My initial view of golf! Please don't mind the language[1]
And, with that thought, I forgot about golf for almost half a decade. I reconnected with golf when I moved to the States; my house juxtaposed a golf course. Gradually, I began appreciating the sport. Golf was relaxing, and I began to learn the values of golf. I began to see the point of golf, and one must understand the game before realizing its purpose. In the words of George Bush, Honorary Chairman of The First Tee Foundation, “Golf is the sport of a lifetime, and it is a lesson in life,” and I have learned many life-lessons through golf.
[2]
The sport is unique as it has different expectations from its players. Football, for example, demands that players be perfect in all aspects of the game, but “Golf is Not a Game of Perfect” [3]. Golf requires patience and persistence like the itsy-bitsy spider. Golfers must be persistent in their efforts because golf is not an action sport like football. Rather, golf is a continual process similar to natural processes like the water cycle. The most important part of the process is to “begin with the end in mind” [4]. Golfers must visualize every aspect of their shot, and in doing so, golfers create every shot twice, once in their mind and then in actuality. This is a key part of golf; the ability to adapt your shot to the golf course. After all, golfers must play with the course, using the usurpations of the hills and the wind, as tools, to their advantage. This is also a key part of life; the ability to use one’s environment to serve their own needs.
Visualize the End Result[5]
Golf also engenders confidence within a person. Before a golfer visualizes their shot, they must believe themselves as able-bodied, or capable of performing their visualization. This is the core of one’s self-confidence, belief in them self. Golf is a game of consistency; if I believe that I can execute a really difficult shot about 3 out of 10 tries, then I must also believe that I will fail 7 out of 10 tries. I’ve actually brought many difficult shots into actuality with my self-confidence, even during tournament play. Reflecting upon myself, these shots weren’t reliable because I wasn’t able to consistently recreate the shot when I tried to do so later, but my confidence in my abilities allowed me to make the best out of some very tough situations. This sort of confidence helps a person in all aspects of their life.
A Difficult Shot[6]
That’s not to say that sometimes confidence becomes overconfidence. If I had failed to recreate my visualization, then, no doubt, I would’ve been in a worse situation. I have played very risky shots, sometimes I had to start the ball towards the out of bounds! If I had failed, I would be responsible for the consequences. Golfers are always responsible for their actions, and this quality is evident in all golfers, no matter what their skill level is. Golfers will indefinitely repair any damage they do to the course, so with this in mind, I realized that the golf impacts the golfer, who in turn gives back to the sport by taking care of the golf course, a natural cycle, or process, present in golf.
Golf, with its many lessons, benefits the player, and the player will benefit the society because the greatest lesson that golf teaches a golfer is selflessness. Each and every golfer realizes that the traditions and rules of the game are larger than the player. My behavior on the course most directly affects me, but it also affects the people around me. Thus, my behavior off the course has the same effects. I realize this, and so do many of professional golfers. Tiger Woods has set up his own foundation called the Tiger Woods Foundation; his foundation has helped millions of kids, and continues to help, with their education! Here is an individual, Eldrick “Tiger” Woods, who has given back in the greatest forms of servitude, the service of education. Another great philanthropic effort inspired through golf is called Eagles for St. Jude; the sponsors and partners of this organization donate a set amount of dollars for every eagle that a partner makes while playing in a PGA or LPGA Tour Event, to help pay for the treatment of a child in the St. Jude’s Children Research Hospital and to fund researchers who are looking for a cure to cancer at St. Jude’s. The major partner of Eagles for St. Jude is golf professional Vijay Singh, and he attracted all of the other five partners of the organization. Tiger and Vijay are an example of how the effect golf has on an individual is advantageous for society. Certainly, there is a plethora of philanthropic efforts that are inspired through golf, and I, myself, have used golf to give back to my community.
The Big Fijian [7]
I was inspired to do this when I found out that my youth committee, Sister Cities Youth Committee, wasn’t going to be funded by the city. Our committee had planned a trip in the summer for a Leadership Conference in Belfast, Northern Ireland, but we were informed of our funding dilemma only three months prior to our planned trip. I proposed a golf tournament to solve our financial crisis, and while making an initial assessment on how much the committee could raise through a golf tournament, I realized that we could raise significantly more money than we needed. I proposed that with that extra money the committee can set up a scholarship for the local high school seniors who will be going to college. Just last year, this scholarship was set up and named after the title sponsor of the tournament, Fernando A. Salinas. Even though the scholarship was my idea, the credit must go to the game of golf. Only through the lessons that I have learned particularly the lesson of selflessness was I able envision and actualize a dream; I was able to give back to my community before going to college.
1st Annual Fernando A. Salinas Golf Tournament[8]
I can’t believe that at one point in my life I thought of golf to be a bland and boring sport. Nothing could’ve been farther from the truth. How can golf be tasteless when there are so many aspects to it? I’d like to say that golf is not a sport; golf is a journey, and the journey is life-long! Through my own personal experiences, I have realized the values present in golf. I have realized how to be in harmony with my environment, and I have comprehensively understood the importance of visualization. I have improved my self-confidence and am, now, a more responsible individual; I’ve even helped give back to my community. If golf impacts individuals, like Tiger, Vijay and myself, in society in such amazing ways, then one can only imagine the true extent of the impact that golf has had in shaping society up till the current year! Golf is a source of positive influences for all who choose to embark on its never-ending journey, and with these positive influences, golf shapes the personality of its players who in turn shape the world. It’s a unique natural process!
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END-NOTES
[1] Robin Williams performing live comedy using golf as a medium. When I first encountered golf, I felt that golf is just as Robin makes it to be, a joke, but a wise man once said, "Don't be quick to judge a book by its cover." The wise man was right once more. Video Courtesy of HBO and YouTube user, Barondonvito; Video URL: http://www.youtube.com/v/xDQd49rEF_0&hl=en&fs=1&.
[2] An elderly gentleman who signifies that golf truly is a life-long sport. Image Source: http://www.nestle.com/NR/rdonlyres/6BDCCD9F-C03F-4149-ACE4-ACA8835C375F/0/vitamin_d.jpg.
[3] Bob Rotella, Golf is Not a Game of Perfect (New York: SIMON&SCHUSTER), 1.
[4] Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (New York: FREE PRESS), 98.
[5] This golfer, Camillo Villegas, is visualizing his shot and is beginning with the end in mind. Image Source: http://img.timeinc.net/golf/i/tours/2007/12/dec_camillo_6_299x399.jpg.
[6] Imagine that I am on the other side of the trees that run alongside the course. I had to get the ball over the trees and had to make the ball shift from right to left in the air. This situation can be called a 'blind' shot since the target is not visible from where you hit your shot. Image Source: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhshH3c5ok4pBODG5fiwde9lD474ktHwy2F8d6M_qmNic7X0NuyZtTstwBVqlgz-LQ6g8Fhyyri3vtKJ3rw_pGirxEJX0P3hegcKdqwM_mVbJxhLjmpUkekZbiJwBgr8VAaTgS77CaS7w/s1600-h/5555.JPG
[7] Vijay Singh in an advertisement for Eagles for St. Jude; he has been donating $5,000.00 for every eagle that he has made since 2004. Video Courtesy of Eagles for St. Jude; Video URL: http://www.youtube.com/v/aOe4iCPnI5I&hl=en&fs=1&.
[8] This is an picture of when the golfers finished their round of tournament play and decided to take advantage of the food that was provided for them. One golfer here has just received a free putter as a door prize in the event. Image courtesy of Author.
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