Golf Retirement Quotes: What to Write in the Card, the Speech, or the Engraving

Whether you are signing a card, writing a toast, or having something engraved, the hard part is the same. You want words that say this person spent a career at something and now gets their time back, without sounding like a greetings card wrote them.

Below are the quotes that genuinely suit a retiring golfer, some short lines you are welcome to use as your own, and what to write around the quote once you have picked it.

Golf quotes about getting older and playing on

Plenty of famous golf quotes are about the game. Far fewer are about age, time, or what comes next, and those are the ones that land at a retirement. These are the eight worth using.

The older I get, the better I used to be.

Lee Trevino

The best of them all for this occasion. Self-deprecating, gets a laugh out loud in a room, and short enough to engrave on almost anything.

The older you get, the stronger the wind gets, and it's always in your face.

Jack Nicklaus

Every golfer over sixty recognises this immediately. It works as a joke and as a quiet acknowledgment that the game gets harder.

Don't play too much golf. Two rounds a day are plenty.

Harry Vardon

Written as advice, reads as permission. Perfect for someone who is about to have the time to test it.

Happiness is a long walk with a putter.

Greg Norman

The whole point of retiring, in seven words. Fits a decanter or a framed print without needing to be trimmed.

The most important shot in golf is the next one.

Ben Hogan

The strongest choice when you want the message to be about the next chapter rather than the one that just ended.

Success in golf depends less on strength of body than upon strength of mind and character.

Arnold Palmer

For a retiree being honoured for how they worked rather than what they hit. It also quietly says the years have not taken the thing that mattered.

The most rewarding things you do in life are often the ones that look like they cannot be done.

Arnold Palmer

Use this one when retirement is the start of something rather than the end of it. Good for a speech, too long for a ball marker.

Golf is the closest game to the game we call life. You get bad breaks from good shots, you get good breaks from bad shots, and you have to play the ball where it lies.

Bobby Jones

Far too long to engrave and close to perfect for a card or a toast. If you only read one of these aloud, read this one.

Short lines if you need something brief

These are ours rather than quotations, so use any of them however you like, with no attribution needed. They suit a card, a bag tag, a cake, a banner or an engraving.

What to write around the quote

A quote on its own is a decoration. What makes a retirement card worth keeping is the two or three sentences you put underneath it, and most people freeze at exactly that point.

Open with the quote, then get specific fast. Name the thing only you would know. The standing Thursday tee time, the shot on the twelfth everybody still brings up, the fact that they answered emails from the cart. Specific beats heartfelt every time.

Say what changes for them, not what changes for you. "We will miss you" is about the writer. "You are going to be unbearable at this now that you can play four times a week" is about them, and it is warmer for it.

End with an invitation rather than a farewell. Retirement is not a goodbye unless the card makes it one. Asking them to keep a spot in the group on Thursdays does more than any closing line.

Handwrite it, even badly. A printed card with a typed message reads as a formality. Three handwritten sentences under a printed quote reads as somebody bothering.

Using a quote in a speech or toast

Open with it, do not close with it. A quote at the end makes the ending about the quote. Used at the start it buys you a laugh or a beat of quiet, and then you can talk about the person, which is what everybody is actually there for.

Pick a short one to say out loud. Lee Trevino's line lands in a room. The Bobby Jones passage is beautiful on paper and long enough that a crowd drifts halfway through. Read the room, not the page.

Do not explain the joke. If you use Trevino's, say it and stop. The pause is the punchline.

Funny lines for the card

Golf humour circulates without attribution, and most of these have been credited to several different people over the years. They work fine in a card, where nobody is checking. Leave the names off if you are having one engraved.

If you are having it engraved

A card takes any length. An engraving does not, and this is where people come unstuck, having settled on a quote before finding out how little room there is.

If you are looking for something to put it on, these three cover the range from a short line to a full quote with attribution. Our golf retirement gifts collection has the rest.

A towel, tumbler or bag tag Room for 4 to 8 words From $24.99

A decanter or gift set Room for 6 to 12 words From $139.99

A display piece Room for a full quote plus the name of who said it From $274.99

Common questions

What is the best golf quote for someone retiring?

Lee Trevino's "the older I get, the better I used to be" if you want the room to laugh, and Ben Hogan's "the most important shot in golf is the next one" if you want the message to point forward. Both are short enough to engrave.

What do you write in a retirement card for a golfer?

Open with a quote, then two or three specific sentences only you could write. Name the standing tee time, the shot people still talk about, the habit everyone recognises. End by asking them to keep a spot in the group rather than saying goodbye.

How many words fit on an engraved golf gift?

Roughly four to eight words on a towel, tumbler or bag tag, and six to twelve on a decanter or gift set. A plaque or framed print is the only thing with room for a full quote and the name of who said it. Limits vary, so check before you order.

Should I put their years of service on it?

Yes, if there is room for a second line. A number turns a line that could be for anybody into one that is clearly for them, and it is the detail people point at years later.

What if the retiree is not really a golfer?

Then a golf quote is the wrong choice however good the line is. Our guide to gifts for golfers who have everything is written for the genuine article, and golf humour lands very differently on someone who plays twice a year.

Can I use these lines without crediting anyone?

The short lines in the second section are ours and you are welcome to them with no credit. The quotes attributed to named golfers belong to the people who said them, so use those as quotations rather than as your own wording.

Keep reading

22 Best Golf Retirement Gifts to Celebrate Their Next Chapter on the Course The gifts themselves, once you have settled on the words.

80 Unique Gifts for Golfers Who Have Everything For the retiree who already owns every club they need.

48 Best Golf Outing Prizes & Award Ideas If the send-off is a scramble rather than a dinner.