Ipswich High School offers a variety of sports to its students during the school year. The athletes definitely have their choice when it comes to which sport they want to play. However there is no say in when we get to play these sports. It seems like a weird comment to make, but there is one sport offered at IHS that could potentially be more popular and successful at this school if it were played in a different season. 

Golf does not get much attention at our school perhaps because it is played in the fall and not the spring.  Golf lacks the excitement that is possessed by sports like basketball or football. Most people will likely tell you that the only thing they know about golf is that Tiger Woods plays it. That’s why usually the only people who watch it on television are true golf fans.

First of all, the PGA,  Professional Golfers Association, has four major tournaments. The Masters, US Open, The Open, and PGA Championship, all of which are played in the Spring and Summer. So wouldn’t it make sense for high schools to run this sport in the spring mirroring the professional tour and drawing interest to the sports popularity.

Next is that golf is a popular sport as a hobby for many people. It is relaxing and a great way to be active and not be too demanding of oneself. But since golf is played in the fall, it has to compete with football, and boys and girls soccer which are two very popular sports. It is unlikely that the people who play soccer or football and like to play golf would ever pick it over the other two sports.

However, that argument could also be used in the spring for sports like baseball or lacrosse. Golf is a great sport but would students quit other sports that they like to play it. The shortage of daylight can be a problem in the Fall especially once daylight savings kicks into affect in November. Golf courses typically aren’t lit up and you can’t play in the dark.

The main reason golf is played in the fall is for weather reasons. The golf season in the fall for Massachusetts comes at the tail end of the summer and early fall when the crazy weather in New England is still partially warm. If golf was changed to the spring, it would be heavily permitted by the weather. Winters like the one we just endured this past winter would prevent the season from starting on time in April. With that being said, of all the states that have golf in the spring, Ohio is the state that closest resembles our climate here in Massachusetts. The courses might not be in good condition to be played on if there is still snow on the ground.

For some opinions I asked senior Aidan Hammond, who was captain of the golf team at IHS and the #1 golfer on the team this past season for his thoughts. When I asked if golf would be more popular at IHS if it were a spring sport he said, “Yes definitely. In the fall, a lot of strong athletes who like golf play football and soccer. In the spring, other than lacrosse, there aren’t many other popular sports that would take kids from the golf program.”  Aidan also plays lacrosse at IHS, so I followed him up by asking if he would play golf over lacrosse and he said ,“As much as I love lacrosse and my team, I am a much better golfer and I couldn’t let my squad down like that.” Aidan also said, “The popularity of golf in schools all depends on the demographic of the town. Golf is generally an expensive sport to play so the more wealthy and private schools tend to have more kids in their program. Also, if a school doesn’t have a football team, more kids tend to play golf.”

Our schools best golfer thinks golf in the spring would benefit the sport more. Obviously his opinion can’t carry the weight to make that decision to change golf’s season of play. Maybe golf would benefit not just in the high schools, but also the professional tours as well if states that play golf in the fall switched to the spring. Golf is a beautiful sport that can be played by people of all ages and it is a great lifelong hobby to have.