March, 2023
Well, it’s been a long time since I posted anything here on “Thoughts on Golf ((and Life)”
From time to time it occurs to me how much life and golf have in common. So…here’s a thought springing from a true life experience.
I’m sure no one else has had this experience…that’s a joke. And, I have to admit this isn’t the first time it’s happened to me, and I know I’m not unique in any way. So here’s a quick reminder.
I don’t have many golf days I would classify as a really great round. But then I don’t have many that I could honestly call horrible. Not many…but they do come. Had one a couple of days ago.
Started off not too bad, then quickly got worse…then worse…then, Ok, I’ll go ahead and say it…terrible. Couldn’t figure anything out. Nothing I tried worked. Anger, followed by frustration, followed by despair, followed by, “What the heck. Who cares? I’m over it.” (On the last hole I pulled my drive into the river. While looking down I noticed there were a whole bunch of balls along the bank of the river. Well, I had given up on the round a long time ago, so I figured I might as well salvage something so I climbed down to the river and gathered a dozen or so. I also was reminded that I wasn’t the only one who had bad days. I found a Titleist Vokey wedge. Been there a while. No doubt someone else was having a bad day.)
Ok. So there’ll be another day. That day came. Not a bad start…bogey, birdie…oops, double bogey. That started the slide…down into the abyss of total loss of any idea of how to even set up…much less swing the club.
My cart partner tried to help. But you know how that is. “You’re doing…(you fill in the blank).” He was right, but how do I stop doing it? (There’s always a good solution when you’re doing something wrong…in life and in golf. Stop it!!)
Well, that went on for several holes. Then it occurred to me…a thought which had been given me by a very good player a couple of years ago: (We once played together when I shot one under…and got beat by 11 strokes. Yes, he shot 60. Ron Disney Jr.) What he told me was,”Go back to the basics.” Then he had reminded me of those basics. Somehow I had gotten away from the basics and wandered into the wilderness of experiment, try something different, and do what feels best at the moment. Well, that might suffice for a few shots, but eventually it fails.
So, I returned to what he had shown me and played the remaining 6 holes 1 under.
Ok. So here’s the application to life. Basically most people know what is right and wrong. But sometimes we wander. Try something different. Do your “own thing.” And, for a while, it might seem ok, but eventually it catches up with you and things start to fall apart…or at least the results aren’t that gratifying anymore.
It’s a good time to get back to the basics of a good life. Honesty, regard for others, unselfishness, humility, morality, traditional family values, and belief in God.

(December, 2021)
Thoughts about Christmas
Christmas, the holiday, involves different circumstances for different people. For some it’s a time of family…getting together for a meal, opening presents. Maybe it brings nostalgic memories of Christmas times gone by.
What’s your most memorable Christmas? I think mine may be traveling to my parents with the presents tied to the luggage rack , the kids asleep in the back of a little red Opel station wagon. 10:00 at night going through a small mountain town in New Mexico, nearly out of gas, nothing open. (Obviously I miscalculated.) So I drove down several streets, well, there wasn’t but two or three in the town…hoping to find a light on to see if there was any place to get gas. Finally. A light. Went and explained my dilemma. Just so happened the man had a 5 gallon can of gas on his truck. Just what I needed to get my family to Grandma’s house for Christmas.
Well, truthfully, I don’t see any real relationship of that story and golf. I don’t know of any Christmas present that’s going to “fix” my golf game. But…at that time, just at the right time, someone had just what I needed to get me where I wanted to go.
The real meaning and purpose of Christmas is like that. God has provided just what we need to get us where we need to go. A Savior, Christ, the Lord.

(August 2020)
Overcoming a Bad Ball Striking Day
Sometimes after a round of golf, my wife, when she gets her nerve up, will ask me, “How did it go today?” The getting her nerve up part is because I’m not always the most pleasant person after a bad round…and those are coming more and more often. (So usually she doesn’t ask…wise woman.)

Because of the increase of poor rounds, (Obviously that means there’s a decrease in good rounds.) I’ve tried to become more philosophical about them. For instance, “What did I learn today that will help me do better in the future?” (“I learned that I’m getting old” or “I’m just not very good anymore,” are not acceptable options.) For example, maybe I should use a different club for that chip shot…or, maybe lay farther back on that “layup” hole. (One of my playing partners says, “If you’re going to lay up, lay up.” In other words, don’t see how close you can get to the hazard. Good advice in a lot of ways. Like the “Flee temptation” admonition from the Bible.)

But lately, I’ve had a couple of rounds where I was not hitting the ball well at all. I mean, like, maybe three well-hit shots all round. tops, chunks, short on approach shots (interestingly, seldom long…hmmm) driver out of control. If you’re a golfer, you know those days. But interestingly, I still managed to have decent scores.

