Play, feel, learn and grow… This is the mantra that the newest sports club in Strathmore is living by. Taariq Soud, founding head of the club, speaks more to the game that is now penetrating the University scene.

What skills do you need to play golf?

You don’t really need skills. Golf just needs commitment and patience. You get better by 0.1 or even 1 every day.

What makes golf stand out from other sports?

You know how most people love going to beautiful places to walk, think and unwind? Well, imagine playing a sport where you could do just that; that’s if you don’t end up breaking your clubs because of how bad you’re playing. Golf is a hustle without the bustle. It’s a game that requires you to not only be in nature but to also acknowledge the forces of nature; the wind could affect your ball flight and distance, the wet lie could affect the spin rate of your shot or even distance, and altitude affects the distance of your golf shots.

Golf needs you to feel, see, think and calculate! You need to know how far you hit each club so that each shot you hit towards the hole could be more accurate. You need to know how far you are from the target; you need to know what direction the wind is blowing. If the wind is blowing hard and against you, you need to club up. If the wind is assisting, you need to club down. Don’t get me started on how hard it is to master the golf swing. You could play the best round of your life today and not get anywhere close to it for the next 3 years. Golf is indeed challenging. Funnily enough, it leaves you wanting more because no matter how bad your round was, there will be that one shot that will give you hope and leave you thinking, “I’ll be better tomorrow.”

There’s also some sort of pride (I don’t mean the negative kind) that comes with being a patron of the game. Golfers generally get excited when they meet other golfers; for example, if you found out that a colleague or even a superior at work played golf, I guarantee it that you may just get along more. It’s because golf is an entire field that needs to be felt and experienced and not just anyone can relate to it.

It’s not that golfers hate other sports, we just love our game and funnily enough, other sportsmen really love our game too!

Golf is also a game that revolves around rules. Honesty and etiquette are very essential in the game of golf.

Is it true that golf is a luxurious sport as perceived by many people or is it a sport like any other?

Is golf a luxurious sport? I would say it can be. It doesn’t need to be but it can be.

First things first, let’s get one thing right. Golf is a game you play for the rest of your life (unless otherwise) and not something you pick up and just drop.

Playing golf will definitely require you to spend money. How much you spend depends on where you are, where you play, how popular golf is in your area or country and to a certain extent, your taste. If golf is quite popular in your locality, chances are that there may be golf facilities that are easier to access or less costly .

The costs that come about with the game are due to its entire concept. You’ll need golf clubs. More importantly, you will need to access a golf course. You’ll need to get golf balls and it doesn’t help if you’re not good at the sport because you will buy more and more. Haha.

Now, when it comes to golf clubs, they aren’t an ordinary purchase. Golf clubs are an investment. You could compare a set of golf clubs to a car (in terms of the life-span of the asset, not in terms of cost). Remember, when buying a car, you could get a brand-new S-class or a used S-Class. Alternatively, you could buy a brand-new Toyota or a used one. Bottomline is, the budget that could be spent on a set of clubs that you’ll use for the next seven years could range from Kshs. 25,000/- to even Kshs. 500,000/- plus. Pick your poison and enjoy the game!

The very golf facility you access is situated on land that spans into tens (if it’s very small) if not hundreds of acres (we’re talking about a hundred plus). That land needs to be maintained so that it looks the way it should! So yes, membership at a club may be costly, again, depending on where you are and how popular and accessible the game is. What I could tell you is that golf is quite accessible for people of the age 21 and under. In Kenya, individuals that are 21 and under are required to subscribe to the Junior Golf Foundation; membership fees are  Kshs. 1,000/- a year. Upon being a member of the JGF, you can play on any golf course in Kenya for Kshs. 150/-.

Golf can definitely be luxurious because of the environment that you may be in. Prestigious golf clubs and golf courses do exist. You could actually travel around the world just to play golf and it would be an unforgettable experience.

In conclusion, golf has more expenses than sports such as football or rugby due to the additional equipment you may require. However, take it from me, everything is what you make of it, golf does not have to be luxurious and it can be somewhat affordable.

This article was written by Taariq Soud, Strathmore Law School, #ClassOf2022. 

What’s your story? We’d like to hear it. Contact us via communications@strathmore.edu