Why Golf is Life
January 19, 2010
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Unlike most other sports, golf is not a fast game. To the uninitiated (your non-golfing spouse for example) watching on TV, it could be like watching paint dry. What it gives us golfers though, is time to think. Not just time to think about your next swing or how the heck you're going to carry that stream 250m away, but also about Life, the Universe and Everything (R) (courtesy of the late Douglas Adams).
You don't have this kind of time in, say, tennis. It's all a series of WHACK short seconds WHACK before the ball WHACK comes back and you WHACK have to hit it across the net WHACK to wipe the smug grin WHACK from your opponent WOOHOO IN YOUR FACE YOU !@^$$@ !! Nope, in golf even in the fastest round you're gonna have time to take deep breaths, self-contemplate, admire your surroundings, smile, have self doubts, frown, reassure yourself, smile again, realize that you have hit precisely zero pars in the past 13 holes, and perhaps have a mini nervous breakdown before you finally put your club behind the ball.
All this grey matter processing being done on courses worldwide has undoubtedly led golf literature to have some pretty out-there books comparing golf and life. For example Deepak Chopra, philosopher and manic golfer wrote a book called Golf and Enlightenment. Dr Bob Rotella made nice living writing books like Golf is Not A Game of Perfect where he tries to convince us what all we have to do is BELIEVE. I read his books and while I find them calming and reassuring, they haven't helped my golf game much. Maybe to really BELIEVE I need to hire him for one of his $1000/hour therapy sessions.
 Anyway, recently I have realized that in a lot of ways, golf is a microcosm of life (Note to self: learn more big words like "microcosm" so I can charge PGA tour pros $1000/hour). To spare you the wikipedia lookup, that basically means in a lot of ways, golf resembles life. Let's spend a few minutes to examine a few examples, see if you have seen this in your own life.
Blind Shots: Trust
Recently, I encountered an uncertain situation in my career. I have done quite well so far in my job, but suddenly, as in most companies every now and then, there was a big re-organisation and I was left with uncertainty with what's going to happen in the next few weeks and months. It was quite funny but when I got the news I realized, in a small way, that this was how I exactly felt after my last round in Malaysia.. I just rolled in a nice par, was feeling quite good about myself, humming a little tune, putting my feet up in the buggy sipping my Gatorade, then we got to the next tee box and OMG LOOK AT THIS HOLE. It was a 540m uphill dogleg left, the scorecard says that a water crossing lurks just beyond the dogleg, and the thick trees to the left completely obscures the green. I was literally standing there in the tee box unsure what to do.. shall I lay up with a 3 wood to get a better view around the dogleg ? Go for it with the driver ? Give up and hit 7 irons all the way ? (which, I am not ashamed to admit, I have done once on a very weird par 5). Finally I decided to trust myself and let fly with my driver.. and this is the one time my slice saved me: as I pushed the ball to the trees on the left, my trusty slice kicked in and the ball veered to the right, landing and stopping just inside the fairway. I realized that this is also what we must do in uncertain situations: trust in yourself, and give it your best shot with your best available weapon, it might or might not work, but like the trite saying says: aim for the moon, even if you miss, you will be among the stars. Yes you could go splat into a passing asteroid but let's not spoil the mental image here.
Greenside Bunker shot: Finesse
I hate bunkers. Specially greenside ones. After so many lessons and videos on how to do the 'textbook' greenside bunker shot, instead of hitting the sand a couple of inches behind the ball to gently loft the ball on a cushion of sand using my wedge's bounce onto the green (see coach, I do know the theory), two times out of three I will make direct contact the ball and send it flying either right over the green, or in one memorable occassion in one of the infamous pot bunkers in the Marina Bay Golf Course, ricochet off 3 bunker walls before ending in pretty much the same spot. And of course, the worse I hit it, the more stressed I get, and the worse I hit the ball. Now if you come to think of it, how many times in life have we come across a situation where a direct approach will not work at all ? Maybe you are trying to sell to a customer whose director simply will not give you the time of day no matter how hard you try. He is the ball. What you need to do is not to directly confront him which might get you thrown out on your ears, but work around him, find out who is close to him and see if they can talk him around. They are the sand. Not everything in life can or should be solved directly, when you are thinking of how to finesse your way around a tough situation, think of the bunker shot. An indirect approach at the right spot can solve all your problems. Now if you'll excuse me I'll go watch more videos on how to do this.
