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AS a famous manager once said of Liverpool football: "It's not a matter of life and death; it's more important than that."
Similarly with golf in Florida: it's more than just a scene in life's tapestry; it's a religion, a daily communion with nature.
And to some it's more important even than that. It's a plank in the State's economy.
With 1,300 courses, at last count, Florida is Golf State USA. Per capita, it has more resident golfers than any other state in America and attracts more visiting golfers than any destination you could name.
Thanks to almost constant sunshine and liberal supplies of water the state's greenkeepers enjoy idyllic conditions in which to pursue their calling. They joke that if they leave a chair out overnight it will take root.
Just about anything will grow in Florida, the citrus fruit capital of America, so building golf courses is a snip. Hence the continuing boom that began in the 1950s.
The consequence is that several million golfing holiday-makers visit the state each year, all contributing to an economy that has created such an enviable life-style.
And with such strong competition for business, standards of presentation and service are unsurpassed.
Florida has dozens of long-established golfing destinations and now there's a new name to add to the list: Daytona Beach, a well-endowed and hip resort city 50 miles north east of Orlando Airport, has just teed up in the big league.
Long famous as the Auto Racing Capital of the World, Daytona has a 23 mile long beach where the early world land speed records were set -- Sir Malcolm Campbell's original Bluebird is in the museum of the Daytona International Speedway, the vast autodrome that is home to the famed Daytona 500.
Now, though, the region is becoming equally famous as a golfing destination, thanks to a rapidly increasing number of courses and a ribbon of beachside hotels -- there are 400, with a total of 16,000 beds.
For many years there were only half a dozen or so golf courses but that all began to change in the 1980s. Now there are 30-plus, with three under construction and more being built each year, most only a short drive from virtually any hotel along the ocean-side strip that's a cross between Myrtle Beach and the Costa del Sol.
What's more the green fees, like the hotel rates, are extremely good value. Hereabouts less than $40 per round is average in peak season, and that will include a shared cart. Some are considerably cheaper in the low season, June to October. Play after 2pm at most clubs in the Daytona region and it's half price, including a cart.
So if you've a mind you could play 36 holes for under $60 on courses of international standard.
Even better value is available via Golf Daytona Beach, a branch of the city's visitors' bureau, which promotes local golf through 22 hotels, inns and motels, all but two of which are beach-side.
All offer total packages including pre-booked tee times, reduced fees and in some instances free golf between June 1 and early October, when there's a charge only for the obligatory shared golf cart, payable to the club.
The 13 courses in the programme include several of the region's finest but all are good, some the equal of most I know. Several are commercially owned and classified as public -- in effect pay-and-play -- and others are semi-private but accept tee time reservations through Golf Daytona Beach client hotels.
You may have read of one of them. The LPGA International Golf Club is the headquarters of the USLPGA and the venue each May of the $1.5 million Sprint Titleholders' Championship, now one of the major events on the women's Tour.
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