Why do I Play Golf?

I like golf, but at the best of times it is a frustrating game.  Perhaps that is why it endures, we humans need to be frustrated to achieve.  The idea of beating up a little white ball for four hours while you socialize with your partners seems to relax a lot of people. 

I seek those rare moments when, like Will Smith in Bagger Vance, you can see the future and make it so.  To calm your mind, relax your body and let the club be an extension of your will is really what keeps me coming back to this game.  I don’t schedule time for it, so much as make room in the weekend, when it seems a good thing to do.

Take today.  I got up at some ungodly hour because that is what time I get up.  I washed our cars, mowed our lawn, did my wash and decided to go play a round at the base I work at.  I didn’t have any expectations, there was no goal, and I didn’t have a partner I was meeting up with.  I just drove to the base, walked into the pro shop, paid my fees, and went out and played 18 holes by myself.

I didn’t warm up, or stretch or do the things you are supposed to do, I just stood up, took a deep breath and hit the ball.  It felt good, but I didn’t have a clue as to where it went until looking out at about 225 yards I saw it sitting in the middle of the fairway.  That is kind of how the rest of the round went.  I three putted three times, one putted twice and two putted the rest.  I shot the best round I have ever shot.  It was a nice day.