As I get older( but not wiser) my golfing ability is taking a severe beating. I can no longer hit it straight, leave alone long. I am developing the 'yips' and am missing and dreading two foot putts!. Just last week , in a tournament, I four-putted from ten odd feet, the last three of the four from inside of about four feet !!!This disgrace and shock has helped making me fall back on "thoughts" of /on golf and life. Maybe these will help you when you take a 'hit' in life or golf.
Having played for over half my life,I have learned that life and golf are so very similar in all aspects.
I shall try and list the almost frightening similarities.
(a) Like life , golf is a social game.And yet, it can and often does get played solo (one ball).
(b) In golf, unlike any other games, there are no "unforced" errors.You cant blame anybody else for your mistakes or supposed 'bad luck'. Like in golf, you can get get a' bad bounce' in life.But, more often than not, you will also get an undeserved 'good bounce'.
(c) As in golf , life also provides you with various 'tools/clubs' to get the job done.How you use/select them is totally up to you.
(d) Like in golf, initially in life you may get a second chance like a "Mulligan." Thereafter, no free lunches.
(e)Generally at the start (toss) of the game,you get a partner depending on your luck. Same in life and marriage--thereafter it is generally too late and pointless to crib!
(f) In golf after an undeserved/unexpected ' birdie',the next hole often is a guaranteed mess. Similarly in life, after any unexpected success,watch out! Pride is often followed by a fall .
(g) One of the best habits in life and in golf is to have a set "preshot routine." Being a 'hippie' and unorganised may look cool but is a disaster in life and golf, in the long run.
(h) As in golf, so in life, dont bet beyond your means or risk-appetite. In can ruin your game and life.
(i) Playing by the rules is the corner stone of golf and life.Golf rules are the fairest rules created by man . So are, or should be, the rules of life---simple and practical. Following them increases the joy and success in golf and life.
(j) Since there are no unforced errors in golf (and to a large extent )in life,take the rap and joy/benefit of a bad and a good shot with equal grace.
(k) In golf (a caddie), as in life, you have a partner(wife/ family/friends). Irrespective, you, not they, are alone answerable or blameworthy for any failures.Satisfaction of success , must however, be shared.
(l) Etiquette ,good manners and 'class' are the bench marks of life and golf. There is absolutely no place for" riff-raffs' or upstarts. Honesty, gentlemanliness and graciousness are the bottom line in these two.
(m) There is always the 19th hole, both in life and in golf. Use it !!!!!
(n) In golf ,' you drive for show, but putt for dough'.In life too, the unspectacular is more important than 'grand standing'
Happy Golfing..happy life
