I have become addicted to golf – there you have it, I’ve finally said it. I am not sure when or how it happened, but I find myself practicing my swing while standing in grocery lines. I have a putting gadget in my office where many a competition is now held, and I find metaphors in my every day life that apply to golf, and vice versa. I suppose there are worse things…
Of course, I recall (as Julie won’t let me forget) a time about 10 years ago when I was less sanguine about the notion of chasing a little white ball down a long patch of green grass for four hours. Julie was driving me into NAS Miramar for one of my routine early morning flight briefs; I can’t recall now why she was driving me, perhaps we had been at the Officer’s Club late the previous night, or more likely my Jeep was broken again. Anyhow, we went in the West Gate which brought you along the golf course, the 5th or 6th hole I believe. Anyhow, it is around 6.30am (late for flight briefs, but early for golf!) and there are four older gentlemen (ancient, in fact) who would hustle along whack at their ball, then move along briskly again, and repeat…
I watched them for the few moments that we were passing alongside, and I shook my head in tired bewilderment and said to Julie or myself, not sure at this point, “I may have lots of bad habits and vices, but golf will never be one of them”. Well, fast forward to today and on any much too in-frequent morning that I am fortunate enough to be able to get up early to go play, I am reminded of this prognosticational error.
I have come to truly love all that golf represents; the beauty and creativity of course design; the fact that it is a sport where honesty and self-governance are not only accepted, but expected; that any two people can play against one another and have a competitive match no matter the difference in skill level; and that there is a tradition and respect for history that transcend any modern day fads or contemporary pressures.
Golf is also a game that you can play your entire life, quite unlike the sports of my youth like wrestling, soccer and football. I only wish I had taken the game up earlier but I rationalize that I would be missing the joy of discovering it in my mid-years and the camaraderie that comes with a group of guys out for a round of golf and the natural sophomoric behaviour that it entails.
Now to be sure, golf has its detractors; it is expensive and can be time consuming. Country clubs further the economic stratification we struggle with in America. And then there are the whispering commentators on TV with their endless diatribes about how fast the greens are at Augusta, or how badly a player must have hit the ball to leave it 12 feet above the hole.
But all in, I have come to believe that golf is truly a transcendental pursuit where some time spent on the range, course or in the pub after a round (regardless of the score) makes one a better person. Check out my suggested readings while I head off to the driving range hoping that I won’t get struck by lighting as I work on my slice.
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