Monday Morning Sermon
Good morning,
There is a quiet stillness to Monday mornings that we rarely stop to notice before the frenetic pace of the week sets in. Beneath the rush of schedules and obligations, the day offers a fresh surface, untouched, waiting for the first step.
In golf, the opening tee shot sets a tone, but it does not decide the round. The same is true of this morning. However you start, there is room to adjust, to settle, to find your rhythm.
This week, pay attention to small moments that ask for your presence. Whether it be a pause before speaking, the sound of wind in the trees or the weight of the club in your hands. Let these things slow you down, even briefly.
Teach the Kids to Play Golf
As I’ve gotten a bit older, my appreciation for learning the game at a young age has grown exponentially. While I’ve harped on the negative impact of the recent explosion of the game, it comes with a positive side as well: reverence for great players with proper etiquette. It’s impossible to hide your skill level in golf. Truly skilled and refined players will always rise above the rest, and it’s especially noticeable to anyone who has just picked up the game.
If you are a low single digit player and have played with your friends or coworkers who are new to the game, you will understand exactly what I’m talking about here. The awe in their eyes is child-like in nature when you hit an iron shot that actually gets airborne and within 20 feet of the flag.
Anyway, back to the topic at hand. Beyond learning how to swing a club and navigate a golf course, I learned concrete life skills on the golf course growing up, which I have listed below, in hopes that you will (or maybe you already have) teach your kids the game as my Dad taught me.
I learned that golf (and life) is simply not fair. I hit great shots that were punished and hit balls straight OB only to have it pop out into the fairway. There’s a great Bobby Jones quote that reflects this phenomenon: “Golf is the closest game to the game we call life. You get bad breaks from good shots; you get good breaks from bad shots – but you have to play the ball as it lies."
I learned how to handle adversity at a young age playing junior golf, where it is hard to separate the game from your burgeoning identity as a person. Adversity reveals itself in many forms at that age, from playing with kids who cheat to shooting high scores in important tournaments. Looking back, each tournament round and random pairing was a lesson and test.
Golf taught me how to act around adults, a skill that is underrated and overlooked by many. I was taught how to properly shake an adults hand, and carry a conversation with them as an 8 year old. From then on, I was never uncomfortable or nervous speaking with people 30+ years older.
I learned how to dress and act properly. I was lucky enough to grow up at country clubs where dressing nicely and behaving well were part of the deal. If I didn’t wear the proper clothes and didn’t behave, then I wasn’t allowed to play golf. It was as simple as that. Even if you’re teaching kids the game at public courses, I’d recommend instilling the importance of dressing properly on the course. It’s much easier to teach them these lessons at a young age.
A positive attitude trumps everything else. Golf is a game of imperfection, and it took me a long time to learn to properly handle mis-hits and poor shots. This skill and attitude took the longest to develop.
So my ask to you, the reader, is this:
Introduce your kids to the game at a young age. If done correctly, the game will serve them well throughout their entire life. I went through phases where I was into other team sports, but I always had the fundamentals of golf in my back pocket, so when I finally caught the golf “bug” I had a head start.
Golf will teach them that hard work = improvement (in the long term), and more importantly that improvement is not linear. It will teach them to think critically, to persevere, and to work hard in pursuit of a goal. It is the perfect game to replicate the ups and downs of life, and will serve them well in all that they do.
eBay Finds of the Week
Debated adding this section into the rotation, but I received some good feedback on the posts Make Putters Beautiful Again and How to Build a Starter Golf Club Set , so I figured I’d drop a few good finds I see each week. Happy hunting.
Love this 5 wood and this set of AP2s.
Rule Explanation
The rules of golf were updated in 2019 to change how accidental double hits are treated (usually when chipping). Under Rule 10.1a, a player must strike the ball fairly with the head of the club, making only momentary contact.
If the club accidentally strikes the ball more than once during a single stroke, it is counted as one stroke with no additional penalty. This replaced the old approach, where a double hit meant adding an extra penalty stroke to the player’s score.
The modern rule also preserves the spirit of the game by separating accidental mishaps from deliberate attempts to influence the ball’s movement, which remain a violation under the broader standards of fair play.
Sample Travel Itinerary - Central Florida
Thursday Night
Fly into: Orlando (MCO)
Friday – Streamsong Red (Streamsong, FL)
Coore & Crenshaw minimalist masterpiece.
Stay: On-site at Streamsong Lodge
Saturday – Streamsong Blue or Streamsong Black
Blue (Tom Doak) for strategy and shotmaking (I’ve played the Blue, and have been itching to go back and play the black)
Black (Gil Hanse) for bold visuals and big greens.
Sunday – Bay Hill Club & Lodge (Orlando)
Arnold Palmer’s home course, PGA Tour host. Play in the morning, then straight to MCO.
The Etiquette Ledger - Rules from the Past
From the 1913 Constitution of The Country Club, Brookline, MA:
"Members are prohibited from cutting across any putting green, except in the act of holing out, and under no circumstances shall a member play a shot while his shadow falls across the hole."
This was written at a time when greens were hand-mown with push mowers, and footprints could actually damage the delicate surface. The “shadow” rule was implemented to avoid distracting the player by casting shade directly over the cup, a courtesy still observed at elite clubs even if it’s no longer printed in the rules.
Talk soon,
BTG
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