Golf's Unique Benefits

You know golf provides many pleasures not readily seen by the casual observer. The unique bond amongst your playing partners can be like that, at least for me. More so, the fellowship often enjoyed with others at a social event or maybe a dinner out can be enhanced further with your friends while on the course.

My friend, Dooley Duffer, was just telling me about his afternoon on the golf course yesterday which made me think about this unusual aspect of the game we all love.

Dooley travelled back to Lakeland, Fl for a family Thanksgiving Day visit. He lived and worked in this area for about 15 years and has many friends from that time but just a few close ones. He, as his custom is, called ahead and made arrangements for them to get together on the course while he was in town. So they spent the Friday afternoon after Thanksgiving on a local course.

Dooley talked about how nice the weather was, how the round went and he even mentioned how he watched a guy in the group in front of him yank on left off the first tee. Apparently that tee shot went so far left that it passed in front of an oak tree not 20 yards ahead and 20 yards to the left of the fairway. Dooley didn't laugh or mock the guy. He was just amazed how that shot went so far wrong so fast. Dooley remembers the days when he wasn't sure where his ball would finish.

The group for the day was described as an "A" player who is a near scratch golfer, a pair of brothers who were "C" players and Dooley who is a "B" which is as he puts it, a bogey golfer.

When Dooley talked about the round he didn't spend much time on how he finished or how the others played. Turns out he shot 88, 2 shots better than his handicap. Yet I didn't hear so much about his game, as I normally would, but about how he enjoyed the day with his old friends. How they talked of their families, their current jobs and thoughts on nearing retirement. They reminisced about the old days when they all worked together pointing out the highlights and lowlights of those days gone too far into the past.

As he spoke I noticed the sparkle in his eyes, the slight but persistent grin that would show up when he paused for thought and the more than normal display of hand gestures that told me more than his words that this simple round of golf was special in a way he was having difficulty expressing. Somehow for him the proper words for his joy were teasingly unavailable.

For this observer, even I am not sure I have found the linguistics to due justice to what was going on inside of Dooley that evening. I do know that I was left with the thought that golf is a multifaceted experience for many of us. Sure there is the challenge of competing against yourself, the course, the scorecard and your group. I can not remember even once leaving the course and hearing someone say, “Today I played the absolute best round I could have, didn’t leave even 1 shot on the course”.

But for Dooley yesterday was more about the dividends he was able to deposit in his emotional bank. Stored there for those times when life is not so kind.

So take heart friends, golf is not just about your swing mechanics, the score or your handicap. No, it goes beyond the measurable to things not measured on paper and understanding that is to begin to grasp our fascination with this most unique of sporting activities.