Golf Fore the Good

“Random birdies,” my fellow competitor termed them. “Random birdies are good,” she declared as her ball hit the pin and rattled down into the cup for birdie on the 14th hole to take the lead – and the eventual win – of the club championship.

It is the random nature of golf that is one of the most fascinating aspects of the game. The unpredictability of our swings, for better or worse; the arbitrary bounce our ball may take, for good or bad. Despite what the uninitiated may think, golf is never boring.

The shots we, as amateur golfers, manufacture on the course may not be quite the double-fist-pumping-Tigeresque-dramatic moments we have often witnessed, but they are, for us, still extraordinary events.

My friend recently sent me an email, all in capital letters, after she made her first eagle. It was purely evidence of her lasting exhilaration even hours after she’d left the course. As I read her note, I could feel the excitement of her walking to the elevated green after a blind approach shot, futilely searching for her ball, only to have someone suggest to look in the hole. Ah ha! A random shot –albeit a very good one - and an unexpected outcome; you just have to love the game!

To play golf – to play it well – one must have some proficiency, and concentration and determination; and yet, throughout the game, there remains a trace of chance. Should a ball hit the pin, will it bounce down and in, or careen away? Will the wind kick up and make a one club wind gust to two? Is it always skill that puts the ball in the cup, or is it sometimes random luck?

Consider the nine-holer who boasts a hole in one. Driver from 110 yards, or a wedge, hit by a scratch player; both struck with good intent. Because one rolls in and one does not, is it just an arbitrary act of sport? A golfer must still advance the ball toward the hole.

An amateur can hardly complain about any time spent on the golf course. Still, there are times a round grows tedious. This game we play for sport and fun can beat us up and wear us down. And then, it happens; a rocket of a tee shot, right down the middle; a blast from a bunker with a perfect roll; a looping putt across the green and in. We hit a perfect, random shot from nowhere after hours of laborious effort and hope springs anew. It’s why we love the game.

We delight in our successes on the course. We sometimes grow dejected with our game. A champion might capture a title with a less than perfect round, while sometimes your very best is not enough to win. There are no guarantees in golf. Skill and technique are required. A little luck never hurts.