My personal journey in this incredible hobby links life
Before I go any further Happy New Year!!! May your 2025 be full of joy, laughter, health, prosperity, fairways and greens.
My blog and the fact that I’m a golf enthusiast feature pretty prominently in my Second Life profile. I’ll bet golf makes an appearance in some of your profiles as well. This means that, at some point someone is going to see you out on the grid, find you interesting, and peek at your profile. A question that I’ve been asked (and I know I’m not the only one) is some variation on:
Golf? Huh. I didn’t know that was a thing. Why golf?
You could just ask a guy like Arnold Palmer, who, I guess, played some golf in his time. Mr. Palmer said:
“Golf is deceptively simple and endlessly complicated; it satisfies the soul and frustrates the intellect. It is at the same time rewarding and maddening – and it is without a doubt the greatest game mankind has ever invented.”
That said, I doubt Mr. Palmer ever played golf in Second Life. Not only that, but it’s an awfully wordy response for a Second Life IM. So why do we play golf in Second Life? My reasons are perhaps different than yours, but here goes:
1. It challenges me constantly to improve.
I’m never going to be perfect. I can always putt better, approach better, tee off better, find better strategies, improve at playing in wind, refine my club selection, and (since the release of the Tour Pro VGS) shape my shots more efficiently and consistently. There will never be a time when I can look at a course and believe that I’ve fully conquered it. I love feeling and seeing the quality of my game advance, and the actual quantifiable signs of that improvement are powerful; shaving that one stroke off an 18-hole scorecard is a sublime rush.
2. The Second Life golf community is amazing
The friends I have made since I started playing golf and writing this blog are some of the best I have. I’ve really only been part of one other SL community where I’ve felt this tight camaraderie. Ours is a community in which I’ve ‘broken the ice’ with new friends just over our love of playing golf, and wonderful friendships have blossomed from that seed. I haven’t run into anyone in the SL golf community (knock on wood) that hasn’t been, at the very least, respectful and polite. By and large, our community is a delight and being one of y’all makes me very happy. I love you guys.
Poppy Williams brought something up in a comment that fits really well right here. Playing with the community, whether it be new friends or old, is such a wonderful experience. That shared experience is full of laughter and encouragement and the birthplace of stories we share with one another over some drinks at the 19th hole. I kinda wanna go find someone to play with me right now, but I’ll finish this first.
3. Competition
I’m an awfully competitive person, I’ll admit. My whole family is. Game night is war and we all hate, hate, hate losing.
In my experience, one great thing about playing golf is that you don’t have to win to feel that same sense of triumphant accomplishment. For example, I participated in the Christmas Swing tournament at Rainbow Valley North and the new Rainbow Links Hawaii. Over four rounds I played three rounds that, for me, were pretty fair…and then one that was an absolute train wreck. I tied for eighth in a field of about 20. That might sound kind of mediocre, but I’m thrilled with that result. I improved by one position from the Deer Creek tournament in November 2024.
While I’m playing against any number of people in a tournament, I can’t defend against them. I don’t have a keeper who can save their tap-in putt or a centre-back who can slide tackle them out of the tee box (although that might make for a great spectator sport). I’m playing against any number of people, but I’m competing against myself. I set what my win conditions are. And I can always improve (see 1).
4. Golf Fashion
I love creating cute looks that are fun and fashionable and, hands up, maybe walking the line between sexy and “golf appropriate”. I go through sales nearly every day trying to find new sweaters, new tops, new skirts, new shorts, new shoes, new hats, and new hairs that would look great on the links. The Messenger thread between myself and my partner, Sam Daltrey, often includes discussion of ‘golfy’ clothes we’ve found on sale.
(Speaking of golf fashion, I have a male alt whom I refer to as my ‘Ken doll’. He’s essentially a photo prop and, as silly as it sounds, Ken to my Barbie, complete with handsome clothes and dapper accessories). I’m going to start trying to find golfy outfits for him and including him in my photos in SecondLinks. I also want to do a post on where I shop. If you’re a guy and you feel like you have a good sense of golfy fashion – please get in touch with me (keyliikkin) in world! All coming soon!)
5. Passing it On
I recently spent time teaching one of my best friends, Lily Pop (AKA Lilykins), to play golf. I mean from teaching her the differences between woods and irons, what to use when, how to use the HUD, everything. It was a challenging, fun, frustrating, and profoundly rewarding experience. She told me in late December that she had bought the HUD and had gone on her own to hit some balls at the range at Rainbow Valley; I felt like I had paid forward that gift Robin Loxely gave to me back in April.
Twice now I’ve been playing and had a stranger ask me out of the blue about my game; once about my club selection, the other time was a query on how I could read the break in a green. Being able to pass on knowledge that people like Lexy and Chelsea had once shared with me felt so good. It has me thinking, not for the first time, about getting involved in teaching a small introductory class for the old Fawkes Landing community. There are people who are better at this than I would be, no doubt (Chelsea Malibu and B.J. D’Angelo are both great golf teachers, and Lexy will forever be my golf sensei), but being the person who unlocks just how much joy there is in our world for another is immeasurably rewarding and a tiny bit addictive.
So what about you? Why do you golf?
We have a giveaway going on! Be sure to check out the previous post and leave a comment on how you break out of a slump to win a L$1,000 gift card to Steelhead Outfitters!
Credits
All photos:
- Body: Reborn – eBody
- Hair: Kira – monso
- Shoes: Star Trainers – Belzebubble
Cover Photo & Photo 1
Photos 3 & 4
The Second Links Traveler 
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