This season, as short as it was with rain and the early snow in New York, I made an effort to become better at golf. I tried and tried to get my handicap from 25 to around 20. It does not sound like it would be that hard but it was. It was a goal I did not achieve. It was difficult.
Much to my wife’s dismay, I am a weekend golfer-actually a Saturday morning golfer. I play with a group of guys of varying handicaps and ages. We all struggle to form a complete game. There are some days when our game is on point and others when we can’t get the ball off the tee box. Three putting is the norm and a birdie is something we just dream about. Days I think all amateur golfers struggle with. This is the reason why we are not making money doing this professionally.
To people who never played the game (and those that do play); golf does not make any sense. That maybe the beauty of the whole thing. You take the club back and go smashing at a small white dimpled ball that could literally do just about anything. Your scores are never the same. Every hole is played differently. Some days, there are no words to really describe what just happened. I have learned not to thrash at the ball to get it to go further but it is hard when you are playing with guys who effortlessly can hit it 200 yards. Consistency is king in golf and Ican never do the same thing twice even though it seems it should be simple.
What is the fascination with hitting this little ball around some of the most beautiful manicured lawns in the country? For me, it is a game played with myself and to try and beat myself. Can I beat my past score? Can I repeat my swing to be consistent? Deep down I do have a game or at least pieces of something. I feel the need to challenge myself and be the best at what I do. Golf is something I am not good at and therefore I have that fire buring inside to master it. And maybe that is the appeal of the sport. We will never be good at it but we strive to attain perfection.
My goal next year is to try and put all the pieces together and be more consistent. I learned this season it is not how far you can hit the ball but how many times that really matters. I am going to play within my boundaries and strengths of an easy gentle swing where control and repeatability is more important than if I can smash it 200 yards.
I am looking forward to the 2012 season…
A CIO's Voice 
Everybody who plays this game asks themselves the same question, why do I continue? We all rationalize with some of the same things that you have said in your blog. However I feel that golf has a certain spiritualism that is undefinable. Many people take up golf every year but just as many or more quit the game every year. Despite all the technology and instruction that is out there, the average handicap in the last 20 years is still the same. To improve one’s golf game is a lifelong quest, that proves that it is the journey not the destination that is the most important thing in life.
Very true. Improvement can only come over time and will be a lifelong quest of inner reflection. Thanks for sharing.