Punch shot back to the fairway: Acceptance
I don't know about you, but I usually miss fairways. A lot. I once did a GPS track of my round and it showed in a lot of holes I get my way around the course in a zigzag way: tee off, oops, left rough, right rough, left rough again, right bunker, oops overshot the green to the left, and finally on. Eventually. Or lost ball. This does mean much less harmful UV rays on my skin as I spend more time in the leafy shades of the trees, but I do get faced with a lot of shots where there're tall trees in front and around of me. We've all seen Phil Mickelson hit his shot right in a 30 cm space between two trees to reach the green or Vijay Singh flipping his iron around to make an impossible lefthander swing, but these days I know better. I usually will reach for my hybrid and do a low punch safely back to the fairway, even if I was 200m away from the hole. Sometimes, you just have to be mature enough to know your limits. Yes, if I do a mad swing with my 4 iron towards the flag, I could conceivably make flush contact even with my ball buried in the muck, miss these 4 coconut trees in front of me, let the ball thread its way through the bushes and roll onto the green. And Tiger Woods could conceivably give up golf and join a celibate Trappist monastery. It is possible but not very likely is it ? Sometimes in life you just have to accept and do the best option even if it's against your instincts. It takes a big person to admit this, but again another microcosmic parallel between golf and life.
Every Swing You're Going to Take: Enjoying the Process
Like most amateur golfers, for me every swing is a journey into the unknown. Over the years, my swing has become more consistent and sometimes the ball even flies exactly the way I plan it to, but there is always a chance in every single swing that I will revert back to that beginner in the Queens Driving range who hit 200 balls with a 7 iron, none breaking 60 meters. (Those of you who remember me from those days, or have the misfortune of using the next booth, I do apologise for all the swearing). But strangely enough, I've come to the realisation, as most of you fellow golfers have, that once we stop worrying too much about every single detail of the swing and just, pretty much, get out of our own way, our game improved. In life, in a lot of times once you can 'tune out' the details and look at the big picture, whatever it is that you are doing is more enjoyable, more fruitful and get better results. To all micromanagers out there, keep this in mind. Yes I might shank this next driver shot off that ladies' tee marker over there, but what the heck, I'm going to try anyway. Your fresh new account manager might need a bit of guidance in her first few sales calls, but you have to learn to back off and let the game come to her. Let her feel the flow, let her enjoy the process. And yes sometimes failures will happen, but like Dr Bob Rotella said, Golf is Not A Game of Perfect. So chill out a bit.
OK you can get off the couch now, my nurse will invoice you the $1000 for this session. Same time next week ?
Himawan Prajogo
Completely Uncertified Therapist
So No Money Back Guarantee.
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Top 3 Things in Golf
January 1, 2010
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Top 3 things in golf in 2009
Well here we are, at the end of 2009. When the year started things were looking bleak, the world financial markets were melting down, job losses were escalating, the future looked uncertain, who would have thought we would have had time to even think about something as trivial as golf ? But as it turns out, as in the Broadway show Annie, the sun does come out tomorrow, and tomorrow is only a day away… and before you know it, the tomorrow of yesterdays are today’s yesterday. I think I confused myself there but anyway you catch my drift.
So anyway, we have the first black American president, the world lost Michael Jackson, Jensen Button won the Formula 1 world championship, swine flu came and went, but never mind that, we will only remember the good (and bad) things about golf since after my wife, kids, and (sigh) job, that’s pretty much what I think about daily. So here we go with the top 3 golf stories that stuck to my mind this year:
 3. Michelle Wie. Michelle Wie was a major disappointment to most of us golf fans for the last few years. I even wrote an entry bemoaning her hubris a few months ago. But this year was finally her year. First, she kicked major European ass in the Solheim Cup, going 3-0-1 en route to an American victory. It was nice to see her embraced by her peers like Christina Kim, Paula Creamer and Natalie Gulbis. It was very gratifying to see her so happy and stress free for once, quite possibly because her parents are not breathing down her neck . And when, later in the year, she finally won her first tournament, there was a huge sigh of relief. Not just from her (in the form of her tweets), not just from her parents, not just from her fans, but mostly from the LPGA who is sorely in need of a megastar. And who knows, coupled with what's happening to you-know-who over in the PGA, this might be the chance for the LPGA to zoom to the top.. Michelle, for what's its worth, thanks for a great year, you're an inspiration to my 8-year old daughter, please keep your nose clean and be a good role model, unlike you-know-who, but let's not jump the gun here..
