The author stresses that the game of golf like many other adult games has many unconscious meanings, and that the latent meanings are specific for a given individual and can be helpful in furthering progress in analysis. Furthermore, by means of the game itself the individual is working through his intrapsychic conflicts. Comparison with children's play is made, but emphasis is placed on the more sophisticated defenses elaborated in the adult games based on the employment of more mature, adaptive ego functions.

It is suggested that theories pertaining to the function of play such as mastery of the environment, mastery of painful experiences, and pleasure gained should include play activities throughout the life of the individual and not simply limited to childhood. As a result of analyzing the golf games of patients considerable light was shed on their unconscious conflicts as well as resistances in analysis.