I am saying YES to all the golf in 2025. 

2024 was a down year for me just from a volume standpoint. I went from 50 posted rounds in 2023 (with many more I couldn’t post) to 40 posted rounds in 2024 (and I can almost guarantee you that’s all the golf I played). I went from three tournaments played in 2023 to a big fat zero in 2024. I played 24 new courses in 2023 but only 11 in 2024. That part is not that bad, all things considered.

Both statistically and anecdotally, I said NO way more often in 2024 to enjoying golf. To focus more on other things in my personal and professional life, I dedicated less time to investing in the game that gives me so much joy, which ultimately meant investing less in myself. 

Less range sessions to spend a few extra hours with the kids. Less new courses to reduce my annual golf budget. This also meant I got away from my motto of “I always bring the sticks” when I travel. I didn’t bring my golf clubs to a single tournament in the fall of 2024. All just to cut down on what I spend on golf and the time I spend away.

The reality is, I can’t budget golf. I just have to enjoy it. It’s way too critical to my own health that it needs to be constantly present, fed, exposed. Golf is my therapist. Golf is my sanctuary. It is more spiritual than recreational. Golf is everything that is representative of my mental health journey. 

What I loved from the very beginning as a 12 year old was that it was just me out there, headphones in for hours trying to figure it out on the driving range. Not everything worked but I kept trying. And when I found something that stuck, there was pride in the fact that I could confidently say I put in the work.

Golf is a chance to wrestle with all the demons that present themselves in my actual life but in a safer, lower stakes environment. I feel anxiety on the first tee for a $10 game even though I did my putting drills and the warmup on the range went as planned. This is a very similar feeling for me when giving a presentation in front of coaches even though I’ve practiced it over and over in my hotel room the last three days. 

Self-doubt creeps in when a drive goes quickly left into the trees even though I hit the last four fairways in a row. I’ve felt the same when one critical email reaches my inbox even though I received numerous positive emails and texts just the day before. I’ve looked at a leaderboard where my name wasn’t where I expected it to be and felt like I wasn’t adequate, like I wasn’t good enough.

The only thing we are in control of is did we get as much out of the day as we could

You will have good breaks and bad breaks, both of which are out of your control. You will have days where your ball striking is excellent and short game is mediocre. Then the next time out it’s the reverse. 

You’ll have days where you shoot your worst score and you are searching for ways to move on to the next day. You’ll have days where you played near flawless but can’t get over the missed eight footer on 6 and errant drive on 14. And that’s the best part. 

You can’t be perfect. You never will be, quite frankly. The only thing we are in control of is did we get as much out of the day as we could, given the condition we were in when we showed up. The satisfaction is in the fact that you put one foot in front of the other, over and over, whether good shot or bad shot. For me, this revelation is what golf continues to teach time and time again.

So in 2025, I will leave nothing behind. I WILL ALWAYS BRING THE STICKS!

Local muni in town? Yes. Scuba Steve wants to take a trip up to the northeast for three days? Yes. The host course at the tournament I’m working that week? It would be disrespectful if I didn’t. USGA event I need lightning in a bottle to qualify for? Scared money don’t make no money. Because at the end of the day, we can’t be our best selves if we don’t invest. Not invest with our money, necessarily, but with the things that truly make us whole.

Marcus El is the General Manager of Scoreboard powered by Clippd