Steve,

Your are definitely not alone! I am nuts about Golf and #MyTitleist ! In the office, I'm golf brain connecting with #TeamTitleist Members online, then home to watch Golf Channel to even falling asleep to it. I am constantly gripping a club, swinging one, waggling it or even making yardage books for courses to play that I haven't played. It is indeed extremely therapeutic! I even enjoy golfing by myself just walking and taking it all in.  Sometimes, I think I even have too much time on my hands that I am able to count the dimples on my Pro V, clean the clubs (even though they're already clean), or think of another paint fill color scheme for grooves on the woods and backs of my 695MBs.   I cannot get enough of Golf either and ridiculously addicted!  However, there are worst vices to have; if one considers Golf a vice.

Living in New England or colder climate states really makes it worse for us all. Be thankful we still have driving ranges we can hit balls in the Winter.

Cheers!

You're so not alone.  I'm hooked.  I've been playing for 24 years and the better my game gets or the better my swing feels, the more I want to play! 

whoa ! I can't say I've ever counted the dimples on a ball.  couldn't you just google that ;)

I've been looking a winter car ports to put in my backyard so I can still use my net over the winter.  my driving range  is covered and heated but I want to hit balls too often.  Now how do I convince my wife...

Whoa is spot on! Yes, I could of Googled it but that would take away time I spend with my golf equipment. 
To think of it, this is not an addiction. It is not our fault. I think it is ingrained in our DNA that we love golf passionately.

I wonder if there are any studies on DNA or brain cells regarding how golf makes a person feel and what is attached to this unquenchable thirst to hit a little white ball then proceeding to fetch it.  Maybe its animalistic. Maybe I can Google that.  :D

Wow.  I thought I was addicted, but you guys take it to another level.  There is nothing wrong with being addicted to golf and if I could, I probably would spend just as much time as you guys do.  Unfortunately (for my golf), with young kids at home, before and after practice sessions aren't going to happen.  But, as proven by my time here and over at the FJ community, I'm thinking about golf at least once or twice a day.  I say keep it up and enjoy yourself!

Family and work DO get in the way.  I've been playing since age 9, I had a golf scholarship and then after school rarely found the time to play. when my daughter was born I stopped altogether.  I tried to hit a few buckets each year and was surprised at how well I did  all things considered.  After 10 years I decided to start up again.  I think I'm trying to make up for lost time.  I wish I could get those years back.  I never realized just how much I missed golf. I'll never let that happen again.

I found some article information regarding Golf Addiction...

WSJ - The Science of Golf Addiction

"...social scientist B.F. Skinner discovered the power of intermittent reinforcement about 75 years ago... Brain-imaging research has shown that rewards distributed intermittently trigger significantly higher releases of pleasure-inducing dopamine than the same rewards distributed on a more predictable basis...happens with golf. Since most golfers hit only two or three really excellent shots per round, and they never know when those shots are coming -- maybe this time! -- the surge of pleasure when they do connect is, well, addictive. Those are the shots that keep us coming back...the drive for mastery and control..."

And something fun I found on oobgolf.com

You know your addicted to golf when...

you have played when it's 35 degrees out.

you take your own putter to play mini golf.

you can use MOI in a sentence.

all of your pants have a tees in the pockets.

your one hand is clearly more tan than the other.

you know your last 5 scores but not your mom's age.

you call in sick on the day your new clubs are to arrive.

you keep your clubs in your trunk at all times "just in case."

a perfectly manicured lawn gets you excited

you have club marks on a ceiling somewhere in your house.

when traveling you're more excited to see a golf course than unusual wildlife.

you're known to start swinging your shoulders and pivoting your hips in the middle of conversations

you have played through drenching rain to avoid slower groups.

you'll practice your swing with anything; a tv remote, a stick in the woods, a broom or your kids' toys.

you're on every golf retailers catalog mailing list (and actually read them all).

there is home video of your golf swing for the purpose of "analyzation.

when someone says its 56 degrees outside you start thinking about your sand wedge.

you have said "I am broke, "I never have any time," and "Do you want to go golfing tomorrow?" all in the same conversation.

you've ducked behind a tree when you realize your boss is on the course too.

you can identify the differences between bent, bermuda and poa anna grass. -

Golf is my stress reliever just like everyone else.  I can go out and have a bad day on the course and still be in better shape mentally than when I started the round!

I'm at the FJC and here at TT as often as I can be during the day.  I'm generally thinking about what clubs I can build next, or what I can tinker with next.  I'm anxiously awaiting the various manufacturers next releases.  Tournament golf?  Watch it all of the time!

I'm enjoying this thread immensely!  I'm glad I'm not alone here.  My addiction even made it's way into my wife's wedding vows...