2. Tom Watson. The British Open seems to be the great equalizer. The true home of links-style golf, it seems to flatten the field and make anybody who can figure out how to hit the low running shots required to succeed in the swirling winds, bumpy fairways and pot bunkers. Heck, Greg Norman came out of nowhere to almost win it last year and Tiger didn't even make the cut this year. But of course, the true story is Tom Watson's close miss. I've written about this before, but when that putt didn't go in, it was almost like watching my dad lose a game. I just wish that when I'm 59, I'll still be able to give 36-year olds a run for their money much like he gave Stewart Cink. But like Watson himself said in the ensuing press conference "This ain't a funeral, you know ?". More power to old geezer golfers, specially as Father Time moves me ever closer to geezerhood myself. Plus, Watson's name is already engraved five times on the Claret Jug, time to give the young kids a chance, I guess..
1. You-know-who. And now it's time to confront the #1 elephant in the room. Towards the end of the year when we thought 2009 will end on a nice note without any major blow ups, the story broke. The story that transcends golf. The story that everybody in the world knows. Except maybe it's not one story. Quite possibly three, five, seven or even eleven according to some sources. Maybe thirty by the time I finish this posting. Yes folks, it's Tiger Woods and his harem of cocktail waitresses and porn stars. No need to go into the details, I'm sure you're quite familliar with the whole debacle.
Oh Tiger, Tiger, Tiger.... Why Tiger, why ? Billionaire golfer, hot Swedish wife, two cute kids... is that not enough for you ? As a guy, actually yes I know why, you're actually doing what a lot of guys would have done if they've been given seemingly unlimited amounts of cash and tons of women throwing themselves at them. In fact, if this was John Daly the world would not have batted an eyelid. This folks, is a matter of somebody's that's been built up to near-demigod status by the marketing empires of Nike and IMG, and only to find out that he's not RoboGolfer after all, he's actually just another guy. A very randy guy who has extremely bad judgement and lacking the ability to keep it in his pants apparently, but still just a guy. Things have gotten to the point where I cannot bring myself to play his video games without somebody cracking a dirty joke, and well deserved too I must say (best cartoon I've seen on the subject. Tiger Woods is sitting on Santa's lap. Santa went "Ho ! Ho ! Ho !". And Tiger went "Where ? Where ? Where ?". Brilliant
How will the PGA survive without Tiger ? It will find a way. Those of you old enough to remember the time when Magic Johnson announced he was HIV positive and is retiring from the NBA, it was similarly met with incredulity and an air of doom and gloom. But in the end, the NBA soldiered on and so did Magic, who is still with us even today. Arguably thanks to Nike and Accenture (who pulled all ads featuring him) and countless other sponsors, Tiger is way bigger than Magic ever was. So he will have to suffer a long, meteoric fall from grace. It might take a couple of years for him to completely recover, but one thing he's got going for him, golf is a game of longevity. He's only 34. Jack Nicklaus won his last major at 46, heck, read back a couple of paragraphs and Tom Watson is still competitive at 59.
He will be back. His image will take a beating and his income will be drastically reduced as sponsors ditch him. Some will say that is the price he has to pay. But hopefully he will learn. Maybe this is the life lessons he did not get to learn growing up, who knows ? One would wish that he shouldn't have had to learn by crashing an SUV into a tree and (possibly soon) giving half his empire and his kids to an estranged ex-wife in divorce court, but it could always have been worse.
