I view the world as one big classroom. Every person, place and situation is an opportunity to
learn an important life lesson. In my 80 years on this Earth, few classrooms have proven as
productive (or enjoyable) for learning as the golf course. As the calendar turns to March, my
mind turns to golf.
As I move into my 80s, I still participate in three sports on a regular basis. I golf and bike during
Indiana summers, and I hike the Pufferbelly Trail in the winter. Many of my life lessons come
from golf. For me, golf is a classroom with lots of teachers. It is an enlightening game. Like
life, golf is fun, exciting, frustrating, humbling, revealing, challenging, ego-based, competitive,
social, scary, and did I mention frustrating?
Former Indiana University basketball coach Lou Watson first introduced me to golf as a student
at IU in the sixties. I feel fortunate that I had him as my instructor rather than his successor, Bob
Knight. Chair throwing never made it as an Olympic sport, although I am sure there would have
been plenty of life lessons learned from Coach Knight as well. Mostly, I would have learned
what not to do.
I rarely played golf while in college and law school. Then, in my late twenties, I got the bug.
Golf has been my teacher ever since. Never an elite golfer, I have managed to lower my
handicap over the decades. A bout fifteen years ago I carried a single digit handicap (9) for
about a month, before the golf gods brought me back to reality. Today I usually shoot in the
eighties or nineties from the senior tees. Tiger has nothing to fear from me.
Golfers tend to seek their own level of competition. While living in Florida for twenty years, I
frequently played with a group of guys whose handicaps ranged from 6 to 18. We shared the
same classroom, and we learned from each other. We also drank beer from the same pitcher,
which is an entirely different classroom, but that’s a lesson for another time.
Much like life, golf is all about the process. When we shift our focus from the process to the
result, bad things tend to happen. When we begin thinking about our potential 18-hole score
during the middle of the round, all hell breaks loose. When we “count our chickens before
they’re hatched”, someone usually steps on the eggs.
The process of golf involves a combination of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual
exercises. Yogi once said that golf is 90% mental and the other half is physical. In my
experience, golf is 10% physical; 30% mental; 50% emotional; and 10% spiritual.
A successful golf experience begins long before the round is played. For me, it begins with
quieting my mind. Different people have different ways of achieving a peaceful state that is
conducive to effective golf. It can take the form of meditation, prayer, music, hypnosis, quiet
time, or some other technique that helps us to relax. If I can find that inner state of peace before I arrive at the golf course, I am well on my way to a good round of golf. The key is to slow down, quiet our mind, and BE PEACE.
My old friend Bud, the perennial club champ, had a saying about golf: “You can’t be too rich,
too thin, or too slow with your golf swing.” Some might argue that it might not be healthy to be
too thin or too rich, but few golfers would argue about the speed of the golf swing. The only
way to swing slowly on a consistent basis is to be in a peaceful state. For some reason,
adrenaline and anxiety speed up the swing. Likewise, any focus on the result of the swing will
tend to increase the speed. In golf, as in life, SPEED KILLS.
The physical component of the golf process should not be overlooked. It is important to be
physically fit and strong, and for most of us that requires regular exercise and a healthy life style.
It is also important to be physically flexible, which can be a challenge as we age. The best way I
know to maintain flexibility is to stretch on a daily basis, including prior to playing golf.
A mental checklist for the golf swing can be an important reminder of the elements of an
effective swing. However, too many swing thoughts can be a detriment to the process. As in
life, we often struggle to find the proper balance. For me, remembering 3 or 4 fundamentals can
help me to find that comfortable swing that feels “right”. And during the course of a round, it is
best not to go “brain dead” and make poor decisions. We need to be realistic about our
capabilities, and govern our game accordingly. Sometimes that means “not going for the pin”
when the prudent decision would be to layup—just as it may be in our daily lives.
In my opinion, the emotional aspect of the game of golf is the overwhelming factor in the
process. The state of our emotional health will largely determine how well we play, and how
much we learn from the experience. Golf is loaded with emotional lessons.
Golf can also be the connection to a spiritual experience—communing with nature, aware of the
beauty, in touch with the divine, connecting with our kindred spirits, trusting our instincts.
That’s enough life lessons for today. I will share additional lessons I have learned from golf as
we get closer to opening of the Indiana season.
