"A lot of my buddies also played golf, but when it came to going to the beach or on the boat and chasing girls, they usually went that way and I went to the golf course"
About this Quote
Weir frames the origin story every pro athlete is supposed to have, then undercuts it with something more awkward and revealing: discipline as a kind of social refusal. The setup is pure adolescence - buddies, beach, boat, chasing girls - a buffet of easy status. His punchline is the split-screen choice: they go toward pleasure and belonging; he goes toward solitude and repetition. It lands because it doesnt pretend the golf course was more fun. It was a different bet.
The intent is quietly justificatory. Weir isnt just explaining how he got good; hes defending a personality trait that can look, in the moment, like missing out. Golf, especially in the pre-social-media 80s and 90s, is an antispectacle grind: range sessions, lonely rounds, incremental gains you cant flex at a party. By placing it against the classic teenage pursuits, Weir turns practice into a moral decision without preaching. He signals seriousness, but also a mild bewilderment at his own wiring.
The subtext is about masculine scripts. His friends chase girls; he chases control. In a culture that often equates young male success with conquest, Weir admits he opted for competence - for the one arena where results are measurable and rejection is impersonal. That choice reads less like saintliness than self-selection: a kid who found safety, identity, and maybe even affection in the quiet certainty of a scorecard.
Context matters: Weir became a national outlier, a Canadian who won the Masters. This line retrofits that improbability into a familiar logic: greatness is built on the afternoons you didnt spend being normal.
The intent is quietly justificatory. Weir isnt just explaining how he got good; hes defending a personality trait that can look, in the moment, like missing out. Golf, especially in the pre-social-media 80s and 90s, is an antispectacle grind: range sessions, lonely rounds, incremental gains you cant flex at a party. By placing it against the classic teenage pursuits, Weir turns practice into a moral decision without preaching. He signals seriousness, but also a mild bewilderment at his own wiring.
The subtext is about masculine scripts. His friends chase girls; he chases control. In a culture that often equates young male success with conquest, Weir admits he opted for competence - for the one arena where results are measurable and rejection is impersonal. That choice reads less like saintliness than self-selection: a kid who found safety, identity, and maybe even affection in the quiet certainty of a scorecard.
Context matters: Weir became a national outlier, a Canadian who won the Masters. This line retrofits that improbability into a familiar logic: greatness is built on the afternoons you didnt spend being normal.
Quote Details
| Topic | Sports |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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