What I am learning is that, with the right attitude and approach, I can still salvage something out of the round, despite the poor circumstances in which I find myself. (There are good breaks and bad breaks, but usually I’m the cause of the situation.)

A recent round exemplifies the point. I’ve been in a slump of late, struggling with the swing. Can’t hit the ball solid, etc. Frustration. Self-chastisement. Anyway, the first nine was bad. No, not a couple of bad holes. All bad, but managed to get a few pars. Second nine. Eight pars and one birdie…one under. Not a great score over-all, but at least not a total disaster.

“So”, you surmise, “your swing came back.” No, it didn’t. I still couldn’t hit the ball well. Same thing basically. Hit it thin. Hit it fat. Push the drive. I literally hit only one shot well during that second nine. So, what was the difference? Well, in result, a chunked shot was no different than a shot that I had hit well, but misclubbed and come up short. A thinned shot that rolled over the green actually was no different in situation than if I had “flushed” one and hit a beautiful baby draw that flew over the green. I just managed to deal with what I had to work with.

That is also a life lesson. We are going to have those situations in life which are not what we would desire. Sometimes it is because of something out of our control, but often, it’s of our own doing. There are rare times in my golf when I get a bad break, but most often, I caused the situation by bad execution or a bad decision. In either circumstance, the way in which I handle the challenge may determine the “score”. Jesus told his disciples that in this world there will be tribulations. (John 16:33) We certainly know that is true (in golf and in life).

In the Bible, Romans 5:3-4, we are told, “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And even, “…when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. (James 1:2-4)

To put it in golf terms, we will never be a complete golfer until we learn to deal with adversity in a positive way. So, in golf or in life, trials can be a benefit because of what it may produce if we use it to help us grow in ability to overcome and grow in character.

(January, 2020)
Really? 2020? We’re supposed to be flying around in personal space vehicles, robots doing all the work, and communicating by mental telepathy. Well, we’re close, what with cars that nearly drive themselves, phones that have access to every place and know exactly where we are and can direct us to our destination. And what about golf clubs that continue to be longer and more accurate every year? …Actually, I got to thinking about that. If it really is true that each new driver will give me 6 more yards, I should be hitting the ball over 400 yards. Nope. Either it’s a lie or I’m getting weaker at a greater pace than the drivers are getting longer. (I could have said “older”, but I try to avoid four letter words, like “old.”…oops, that’s only three letters. Ok, put it in old English…”olde”)
But speaking of old. Lots of us are realizing that we have more behind us than we do in front of us, at least in this life.  So, if you’re like me, thoughts sometimes turn to, “What am I going to do with the rest of my life?” My most recent round of golf kind of illustrated how I’d like to finish. The first 16 holes were not bad, not great…a couple of birdies,  a sprinkling of pars…a few “mess-ups”. But then came the last two holes. Maybe more concentration, determination…don’t know for sure. But I birdied those last two holes.
That’s how I’d like to finish life. Strong…leave with a good feeling.

(September)
Do we all get in “slumps”? Seems to go with sports. Well, I’ve been in one…OK, can you really call it a “slump” if it lasts 2 months? (Or maybe it’s 6.) I begin to understand those athletes or celebrities who get into trouble and then proclaim, “That’s not who I am.”
I’d like to believe that the way I’ve been playing golf is not true to my ability.
I have well-meaning golf friends who, trying to be encouraging, say nice things. “You’re better than that.” “It’ll come back.” “It happens to all of us.” Even my wife, bless her heart, says nice things. “You’ve been there before. It will pass.”
But does it really “happen” to us? Like it’s something outside of us that possesses us and causes all the hooks, slices, missed putts? “It’s not really me. (Well, if not me, who is it? Nobody else is swinging that club.) I’m better than that.” Like the guy who says, “One of these days I’m going to play my normal game.”
My honest reply to my benevolent friends is this: The score tells the story. It’s the revealer of the true measure of my golfing ability…as hard as that is to admit.

Now, here’s the life application. Our actions reveal our character. How we conduct ourselves, how we treat people, our moral standards, tell the story…who we really are.

