In a perfect world, 'life partners' would be supportive, respectful and understanding of each other's passions and hobbies. A lot of the time, this is not the case and outsiders will often notice a change in a friend's behavior once they become involved in a relationship. One example is that they may see their friends asking permission to do the things they love, in particular, golf.
When you take on a partner, golf is usually the first thing to go. After all, Sunday is no longer about enjoying yourself; it's about window shopping, holding hands in the street and wearing clothes that your mother would be proud of.
One train of thought is to encourage your partner to take up the sport you love by buying them a set of clubs or a membership for Christmas. It's a remarkably selfish thought unless you have discussed it prior. A lot of the time those new clubs will end up leaning against the 'his and hers' bicycles in the garage you bought the previous Christmas, when you thought that was a great idea.
It also seems that what you do in the first few weeks of a relationship; tend to be what happens for the rest of your time together. If you take out the rubbish for the first two weeks, that is now your job for life. If you call your friends and pull out of playing your regular Sunday competition for a few weeks, kiss that goodbye as well.
The trick is to 'man' or 'woman' up. You played golf every Sunday before you met and you will continue to. Of course, there will be occasions you may call it off for things like anniversaries and births, but if you enjoy it why stop? If you started dating an anorexic, would you stop eating? People that cannot respect what you enjoy do not respect you and that just opens a completely new assortment of problems.
There is only one simple answer how to balance golf and relationships if you are finding it is too difficult to enjoy both, dump those losers and get on with your life!
