Golf!

Smash as many windows as you can!

He was late middle-aged and slightly stooped. He encouraged me to ‘smash as many windows’ as I could, and would give me 10 shillings for each one. He was a golf coach, and this was my first lesson. I was probably around 15. 

He pushed a number of tees into the grass, placed a ball on each, and pointed to the bungalow further down the slope. “Smash them!” he said with a grin. I took aim, and swung at the ball with all my might. Missed! I took aim again, and swung even more energetically at the ball. Missed! In fact, missed, missed, missed.

My game has improved a little over the last, nearly, 70 years. I usually hit the ball. It often goes reasonably straight. It rarely goes far. So why do I continue to play golf, after so many years in which I have improved so little? Fresh air, exercise, good company, and the challenge of improving my game. And as I very often play in the evening by myself when the course is quieter, solitude and an opportunity to pray as I stroll down the fairways. (Well, so many others are using religious language on the course!).

Golf originated in Scotland in the 15th century, and the first 18 hole course was created at St. Andrew’s in 1564. It became popular! There are nearly 2,000 courses in England now. I play at a club just outside Norwich, and have yet to get a hole in one. Tiger Woods achieved his first hole in one at the age of 8. I’ll keep trying.

Finally, a remark, usually attributed to Gary Player, encapsulates so much wisdom, which I have applied to many aspects of life. His ball stopped a long way short of the hole, and his put was not expected to go in. But it did. His caddy exclaimed, “Cor, that was lucky, Mr. Player”. (Was a caddy really allowed to say that?). And Gary Player replied, “Yes, it was indeed lucky. But I have found that the more I practice, the luckier I get”. That statement is so true, and applies not only to playing golf, but also to so many other aspects of life, from investing in the stock market, to pulling out teeth. I also apply it to my spiritual life, where the more time I spend in prayer and reading the Bible, the greater the reality of my experience of God.

And should you have been one of my patients who was told by the receptionist, “Dr. Lawrence is not here today. He’s on a course!”, you will now realise what she meant!