(February)
Wow! I’m either getting more sensible or more of a wimp. The weather has become a deterrent to my playing. I used to make fun of friends who wouldn’t play if it was too cold, or too hot, or likely to rain. Well, I’ve become one of those. There was a time when I considered bad weather an advantage to me, because I felt like it didn’t bother me as much as it did others. (The less dedicated, wimps, etc…those other guys) So, what does that make me now? Some would say wimpy, chicken-hearted, sissy…I’m opting for wiser. 
Whatever the case…I do notice some differences in my game when I don’t play much. I’ve always told my wife, “To play good, you have to play often.” I’m sticking to that adage.
The most obvious difference in my game when I haven’t played much is the short game. It’s pretty bad…chunked approach shots…”chilly-dipped” chips…missed puts.(Not that it was ever great) You know what I’m talking about…those shots that require “touch” and precision, and concentration…those most elusive of delicate elements. Those are the seemingly little things that can make such a difference in your score. Yet, for most of us, they are the parts of the game that we practice the least. Go figure.
Ok, here’s the application I see. Life’s like that. Most of us get the big stuff right…well, at least acceptable. It’s the little stuff in life that we let slide…the small details that seem to get ignored…things like a kind word, a smile to someone who is down. How about a little encouragement when you know someone is hurting? How about even taking the time to notice? And what about the family…a little attention to a good wife who puts up with our stupidity and grumpiness over, what…? a bad round of golf? Really?
Those things take, guess what…concentration, attention, intentional practice. My opinion is that they are as important to a fulfilling and successful life as a good short game is to a good round of golf. And, believe it or not, it could make a difference in someone else’s day…maybe even in their life.

(December)
Can you believe it? December already. Slipped up on me. We’ve missed a few days of golf because of weather…rain, cold. Doesn’t seem right. Just a few days (or is it weeks?) ago we were enjoying sunshine and pleasant days. For my part, I’ve been so busy lately with a move to a new house that I’ve lost track of time, not to mention being tired, stressed, having back aches, and really not wanting to brave the cold for a round of golf. And, in the press of all this, I’ve nearly forgotten that it is nearing Christmas. That’s how life is if we’re not careful. The pressures of living crowd in and cause us to forget those things that are really important. (Yeah, I know. We fret over our golf games because golf is life and death…really?)
But since December is here, and it’s the Christmas season, I think my golf game is going to have to take a back seat for a while. Oh, I’ll probably play a little, but I’m reminded that there are other things more important. I’ll try to fit it in instead of adjusting everything else to accommodate my golf schedule.
Probably be a good idea if that was my “life plan” as well. Christmas is a time for celebration of the birth of the Christ, but it’s a bad idea to limit my relationship to him to one month a year…sort of fit him in for a season.

(October)
Yesterday I played in the season ending tournament at Three Ridges. I really wanted to play good, and actually felt pretty confident. Well, you know golf. Always something. Hardly ever have one of those “GIT” (Got it together.) days. Seems there is always one (or more) facet of the game that isn’t functioning well. This time it was putting. Not the mechanics…stroke was fine…reading the line was good. Just couldn’t get the ball to the hole. At first I blamed it on the speed of the greens. (There’s always some excuse, right?)
But later I realized what the real problem was. I was afraid to hit the ball. My stroke had no confidence. I was playing scared. How many times have I said, “You can’t play scared”? Yet here I was, doing just that. What was I afraid of? Making a mistake. Going too far and leaving myself a long comebacker? Whatever it was, the anxiety cost me several strokes.
As I often say, “Golf is a lot like life.” You can’t play golf scared. Well, you can’t live life scared either. Proverbs 12:25 says, “A person’s anxiety weighs down his heart, but an appropriate word is encouraging.” God’s word, the Bible, gives us perfect instructions for life and also encourages us to live life without fear. We have the promises of God that those whose life is grounded in faith in Him through Christ, can trust Him to lead us and give us abundant life…even life everlasting.

(September)
Golf is a lot like life, in many ways…sometimes pleasurable, sometimes miserable, often frustrating. I guess there are some who actually play just for the fun of being with friends, or enjoying being outside. But most of the golfers I know want to improve, to get better. We try everything…changing our stance, our grip…and of course, the tried (but not true) solution of buying new clubs. Then comes the really desperate, last resort…practice. We decide to buy into the old adage, “Practice makes perfect.” So we beat balls. Problem is…the proclaimed solution doesn’t work. Why? Well, we don’t get the whole idea. We missed the point. Just repeating the same old flawed swing only solidifies the errors we’re making. The problem isn’t solved by the number of balls we hit, but rather by executing the correct swing repeatedly until it becomes natural.
There’s where golf can teach us some lessons about life. To live life successfully, we must practice the right “swing.” Just repeating the same old mistakes gets us the same old results. For most golfers, the correct swing has to be learned. It doesn’t come naturally. Same for life. We need direction, instruction, and often correction.
A suggestion: Jesus, the Christ, never swung a golf club, but he sure dealt with the challenges and struggles of living (and dying).  He is an example of the perfect life “swing”, and the Word of God, the Bible, gives great instructions on how to live.