So, even though our sport is the laughingstock of the world thanks to Tiger, here's hoping that 2010 can still be a good year. Hopefully Michelle Wie wins six straight and be the next megastar in the LPGA. Hoping that some old faded star can win a major (David Duval ? John Daly ?), maybe even some other Asian player can beat the stars (come on Mardan Mamat, Lam Chih Bing, Thongchai Jaidee !!) and here's hoping Tiger Woods can keep his hormones in check, apologise profusely, sort things out with his family and even play a little bit of golf again. Happy Holidays, Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year, everyone !
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Tiger Hoo Goes Zooming By
October 25, 2009
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I am, no denying it, a golf nut. Even if most weekends my schedule only allow me to play 9 holes on Sunday morning, there is no denying it occupies a pretty high priority on my mind. It has been only 5 years since my first golf lesson, and I remember how hard it was the first few times on the range, how frustrating it was to see my earnest efforts at launching that !@*U&)!#$ white ball only end up in a weak top or a nasty shank off the partition and almost boink the poor guy in the next booth on his head.
And now, I am still not an expert by any stretch of the imagination but I do like to bring friends who are interested in golf to get started. Maybe I take them out to the range for the first time and give them a few very basic pointers on how to hold the club and do basic shots. It gives me a sense of satisfaction if I can help them get over the initial frustrations. If they are good athletes (and most people are better athletes than me), with a few very basic pointers it’s not that hard to actually get to the point when you can ocassionally hit a ball 70-80m off a tee, just so they can get a sense of appreciation for the game.
But the moment they get interested in the game, I always tell them to find a good coach and get proper lessons, as I don’t want to scar them for life by telling them the wrong things. But just by doing this, I’m happy to say that a couple of my friends have gone quite quickly from their first driving range with me to golf addicts. Me, I’m just happy to have more people to play with.
However, today I had a funny experience. One of my driving range initiates went on to take lessons properly and his game has completely taken off. Today, we went out for a quick 9 holes with another mutual friend who also have just taken up the game a few months ago. I’ve never played with him before although I’ve known him for a few years. This post will be about him, but as he’s too modest for me to identify him by his full name, let’s just say his surname is Hood.
This friend of mine is a pretty humble, down-to-earth guy, and hanging out the first teebox before playing, we all made self-disparaging remarks about our game that we usually do. However, I noticed something unusual as he made his practice swings: I didn’t see much wrong with anything. In fact it was looking pretty good. Hmmmm… Ok, so we teed off in the first hole, he did fluff his first few shots, but over the next few holes, start to feel that he’s on par with me. When we reached the first par 4 and his driver shot zoomed 30m past mine, I had to admit it to myself: he’s gone and achieved in 3 months what I tried to achieved in 5 years. What my lessons, DVDs, golf gadgets and endless book have failed to teach me, he has taught himself. And his protestations of being a mere incompetent beginner somehow made it worse, since he doesn’t know what he has just achieved.
It was a deflating moment to be sure, and I must admit my ego went to the toilet at that moment and vigorously tried to flush itself. But soon after, I started to appreciate the fact that this is yet another wonderful facet of this game. Golf is a fickle game. Even if you look at the pros, there are people who the game comes wonderfully and naturally (Tiger Woods, Annika Sorenstam, Paula Creamer, Ernie Els).. and there are people who got where they are through sheer grit and determination (Vijay Singh, Jason Gore and Singapore’s own Mardan Mamat) and of course there are people with talent coming out of their ears who has a penchant of blowing everything up (John Daly and Michelle Wie before the 2009 Solheim Cup). Golf treats people differently and is, excuse the sexism, a high-maintenance girlfriend to some, but a loving bride to others.
It seems to have befallen my lot to be one of those people who have to constantly grind at a certain level. I think I can be an OK player. Good, but never great. I will be lucky to get my handicap down to 15 one day. For my friend however, the sky’s the limit. We’ve given him a nickname now. Tiger Hood. I think it fits him. But even on those days when we play together I fully expect us to be able to enjoy the same game of golf, even though for him it might feel like on rails and for me it feels like a runaway freight train. And now if you’ll excuse me I’ll go and hit a few more balls at the range with my daughter. Just because I can’t ever conquer this game doesn’t mean I can’t have fun trying.
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