There are no warnings from the Surgeon General that tell people to avoid golfing, and the game certainly seems to benefit everybody that plays to some degree.

Still, I can’t help but consider the game addicting.

How many times have you heard people swear that they were done with golf?

“It’s too frustrating,” some say.

“I’ll never get any better,” say others.

And of course, there is the occasional person who will utter vulgarities, mostly aimed at everything in sight except himself, shove his clubs into the trunk of his car and vow never to pick them up again except to throw them in the trash.

This week, I saw or heard of people who have told me those things more than once. Most of them were smiling or talked about having fun, and most had plans to play again.

Addiction isn’t always a bad thing, although in common American lexicon, it has become synonymous with the war on drugs, big tobacco and alcoholism. One definition of an addict is “an ardent supporter, a devotee” of something; of a sport, of a cause … of anything.

Here then, is a label for golfers:

WARNING: Golf can cause irritability, rushes to judgment and mood swings based solely on the quality of a particular round.

A colleague of mine recently went golfing three or four times over the course of two weeks. Disappointed with the way he was playing, he decided to stop for a while. The next morning, though, as if some alarm clock went off inside of his body, he trudged out to a local course. On the third hole, his ball came within a roll of dropping into the cup for a hole-in-one. All smiles, he will likely live and golf off that euphoria for the next week, thinking that the next time he plays that hole, he will hit the ball that much harder, just to get it to roll one more time.

I’ll get it next time.

Like a compulsive gambler in Las Vegas who always believes that the next yank on the slot machine will yield the jackpot, or that the next hand in poker will finally swing his way, golfers are hungry for that best round. They are hungry to beat their buddies, or they are hungry to win a tournament for the first time. Maybe they just want to shoot below 90 for the first time, and then it’s 85. And then it’s 80.

Golf is great that way, because there is always a target for improvement. Goal-setting is a great way to overcome a perceived deficiency in anything, and golf is no different. So, addiction to improvement can be a good thing.

I had a friend who I helped introduce to golf. Some of his first clubs were hand-me-down cutoffs from my first bag. His hand-eye coordination was better than mine in general, and soon he evolved into a better golfer.

Still is, probably.

The problem, though, was an insatiable desire to fight his burgeoning addiction to the game. If we would play a round and for nine holes he would shoot in the 50s (remember, we were age 11 and 12 at the time), the clubs, he swore, would be buried in the garage for the rest of the summer.

“I’m never playing again,” was his mantra.

But, the next day, the clubs were back in our parents’ trunks and on the way to the course.

A few years ago, after trying to qualify for a local tournament and just missing, he once again proclaimed he was done for a while. He wanted to concentrate on other things.

That lasted maybe a week. Last year, he was on the comeback trail again.

The series of highs and lows he experienced are classic signs of golf addiction, and what happens when the game starts to play games with you. My advice, let it happen. There are many things worse to be addicted to.

WARNING: Golf will cause irritability, rushes to judgment and mood swings based solely on the quality of a particular round if golfers are not willing to accept their addiction and give into their temptation to play again, thereby offering themselves a chance to redeem any poor showing.

Now, where did I put those clubs?

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