50 Rounds

There’s something quite satisfying about reaching the 10th tee. You’ve already played nine holes. You’ve had a few good ones, probably a few you’d rather forget, and hopefully you’ve worked out what sort of round you’re going to have, but you’re only halfway there.

This week feels a little bit like that. Ten weeks of The Scorecard. Ten weeks of sitting down, putting thoughts into words and pressing send without ever really knowing who would be waiting on the other side. Next week, I’m going to step away from things for a few days. No newsletter. No chasing content. No worrying about what comes next. Just some family time, a bit of R&R and hopefully enough space to come back with a head full of new ideas.

Sometimes the best thing you can do when you're enjoying the game is put the clubs away for a while, then come back wanting to play and there’s been plenty to think about this week…

Welcome to Issue 10 of The Scorecard.

The Fairway

At some point this week, I realised I'd played my 50th round of golf since the start of March. Fifty. I'm not entirely sure when that happened. When I look back to March, I wasn't setting out to play 50 rounds of golf. I wasn't trying to build a golf community, write a weekly newsletter or create a whole little world around something I'd only really started taking seriously a few months earlier.

I certainly wasn't expecting golf to become quite as important as it has. It started with a book. 18 Hole Dads was my attempt to put into words something I'd been thinking about for a while: that dads need something too. Not another responsibility, not another thing to organise, something that gets us out of the house, gets us moving, gives us a reason to talk to people and, importantly, gives us something that we can enjoy with our kids.

I didn't really know where it would go. Then came the Facebook group, then Instagram, then TikTok, then The Scorecard and somewhere between posting things online and actually going out and playing golf, something rather unexpected happened. It became real.

I've met people through golf who I wouldn't have met otherwise. I've played rounds with people who were, not that long ago, complete strangers. I've had conversations on the first tee that have carried on long after the 18th green. I’ve reconnected with people I knew 30 years ago and I've realised that the social side of golf is just as important as the golf itself because, here's the thing, being a dad can be brilliant. It's probably the best thing I've ever done but it can also be very easy to disappear into it.

Work needs doing. The house needs sorting. Kids need lifts. Someone needs feeding. Someone has forgotten something. There's always another job, another commitment, another reason why you should probably be somewhere else and before you know it, you're spending all your time being there for everyone else and very little time actually being you.

I don't think the answer is to do less for your family. I think it's to find something that allows you to come back to them a little more like yourself. For me, that's increasingly been golf.

Fifty rounds means a lot of early mornings, a lot of alarms going off at 5:15, a lot of squeezing golf into gaps rather than waiting for a mythical free weekend to appear. It means playing when I probably could have stayed in bed, practising when there were other things I could have been doing and occasionally disappearing for four hours with the very simple excuse that I was going to hit a little white ball around some grass.

I've never regretted it. That's probably the biggest lesson of the last six months. We talk a lot about finding balance as dads. I'm not sure balance really exists in the way we imagine it. Some weeks work wins, some weeks family wins and some weeks golf wins.

Maybe the trick is making sure that you don't completely disappear from the equation. My golf hasn't exactly followed a straight line either. There have been 85s, 95s and scores into the 100s. Great holes followed immediately by holes I'd happily delete from the scorecard. There’s been days when the swing felt effortless and days when I wondered whether I'd ever held a golf club before but that's almost fitting because the last six months haven't been about becoming a better golfer.

They've been about becoming a slightly more complete version of myself. The handicap coming down is nice. Breaking 90 was a big deal, the 85 felt brilliant. However the moments I'll remember most aren't necessarily the scores.

They're the conversations, the laughs, the early morning rounds the people I've met the rounds with friends, the times I've played with my son the times I've introduced someone else to the game and the feeling of walking off the course knowing that, for four hours, I wasn't thinking about work, emails, responsibilities or what needed doing next. I was just there.

That's what I think I was missing and perhaps that's why the last six months have grown into something much bigger than I expected.

Next week, I'm taking a break. I'm putting the newsletter down, stepping away from the content and heading off for some proper family time. A bit of R&R. A chance to switch off and hopefully a chance to come back with a few new ideas because if there's one thing golf has taught me, it's that sometimes you need to step away from the ball, look at where you are, take a breath. Then decide where you're going next.

