From the epilogue in one of Rick Reilly’s books (Missing Links), about a guy struggling to figure himself out and play competitive golf at the same time – a pretty tall order.
I still love the game . . . I learned to love the shot I’m hitting right now and not brood about the one that came before it.
I found out I don’t need to break 70 every day to love it and once I figured that out, I stopped needing to tie my 9-iron to a rope behind my car to punish it quite as often.
I love golf for all the times when it’s just the twilight and you and the crunch of your spikes on the fall leaves. I love it for the walk you get down the middle of the fairway after you pipe one or the way you get to hold your putter in your hand for 200 yards after you starch a 3-iron dead on the middle center groove. I love it for all the times you get to watch your ball fall against pink-and-purple skies.
I found golf is a lot like life. Sometimes you’re dancing and sometimes you’re in the gunch and it’s all your own doing. Nobody threw you a yellow-hammer curve or a fastball at the knees, or put overspin on a killer serve or threw a great block or fed you a perfect pass. Not your worthy opponent. Not your therapist. Not your wife. Not your inner child. Not your father.
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Saturday, April 29, 2006
Day of Purpose #6
A little long, but very poetic. Guaranteed to make your wife weak in the knees (if she looks like Rene Russo).
Thanks to Lachman for the suggestion.
"What Is The Golf Swing?"
by Roy McAvoy
I think of the golf swing as a poem.
The opening phrase of this
poem will always be the grip.
The hands unite to form a single
unit by the simple overlap of the...
...little finger.
Lowly and slowly...
...the club head is led back, pulled
into position not by the hands,
...but the body, which turns
away from the target,
...shifting weight to the right side
without shifting balance.
Tempo is all, perfection unattainable,
as at the top of the swing...
...there's a hesitation,
a little nod to the gods.
A nod to the gods?
To the gods that he is fallible.
That perfection is unattainable.
Weight shifts to the left pulled
by the powers in the earth...
...it's alive, this swing,
and a sculpture...
...and down through contact...
...striking the ball crisply...
...with character.
A tuning fork goes off in
your heart, your balls...
...such a pure feeling is
the well-struck golf shot.
Then the follow-through to finish...
...always on line.
The reverse-C of the Golden Bear...
...the steelworkers' power and
the brawn of Carl Sandburg's...
...Arnold Palmer!
And the unfinished symphony of...
...Roy McAvoy.
What's unfinished?
I have a short follow-through.
It has an unfinished look.
Why?
Some say it's the easiest way to
play in the winds of west Texas...
...some say it's because I never
finished anything in my life.
You can decide. But the point is...
...every finishing position is unique.
That's what the golf swing's about.
It's about gaining control
of your life and...
...letting go at the same time.
There's only one other acceptable
theory about how to hit the ball.
Grip it and rip it.
Thanks to Lachman for the suggestion.
"What Is The Golf Swing?"
by Roy McAvoy
I think of the golf swing as a poem.
The opening phrase of this
poem will always be the grip.
The hands unite to form a single
unit by the simple overlap of the...
...little finger.
Lowly and slowly...
...the club head is led back, pulled
into position not by the hands,
...but the body, which turns
away from the target,
...shifting weight to the right side
without shifting balance.
Tempo is all, perfection unattainable,
as at the top of the swing...
...there's a hesitation,
a little nod to the gods.
A nod to the gods?
To the gods that he is fallible.
That perfection is unattainable.
Weight shifts to the left pulled
by the powers in the earth...
...it's alive, this swing,
and a sculpture...
...and down through contact...
...striking the ball crisply...
...with character.
A tuning fork goes off in
your heart, your balls...
...such a pure feeling is
the well-struck golf shot.
Then the follow-through to finish...
...always on line.
The reverse-C of the Golden Bear...
...the steelworkers' power and
the brawn of Carl Sandburg's...
...Arnold Palmer!
And the unfinished symphony of...
...Roy McAvoy.
What's unfinished?
I have a short follow-through.
It has an unfinished look.
Why?
Some say it's the easiest way to
play in the winds of west Texas...
...some say it's because I never
finished anything in my life.
You can decide. But the point is...
...every finishing position is unique.
That's what the golf swing's about.
It's about gaining control
of your life and...
...letting go at the same time.
There's only one other acceptable
theory about how to hit the ball.
Grip it and rip it.
Friday, April 28, 2006
Day of Purpose #7
Memories of our favorite course – Shadow Ridge – and the best shot we’ve seen hit there – a near ace on #17 by the Bull.
