With the Christmas break fast approaching, it offers a perfect opportunity to relax, enjoy time with friends and family and a chance to self-reflect.
As young, aspiring golfers, it’s easy to get lost in the pressures of what will be, won’t be or could be in our future, be that the result in upcoming tournaments, the desire for a dream college scholarship or a professional career on tour, and when we get lost in this vortex of uncertainty, it’s easy to forget the reason why we play this great game in the first place…because we enjoy it. There are many things that we need to accept about golf…a big one being that it’s hard! And we wouldn’t want it any other way! That’s what makes golf, golf and that’s the very thing that brings us back time and time again. From shot to shot we can go from pure despair to pure elation! Like life, it’s unpredictable and it continually challenges us with questions that we need to answer and situations that we need to deal with.
One of my favourite philosophical thoughts is this:
“There is more to life than golf, but there is also more to golf than golf”.
Before you read on, stop and think about what that means to you… On one side, to me it means that there are many other things in your life that mean just as much or more to you than golf does, things like family and friends, your good health and other passions that you may have.
On the other hand, golf is shaping who we are becoming as people. The experiences it gives us, the places in the world it takes us, the people we meet along the way and the questions it forces us to answer about ourselves, be that through emotional management, communication skills, etiquette or creating a structured mindset, skills you will utilise for the rest of your lives.
Golf is not just about hitting a ball around a field in as few shots as possible. It’s a game that is shaping your growth as a person, which is hard to appreciate in your teenage years, but I can assure you, from personal experience, regardless of what you end up doing in the future, golf is providing a platform for you to be as well prepared for it as you can be.
On a final note, golf gives us tough love, and as difficult and frustrating as it can feel, remember why we play, because it challenges us, it helps us grow, but most importantly, because we enjoy and embrace all the challenges it throws our way!
Have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from all of us at the JFGA!