Fifty rounds down. Who knows where the next 50 will take me?

But I know I'll be enjoying the journey.

Three things 50 rounds of golf has taught me.

First: You don't need more time. You need to use the time you have.
Fifty rounds sounds like a lot when you say it out loud. I haven't had 50 days where I could simply disappear and play golf. Most of those rounds have been squeezed around work, family and everything else life throws at you. If you want to play more, stop waiting for the perfect four-hour window. Nine holes before work, a quick practice session or a round when you can fit one in all count.

Second: Play with people, not just against the course.
It's easy to become obsessed with your scorecard. Some of my best rounds haven't been my lowest scores. They've been the ones with the best conversations, the most laughs or the people I've met along the way. Golf can give you four hours with another human being without a phone, a meeting or a television in between. Don't waste all of it worrying about your handicap.

Third: Don't forget why you started.
It's very easy for something you enjoy to become another thing you have to improve. Track the scores. Work on the swing. Lower the handicap. Buy the new driver. Watch the videos. Practise the drills. All useful but every now and then, remember why you picked up a club in the first place. For me, it was never really about shooting 85. It was about getting out, having some fun, meeting people and finding something that was mine.

Make the time. Find your people. Remember why you play.

Another week where golf delivered a few reminders that the game isn't always about the score at the end. Sometimes it's about what the result means for what comes next.

PGA Tour — FedEx St. Jude Championship — Scottie Scheffler is back in the winner's circle, and he didn't exactly sneak over the line. He won by eight shots, finishing 17-under at TPC Southwind. It was his second win of the season and his 21st PGA Tour victory. More interestingly, it came after a 203-day wait since his previous win. Even the best golfer in the world can go through a spell where the results don't quite match the expectations.

US Amateur — Merion Golf Club — England's Jack Whaley became only the third Englishman to win the US Amateur, beating Jay Leng Jr 4&3 in the 36-hole final. The victory earns him exemptions into the 2027 Masters, US Open and Open Championship. There's another part of the story that I love. His dad, Andy, was carrying his bag. When the final was over, Whaley's first big celebration was an emotional hug with his caddie, his dad.

For a newsletter aimed at dads, that's a pretty special image. The biggest win of your life, and the person beside you helping you get there is your dad.

Sometimes the result is the story. Sometimes it's who you shared it with.

Front 9 Dads — Don't confuse being busy with being fulfilled.
There will always be another job to do, another email to answer and another reason why you can't take a couple of hours for yourself. Being busy is easy. Finding something that genuinely gives you energy is harder. You don't need to feel guilty about having something that is just yours. Sometimes coming back to the family happier and more present is the best reason to go in the first place.

Back 9 Dads — Nine holes still counts.
We often think if we can't play 18, there's no point. That's rubbish. Nine holes before work, half an hour at the range, a quick walk or a coffee with a mate. Whatever it is, don't let the perfect version of something stop you doing the smaller version. Something is nearly always better than nothing.

Clubhouse Dads — Find your people.
You don't necessarily need more friends. You might just need more opportunities to spend time with the people you already have, or to meet some new ones. Golf is pretty good at breaking down that barrier. Ask someone to play. Join a group. Say yes when someone invites you. Sit in the clubhouse for an extra ten minutes rather than rushing home. Sometimes the round is only half the reason you went.

The golf season might slow down, but the competition doesn't. Join the Golf Dads UK Fantasy Premier League Mini-League and enjoy a season of friendly rivalry, questionable captaincy decisions and plenty of banter with fellow golf dads.

🏆 Prizes for the overall Top 3
📅 A prize for the Manager of the Month every month

Whether you're a Fantasy Premier League veteran or picking a team for the first time, everyone has a chance. Create your team and use the code below to join the league.

If this week's issue resonated, the best thing you can do is forward it to one dad who'd get it. That's how this community grows.

The book that started this all, 18 Hole Dads, is available on Amazon

The conversation continues on the Facebook Group. Come and find us.

Regular content on Instagram and TikTok

See you on the fairway

Matt

18 Hole Dads

If you're a brand, venue, podcast or creator who thinks there's a natural fit with Golf Dads UK, I'd love to hear from you: [email protected]