my company.  When they heard, it seemed to help their thinking.  

Administrative paperwork driven by outside entities is mind-boggling.  It's no wonder bureaucratic organizations get little done.  Have a good wkend of golf. 🙂

 

[Pepperturbo]

17 hours ago, johnrobison said:

I think this is a really interesting topic. There have been a few discussions over the years about whether others drink alcohol on the course and how it affects their game. Those posts weren't met with some of the criticism this one has received, though. I grew up with drunks as well as stoners and I prefer a stoner over a drunk all day long. I trust them more, too, and I think the judgement and facilities of someone drunk are FAR more impaired than those of someone high. Why the negativity? Probably quite simply because marijuana has been classified as a controlled substance for so long. Nothing more than that. People, especially as we age, don't like to see things change. We want life the way we knew it to stay that way.

 

I agree with the posters who've said that if this topic bothers you, just pass right by it. There was no obligation to click in.

 

I tried years ago to drink while on the course and it was NOT good! I was lightly buzzed, not hammered by any stretch, and didn't enjoy golf one bit. Some people say they're better but I haven't seen proof of that. They're just as bad, they just don't get frustrated by it. I could see that happening if I smoked weed. I haven't smoked in a couple of decades but would imagine if I tried it on the course my game wouldn't be particularly good. I'd just be far less upset about bad outcomes. Theoretically that *could* help someone play better - not being hung up on results and fearing their miss and such - but my guess, based on knowing myself, is that it's not likely to improve my game and unlikely to improve a high percentage of others' games. I used to play with a guy who smoked weed during his round. Not fully baked, just a bit high. He played that way most of the time but I also played in some events with him when he couldn't and he was never good. Less hard on himself when he smoked but his game wasn't any better or any worse.

The topic doesn't bother me.  Either staff or I have had to deal with its influence on business performance for many years.    

 

After taking up golf, I learned quickly casual drinking and sports do not mix for me.  Thus, my flask of single malt stays in my bag, while playing.  I've heard, many times, the likes of "I am better at the game", yet watching their lack-of-performance says otherwise.  I have met a few really talented guys that could play remarkable golf with an ugly hangover and zero sleep, but not anyone that could play comparably stoned or half-drunk.  The other concern is that those that drink and toke on the golf course in due time annoy others. 

[ALX]

(Legal aspects aside)

 

In my opinion, people should be able to do what they want, as long as it's not blatantly disrupting or hurting someone else. 

 

I'm not saying the guys you got paired up with should be openly smoking a blunt (if it bothers you), but if they take a few hits over by the cart while you're waiting near the box for the fairway to clear, I don't see an issue with that. 

 

People drink on the course all the time, there very well could be someone in their group, or nearby who can't/doesn't want to even see alcohol, but rarely does anyone ask if it's ok to have a beer near them.

 

As for "the smell"..deal with it. Hot summer day and someone in your group doesn't use deodorant and stinks, what do you do? Deal with it lol

[Maine Golfer]

I live in a legal state and i'd be telling you lie's if I said I dislike pot gummy's.  But with that said, absolutely no for me on the course.  I quit drinking after a rough patch in my life when turning 30 and its better for me that way and indirectly led me to returning to golf and enjoying other hobbies. When I play golf i am always in a wonderful mood about it, its important my mental well balance to have thing's I enjoy. Also being spacey and trying to hit golf balls, that's just not what I want or how I see golf.  I pass no judgement if you want to have some beer or pot on the course, I'm not out to control others. Don't be the people with the ****ing  person with speakers on the cart, don't be a sloppy drunk, don't be the college kids stoned I saw this summer playing frisbee between shots.   Its like anything you be you, but don't ruin other people's good times please.

 

last comment, hot black coffee is the drug I like golfing lol

 

 

 

Edited November 12, 2023 by Maine Golfer

[secarious39]

Golfing on weed sounds like quite the experience. I've actually given it a try a couple of times myself. Similar to you, I find that sometimes it enhances my game, making me feel more relaxed and in tune with my swing. But then there are those moments where it doesn't seem to make much difference, and I'm still drinking those wiffle balls around like usual.
It's funny how weed can sometimes amplify those feelings of connection with your body and the game, almost like you're flowing effortlessly with each swing. But then again, maybe those moments happen regardless of whether you're high or not, and it just feels more profound under the influence.
And hey, speaking of weed, have you ever wondered about the difference between Sativa and Indica? It's fascinating how each strain can have such distinct effects on your experience.

Edited May 20, 2024 by secarious39