Golf Troubles
I walk up to the eighteenth green, only thinking of how tired I am and how good the cheeseburger will taste when I get to the clubhouse. When we finished eighteen, there was only one thing standing between air conditioning and me and that was the scoring table. We signed scorecards and gave them to the scorer who would count it up and tell us our score and my card was the last one. I waited around the table for him to finish adding up my score so I could know just how bad I had played that day. Then he said the words that changed my perspective of my round completely, “Wow! You are tied for the lead with a seventy-six.” I was in total and utter disbelief to what he said. I sat down in the cart in some kind of trance just thinking to myself how could such a good score come from such a bad day. I thought back over my round to see how I did it. I had started off well with a par on the first. I was excited to think I just made a par and that my whole round could be just like this hole. But also I thought that when I start well I usually would finish horribly. And that thought stuck with me. I had just discouraged myself in the sport where doing that exact thing is like committing suicide. Without my mental game I was sure to fail as I soon realized the next hole.
The second hole started the rest of the horrible round. I had a nice drive down the middle of the fairway as usual but I started to get mad by the second shot. After my second shot into the sand I thought myself how could this hole get worse. Fatigue had set in early and it was only to get worse. It was already a hot morning and it is just going to get hotter. Everything you do, think and feel effects you when you are playing golf and I had gotten angry with myself for messing up on that very easy hole.
The next few holes were uneventful. It was the normal golf that I usually play. The eighth hole, I had hit my ball into the woods but I was calm and thought it was fine and I would have an open shot to the green. I was wrong. When I got to my ball my heart sank, my ball had stopped next to a tree. I was just depressed. I couldn’t think of me in a worse position. I plain out wanted to quit right there and then. But I didn’t because I remembered my father saying, “Don’t quit, even on your worst days because they can always get better.” My father is full of great advice and I always like to find one piece of advice he has given me to help me during my round.
My father was right. I finished that hole with no damage done, and went into the next hole with a great attitude. I had turned my whole round around right there. I felt great about myself. I had no fatigue or anger left in me. I still was playing bad but at least I felt better.
By sixteen everything was going great but I was starting to drag. In my mind I thought ugh is this round over yet. I also had thought to stop the round then because it was so hot but I went on thinking it would be over soon. When eighteen came around all of the people I was playing with just wanted to get it over with. We were hot, sweaty, and very tired. I remember thinking to myself I need to finish strong that is all that matters. And I did with a par but that great finish couldn’t compare to my round. I had done something that I had never done. I did not quit when I had played horribly and had turned my round around and finished out great. I now apply that very same lesson in all things I do; I never quit. When I stepped into the clubhouse I stepped in with my head held high and with a sense of accomplishment. This was a great day for me and it will live on in my memories.