The greatest game ever played

Golf is the closest game to the game we call life. You get bad breaks from good shots; you get good breaks from bad shots - but you have to play the ball where it lies.


- Bobby Jones
 
The golf course is almost ready for a wintery nap. Irrigation lines are all blown out, as well as the out buildings. Playing surfaces are protected against snow mold, a cold weather fungus which can injure fine turf. Tee markers, signs, stakes, and ball washers have been brought in out the winter elements. Although it seems a little sad, these comfortable autumn days are still enjoyable, you may have to walk a little more to keep the body warm, but the golf is still good.


The golf course, without all the amenities I mentioned, takes on a simple look. As a golf minimalist, I can’t stop myself from looking at all the things we don’t really need, to play golf. We love to clog up the landscape, addicted to nifty gadgets and placards with symbols that provide information. We sure go through some great effort to make a simple game complicated and expensive. Yes, I realize that my colleagues and I play a big role in this, but so does golfer demands. It all comes down to that overused and vague term…….value.

If golf is going to survive the next generation, we need to figure out its value, and that may mean, getting back to the basics; the true essence of the game which has held the attention and fascination of men and women for over a hundred years. This great game which is now viewed as boring and time consuming to the younger crowds, depends on them to survive and flourish. Golf not only affords us exercise and escape, but teaches valuable life lessons like perseverance, patience, forgiveness, and more importantly, redemption.

Those are my golf thoughts for today.

Go Blue,

Turf