Day of Purpose #5 - The Golf Trip Tradition Almost Ends
The exchange that took place 45 seconds after this picture was snapped almost brought our trips to an end. Here’s a recap
Date: Friday, June 4, 2004, 11:13 a.m.
Location: Hole 17, TPC Stadium Course at PGA West
Brian, after somehow getting the ball to stay on the tee even with Scott taking pictures of and ogling his rear end (Brokeback foreshadowing), half-shanked his tee shot into the water. Here’s the exchange:
Brian, with a scowl on his face and obvious anger in his voice: “It’s pretty hard to hit a shot listening to camera beeps going off in your downswing!”
Scott, offended and possibly embarrassed at being caught looking at another man’s can: “You’ve been listening to it for three years now!”
White Tiger, stepping into the gap as the Rodney King-like peacemaker and with a fake tear in his eye: “Come on guys, can’t we just all get along”
The rest of the story:
Brian eventually admitted that his hands were a little sweaty and that he was taking his frustration out on his comrades. Scott thanked Brian for not grabbing his camera and throwing it in the lake, Steve Williams style. Deboe, on his way to a 98 that round, then hit his tee shot in the water to make Brian feel better. Scott caved in to peer pressure and put at least one ball in the water from the tee at 17. He then made a solid bogey on 18 to post a 108. One player in the foursome, serene in the midst of all the hostility and pressure, hit the green and two putted for par. Who was that? You can guess, but I’ll give you a clue, from Matthew 5:9: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Have a good weekend.
Date: Friday, June 4, 2004, 11:13 a.m.
Location: Hole 17, TPC Stadium Course at PGA West
Brian, after somehow getting the ball to stay on the tee even with Scott taking pictures of and ogling his rear end (Brokeback foreshadowing), half-shanked his tee shot into the water. Here’s the exchange:
Brian, with a scowl on his face and obvious anger in his voice: “It’s pretty hard to hit a shot listening to camera beeps going off in your downswing!”
Scott, offended and possibly embarrassed at being caught looking at another man’s can: “You’ve been listening to it for three years now!”
White Tiger, stepping into the gap as the Rodney King-like peacemaker and with a fake tear in his eye: “Come on guys, can’t we just all get along”
The rest of the story:
Brian eventually admitted that his hands were a little sweaty and that he was taking his frustration out on his comrades. Scott thanked Brian for not grabbing his camera and throwing it in the lake, Steve Williams style. Deboe, on his way to a 98 that round, then hit his tee shot in the water to make Brian feel better. Scott caved in to peer pressure and put at least one ball in the water from the tee at 17. He then made a solid bogey on 18 to post a 108. One player in the foursome, serene in the midst of all the hostility and pressure, hit the green and two putted for par. Who was that? You can guess, but I’ll give you a clue, from Matthew 5:9: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Have a good weekend.
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Day of Purpose #4
One of my favorite quotes, from Grantland Rice. It was in the Bobby Jones movie and Rice could have been thinking about him when he wrote it. He was a founding member of Augusta National.
“For when the one great scorer comes, to write against your name, he writes – not that you won or lost – but how you played the game.”
Below is Jones at Maniac Hill, Pinehurst, North Carolina. Horton Smith, the first Masters champion is watching on the right. My favorite picture of Jones playing golf.
“For when the one great scorer comes, to write against your name, he writes – not that you won or lost – but how you played the game.”
Below is Jones at Maniac Hill, Pinehurst, North Carolina. Horton Smith, the first Masters champion is watching on the right. My favorite picture of Jones playing golf.
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Day of Purpose #3
The Sound Of Silence
P. Simon, 1964
Hello darkness, my old friend
P. Simon, 1964
Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence
The quiet Italian left-hander has pulled out of the trip. I’ll be looking to replace the irreplaceable.
The quiet Italian left-hander has pulled out of the trip. I’ll be looking to replace the irreplaceable.
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Day of Purpose #2
Frank Chirkinian, who ran CBS’s coverage of the Masters for many years, had this quote about a new private club he set up in Florida. I’m taking the quote as my own and I’m saying it about our trip:
“We want good guys first, golfers second. I don’t care if a guy is a 30 handicap as long as he has nothing but a smile on his face and good things to say about life. I’d rather have that than some guy who’s an ass with a lot of money, a single digit handicap, and a chip on his shoulder. If we’re going to have attitude [on this trip], it’ll be mine.”
“We want good guys first, golfers second. I don’t care if a guy is a 30 handicap as long as he has nothing but a smile on his face and good things to say about life. I’d rather have that than some guy who’s an ass with a lot of money, a single digit handicap, and a chip on his shoulder. If we’re going to have attitude [on this trip], it’ll be mine.”
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