Maybe Addiction just hard to accept.  I don't think any of us could actually stop golfing without some serious therapy or counseling.  personally, I'd be a basket case. Nature or Nurture?  Is it in our DNA ?  will they discover a Golf  gene ?  I almost didn't start this thread because I was unsure of seeming too dependent.   It didn't help that nobody responded for three days.  I can't tell you how happy I was to see cool breeze  appear in my in box.  I am surrounded by family and friends who accept me for who I am but will never fully understand the insatiable need for this crazy game .  It has taught me self discipline, ethics, emotional control,  humility, graciousness in defeat… It is at the core of who I am and how I live my life.  I am happy to be associated with the likes of all of you, the ones who feel the same.   Just when I thought I knew the depths of my own dependency, another response comes in with a story or situation that I find myself strangely  familiar with.

now where can I get a full size ball washer forepar?

I gave up golf for 10 yrs cause of the kids, and being so involved with them.  Now that I started back up again, I'm on two leagues plus my buddy and I are members of our public course, so we play nine every morning before work.. I have clubs in my office which clubs in my office that I swing every day as much as possible and a bucket of foam practise balls I hit in the backyard almost everynight. 

Addicted?  Hell Yea

Your not alone - I live/breath and eat golf as much as possible throughout the day even while working - to get a break from it all I read golf blogs, community boards and discussions, etc.

My office is covered with golf magazines, aids, pictures, etc.  I even have a full scale ball washer along with a massive amount of other golf "stuff" surrounding me - being from the burbs of cleveland you need that therapy when it is 20 below zero with 2 feet of snow and no chance of playing golf.

Golf is probably my only pressure point in life I spend money, time, etc. with except for my family (wife and 3 young kids) BUT my wife knows this and appreciates I focus on a couple key things than a ton of things.

I know a lot of people who claim to have no time to play golf but yet find time to go to bars, clubs, and other things that require time and energy - I choose to put it all into golf (outside of the family).

I was lucky enough last year to play my best golf and the most golf playing about 350 rounds of golf which is unheard of in Ohio!  ;)

I need to figure out how to work for Titleist so I can combine work and pleasure into 1 task!  ;)

Fifty four years of playing and still get excited about my next round,  think about it all the time, replaying the last round over and over.  Usually fall asleep thinking about it.

I've been playing for the last 20+ years but really started getting addicted the last few years..   I try to get out at least once a week and if i'm not playing, i'm either watching the Golf Channel or looking at Golf magazines.  Watching the Golf Channel does fire me up to wanna go out and hit some balls..  Or if i'm playing outside with my boys, i'll grab a club or two and hit around the yard.  I do have a net and love teaching my boys how to swing..  

Golf is the one hobby that i can truly enjoy and have fun with.  I've met some great people through golf and it's been an amazing experience..  Also, IMO golf is the most challenging sport...  There's no "repeat"..   

But with 2 beautiful boys and lovely wife, my addiction will have to wait....   Hopefully someday my boys will join me on the links and we'll all get addicted :). 

Cheers

Hahaha.   I'm so happy and relieved to have read this post.  I'll chip in with my 2 cents.

I woke from sleep (too much water) to relieve my self.  As I walked towards the bathroom, I saw my 8 iron standing against the wall.  Needless to say, I picked it up and began swinging.  Having just gotten out of bed, the swing didn't feel right.  I walked over to the living room, made some room and began swinging in earnest.  After a few minutes, it finally felt good and I went back to bed.  Lying in my bed, I thought "Damn! I forgot to pee!"

Cheers

Addiction??  If you consider the last thing I remember thinking about every night before nodding of to sleep is my swing then I'm addicted.  How about every evening when I get home from work I have to take my 2 Yorkees outside to play fetch with a tennis ball the size of a golf ball.  Their play time is not complete unless I pull a club out of the garage and hit a few so they can chase it. 

 I can only thank God for giving me a wife who understands the importance of Golf as therapy from all the tough things that go on in our lives.  She has struggled with health issues most of the last few years so often times I get the call late in the afternoon that I should go to the golf course rather than come home.  God was looking down on me when he brought her into my life.

I can say I come by it honestly though.  My father who is 78 plays twice a week in any weather.  He does draw the line when it gets below 40 degrees.  When my partners question whether or not they want to play due to the cold, I always remind them that if my father at 78 can play in the low forty's then what kind of wimps would we be if we don't as well?  Works every time!!

I'm not addicted. I'm not, I'm not, I'm not. I can quit whenever I want to, I swear...I just don't want to. EVER. 

If I ignore an addiction, it's not there, right?!?

...I may have a smidgen of a problem with wanting to hit golf balls during every waking moment...hmm...