Whilst isn’t exclusively business people who enjoy a leisurely game of golf, a lot of businesspeople visit the golf course much more often than the average person. Every time you visit the course you’ll always see groups of suited-up business people in the middle of a game, it also is commonly featured in films because it does happen so often. So if you’ve ever wondered why so many business people play golf then keep reading because we’ve found all the reasons golfing is good for business people.
One of the main reasons that you’ll always see business people on a golf course is because it presents some fantastic networking opportunities. To be successful in business you need to forge as many relationships and friendships as possible as it’s a very interpersonal industry.
Everyone has heard the saying ‘it’s not what you know, it’s who you know’ and the golf course is a great place to expand your circles and meet people who may be able to help you. As golf is a long game it gives you several hours of quality time to impress whoever you’re playing golf with whether it’s an interviewer for a new job or if you’re delivering a pitch to a potential investor, it’s a great environment and has a relaxed atmosphere so it’s no surprise that so many business deals are completed on the golf course. It’s also a good way to get some extra time with people, first impressions are important when forging a relationship but you can’t establish a relationship with one meeting and they’ll be more likely to say yes to playing a game of golf than they will a meeting in a formal setting. Once you’ve secured a game of golf then remember that you’ll be with the other players for hours and you’re there to enjoy yourselves and have a fun game of golf as well as to discuss business so don’t jump right in with the business talk, you’ll know when the time is right to bring it up. If you’re playing a game of golf with people that you’re trying to impress then you’ll want to make sure you’ve got the basics of the game down even if you aren’t great, I used to struggle but I vastly improved at golf with an indoor home golf simulator which I can’t recommend enough if you don’t have time to get to the course to practice.
Golf is one of the most challenging and frustrating sports to play, you can practice and practice and start to see some improvement but sometimes even though you don’t do anything differently you can have an awful day where everything goes wrong. As frustrating as this is at the time it builds character as you’ll be able to learn from the bad game and next time you perform poorly you’ll be in a better position to deal with it. This skill is transferrable to business as you’ll have a lot of unsuccessful meetings and you need to know how to pick yourself back up after a bad one and keep going.
Many business people spend hours a day every day sat at a desk looking at a computer. This isn’t good for their health to be sat down all day, a golf course however has to be big and a game of golf on average involves 4 miles of walking. Even a weekly game of golf for a business person can massively add to improving their health. It also has a great impact on mental health as well as physical health, the fresh air, the social interaction, and the nice surroundings are shown to improve mood which many business people need after a 60 hour week A business person has a very stressful job and playing golf is also linked to lowering stress levels and can even boost confidence which is an important quality in a business person. The health benefits of golf are so good that a study showed that golfers live 5 years longer than non-golfers because of these benefits.