Post by RebelXD on Feb 21, 2004 0:54:46 GMT -5
Golf: A Life Changing Experience
I played my first game of golf during the summer between 8th and 9th grades. It was an experience that changed my perspective on what constitutes a difficult game. I was playing the Municipal Golf Course in Michigan City with my uncle. It had started earlier that summer with my strange desire to play golf. Since no one in my immediate family was a golfer or had any ambition to become one, I had to rely on my uncle to show me the game.
I approached the first tee with an air of confidence. I had seen golf on TV. All you had to do was swing those clubs, hit the ball and it flies through the air. How hard could it possibly be? I soon found out how hard it could be. Someone once said that there never has been a game like golf, in which the tools for use are so ill suited to the task at hand. Mark Twain once said, “golf is a good walk ruined”. How right these people are. As I stepped up to the first tee, I had no fear. I was going to attack this game. I would be the greatest player that this game had ever seen. I put the ball on the tee. I was in full view of the people around the first tee and the people at the clubhouse. They were about to be amazed. I took the driver from my bag. I reached back with the club, trying to gather every ounce of power in my frame. I took a massive, huge swing. I was about to crush that ball into oblivion. However, the ball had different plans. It trickled off the front of the tee-box and went about a total of 20 yards. As I stared in disbelief at this apparent breach in the laws of physics, my uncle informed me that I had “topped” the ball. By lifting my head when I swung, I had only nicked the top of the ball. As I proceeded to flail my way down the first hole, I realized that maybe this game wasn’t so easy as I thought. I finally finished my round of nine holes, ending up with a score that would have required a higher math to total. I figured out that golf was the most frustrating game known to humankind.
That was then. I would like to say that today, all of two years later, I make Tiger Woods look like an amateur. That, unfortunately, is not the case. I still struggle with my game, as do all golfers who aren’t blessed enough to be in the pro circuit. I can hit the ball on most occasions, and it does get up into the air. However, it has an inexplicable tendency to fly off in more ways than the compass has to offer. I hit one, splash, right into a lake. Next shot, bam, right off a tree branch. I like to think I’m getting better, and if my scores are any indication, I am. Usually, there is one shot during your round that is beautiful. Those amazing shots are the things that keep you going; that give you just enough hope and pleasure to keep you from giving up in disgust. However, more often than not you end up with bad or average shots. Golf is an amazing paradox of good and bad. It is also a game that requires constant work and struggle. Bob Hope says, “If you watch a game, it’s fun, if you play it, it’s recreation, if you work at it, it’s golf.” Yes, golf is the most maddeningly frustrating game in the world. I’ll be out there tomorrow.
I played my first game of golf during the summer between 8th and 9th grades. It was an experience that changed my perspective on what constitutes a difficult game. I was playing the Municipal Golf Course in Michigan City with my uncle. It had started earlier that summer with my strange desire to play golf. Since no one in my immediate family was a golfer or had any ambition to become one, I had to rely on my uncle to show me the game.
I approached the first tee with an air of confidence. I had seen golf on TV. All you had to do was swing those clubs, hit the ball and it flies through the air. How hard could it possibly be? I soon found out how hard it could be. Someone once said that there never has been a game like golf, in which the tools for use are so ill suited to the task at hand. Mark Twain once said, “golf is a good walk ruined”. How right these people are. As I stepped up to the first tee, I had no fear. I was going to attack this game. I would be the greatest player that this game had ever seen. I put the ball on the tee. I was in full view of the people around the first tee and the people at the clubhouse. They were about to be amazed. I took the driver from my bag. I reached back with the club, trying to gather every ounce of power in my frame. I took a massive, huge swing. I was about to crush that ball into oblivion. However, the ball had different plans. It trickled off the front of the tee-box and went about a total of 20 yards. As I stared in disbelief at this apparent breach in the laws of physics, my uncle informed me that I had “topped” the ball. By lifting my head when I swung, I had only nicked the top of the ball. As I proceeded to flail my way down the first hole, I realized that maybe this game wasn’t so easy as I thought. I finally finished my round of nine holes, ending up with a score that would have required a higher math to total. I figured out that golf was the most frustrating game known to humankind.
That was then. I would like to say that today, all of two years later, I make Tiger Woods look like an amateur. That, unfortunately, is not the case. I still struggle with my game, as do all golfers who aren’t blessed enough to be in the pro circuit. I can hit the ball on most occasions, and it does get up into the air. However, it has an inexplicable tendency to fly off in more ways than the compass has to offer. I hit one, splash, right into a lake. Next shot, bam, right off a tree branch. I like to think I’m getting better, and if my scores are any indication, I am. Usually, there is one shot during your round that is beautiful. Those amazing shots are the things that keep you going; that give you just enough hope and pleasure to keep you from giving up in disgust. However, more often than not you end up with bad or average shots. Golf is an amazing paradox of good and bad. It is also a game that requires constant work and struggle. Bob Hope says, “If you watch a game, it’s fun, if you play it, it’s recreation, if you work at it, it’s golf.” Yes, golf is the most maddeningly frustrating game in the world. I’ll be out there tomorrow.