This morning, Peter and Nancy Toennies, and Maureen and i are packing up, soon hitting the road, departing from our golf Mecca of Park City, Utah. Tonight, we stop at Nellis Air Force Base, hopefully spending some time with our daughter Sarah, and tomorrow going home.

It has been a crazy week of golf on some incredibly beautiful and incredibly difficult (for this duffer) golf courses and highly enjoyable with great dining in Park City.

It was four rounds of golf in five days. This old man is a bit tired, but i love golf, just wishing to have a more respectable game. i will keep at it, even though my mediocre skills are dwindling further with age. Golf is the only game i can really still play (or desire to play). i also have found joy in the occasional good shot, walking or even riding in a cart along any course, and the fellowship of other golfers who put up with my professional level profanity on bad shots.

It is a beautiful game and can still be competitive because of the handicap system. And, it always has been a game where the player calls his or her own offenses, aka penalties. Unlike today’s football, basketball, and baseball, golf frowns upon cheaters — The origin of “If you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying” is ambiguous as many sports claim it. i thought it came from a Southeastern Conference or NFL football coach in the 1960’s but no longer recall the actual coach. A search for the origin was confusing.

i’m not saying some golfers don’t cheat. They are out there. i don’t understand how they can live with themselves if they are sandbaggers, or cheat outright on the course. i think nearly all golfers despise such folks.

However, golf at the professional level is losing my interest. It, like the other sports, is driven, not by competition but by money, big money. This week, the FEDEX cup is attracting golf fans like flies in a box car full of garbage. Why? Money. It’s contrived.

When the FEDEX cup began its contrived money chase, the leader begins the final four-day tournament with a negative score because he is the leader in the “cup standings.” Max Homa shot a 62 yesterday but still trails the leader Scottie Scheffler by ten strokes because Scheffler began the tournament ten under par. Contrived. Yep.

Now, Tiger Woods and Roy McIlroy are creating games and the PGA is adding money to the biggest winners. Why? Money. Big Money. And they are trying to put down the “LIV” tour, created by Greg Norman and Saudi Arabia, which was contrived for what? Money. Lots and lots of Big Money. All contrived. The best golfers in the world are greedy. Poor folks can’t get a job, can’t put decent food on the table. We’ve got homeless problems. And these guys rolling in dough, more than i can imagine, and much more than i would ever want. are pissing and moaning about not getting enough. Money.

i whine constantly about athletic skill and competition going down the toilet because of all of the contrivances by media, coaches, colleges, pro organizations selling out for money, more money. Golf has had lots of money and now the elite golfers and those associated with golf have joined the tribe. College, high school, even Little League are all driven by someone making money, not by athletic contests.

Think i’ll go watch a sandlot baseball game or a touch football game on open fields. Oh, i forgot. We don’t play those anymore. And open fields are pretty much gone.

Yeh, i’ll still watch golf , baseball, football, and other sports. After all, i have been involved with sports all my life. But i won’t watch as much. Think i’ll go play a round of golf when i get home, with friends.