We all like to play great golf courses, bomb drives, and drain putts, but you need to take a golf trip for reasons that have nothing to do with how you play.

Sure, everyone wants to post a good score and not doing so can be maddening, but if the level of your play determines the amount of fun you have, you are taking a golf trip for the wrong reasons.

Priorities change with age but whether you are 24 or 64, here are the reasons 2020 will be a better with a golf trip on the calendar:

— The older we get, the smaller our world tends to become. While you may know more people, as you age, work, family and the responsibilities of life often conspire to mean relationships are more superficial. A golf trip provides the opportunity to reconnect with old friends and potentially make new ones, creating memories you can fondly recall for years to come.

— A golf trip is a chance to relax and disconnect from the stress of daily life. Leave the phone in the golf bag and don’t check the email. Eighteen holes, particularly on vacation when an out-of-office message lets people know you won’t immediately be in touch, are a refuge from the technology that controls much of our day.

— Not to go all zen, but a golf trip is good for your mental health, even if a case of the shanks makes it seem otherwise. It’s a break from the daily routine, whatever that might be, providing a needed opportunity to step out of the boxes we all tend to create for ourselves.

— How often do you get 96 consecutive hours to have fun? That’s not to say there is no fun to have as an adult, but a golf trip is chance to do something for yourself. You’ve got 3-4 days (maybe more!) to do as you please – on and off the course – so take advantage of the opportunity and enjoy it.

— Last, but certainly not least, planning and/or anticipating a trip turns a four-day event into months of periodic enjoyment. So start planning now.