VINTAGE RACING VERSUS GOLF

by André Gagné aka Alfa # 44

Have you ever noticed the similarity between Motorsport and Golf, just take a good look at the below pictures, don't they look alike?
To play golf you have to either be a club member or pay for your day.
Same with Motorsport, being a VARAC (Vintage Automobile Racing Association of Canada) member or go lapping.
For golf, you will need a convenient dressing, including golf shoes, socks and glove.
Racing shoes, socks and gloves are also mandatory for motor racing.
It will cost you between five to ten thousand dollars for a golf season in a private club.
Same with Motorsport.
The choice of a golf bag is the same as choosing your favourite race car. There are different models, colors and of course, prices.
The iron and clubs are like your different gear ratios (I'll explain later on).
To play golf you have the choice between a variety of golf courses, there are also different racetracks to choose from.

Now let's play the game!
Practice, practice, practice, the more time you spend on the course or racetrack, the more confident you become. Everybody knows that Tiger Woods hits balls every morning at 6 o'clock. I guess Lewis Hamilton drives his Formula One everyday too. By the way aren't these two world champions of golf and motorsport, the same color?
Then you need a good start to get ahead of the other participants. Look at the golf course like a racetrack, all the participants move in the same direction. Every hole is like a curve. You have to choose the right iron to approach the flag, same with your choice of gear approaching a curve. Even before you get to a curve, you have to think of your position for the next one, same as the golfer will place his ball as close to the perfect line for its next shot.
And if you didn't practice enough, you will hit the ball way, way to far in the woods.
You might just do the same in motorsport; way, way to fast in the grass.
When you play golf, you play all by yourself, you may have other players around you but your goal is not only to beat the other players but also to beat your own record. Don't you do the same on the track, winning is great, but gaining a few tenth's of a second on your fastest lap is cool to. And just like racers do before getting on the racetrack, golfers have a mental image of the fairway in their brain, all the little details on the grass, the hills, the sand trap and the green, just like reference point that you pick up on a track, shift point, turn-in point, apexes, track out point, patch of cement, etc…
One thing is sure, like golf you don't need to be in perfect shape, you just need experience, that's why the older guys are tough to beat. They have been playing the same course over, and over, they know the history of every tree on the field. You can be sure that all older racers know every crack in the pavement of the track.
You will say; Come on! Motorsport is way more dangerous than golf.
Well you would be surprise, just take a look at the hundreds of video on Youtube about golf accidents. Loss of teeth, kart accidents, head injuries, ricochets of the ball, even death by drowning… It also happens that a groundhog or a fox has been seen on a golf course. Same with motorsport, do you remember the beaver at the 2007 Montreal Grand Prix? Well, it wasn't a beaver, but close.

And to finish this story, losers are the same in both sport, it is always a question of the wind blowing to hard, the sun in your eyes, bad equipment or whatever tree or car that was in the wrong place. Also, do you know any other sports that hire a Marshal to tell you that you are to slow?

© VEA