One of my very best friends expressed to me how my journey in the game of golf has inspired him. Hopefully, this article will inspire you to be the best you can at the game and life. I often refer to golf as God’s Game of Life and Faith.
QUALITY FRIENDSHIP
I started playing golf because I could not sleep. A friend allowed me to use a set of clubs and once I hit a bucket, or two, after work, I was settled down enough so, that I could go to sleep.
Going to the range and hitting golf balls has provided me a great way to relax the majority of my adult life. I can tell you this has been good for my family and for those I worked with; I was a better person. Over several weeks, as I continued to hit balls for relaxation, I then decided to take to the course. One of the first things I observed was the quality of people I met on the golf course. The quality of people I met became a one of the best benefits of playing the game. My very best friends in my life play golf.
Travis Lewis holds his 1st place trophy at the Barry McClure Memorial Golf Tournament
EARLY DAYS GROWING UP
Growing up on a farm in North Carolina I was never exposed me to millionaires, or government leaders. Playing in my first scrambles exposed me to those types of people. The kindness and intellect of these people inspired me to reach higher standards in life. It wasn’t so much that I was enamored with their wealth and titles, but I was inspired by their desire to excel in life and exceed the standards required in the game of golf. Golf is not a game of perfect because, we human beings aren’t perfect but it is the pursuit of excellence in oneself that inspires me.
Golf is so representative of life. As a believer, I feel this game is “God inspired”. When you play golf you pursue excellence but no one can achieve perfection in the game. We know what the standards are, but no one can maintain that perfection no matter at what level we play. To play golf well you have to believe you can execute a shot on demand, you have to have faith in your abilities. If you are guessing you often fail to execute the shot. In life we have to step out on faith in so many areas of our lives. Golf also helps one to really get to know themselves.
If you are competitive person golf is a great way to be yourself in the game. I tell people to find their level of desire in the game. If you want to compete just with yourself, a small circle of friends, state, nationally, or on the international level golf is a medium one can pursue at many levels.
PATIENCE IS THE KEY
Another way golf relates to everyone is that we all have to learn on at our own level, at our own pace, and in our own way. One of my instructors was having some issues with his family and he wondered why they didn’t understand what he wanted them to retain. As he and I tried methods and ways to improve our games we came to understand that no matter how hard you want others to attain what you have in the game, it has to done on the terms of the person being taught. He and I would train as hard as one could train on certain skills. No matter how hard we trained we still couldn’t achieve our objectives. Patience with others is a key to helping them grow. The bottom line is that people can work hard trying to achieve each skill; something can only be learned over time and on that person’s time. Just like a child being taught to walk. You can hold their hand, they can see you walk, but until they are ready to walk they won’t.
Travis Lewis (right) accepts $5,000 check for his tournament win.
Another analogy is that sometimes failure is part of the method to growth. If you plan to play competitive golf you will have some loses. Actually, if you look at the statistics of some of the games most lauded professional golfers they will have as many losses as they do wins. In life we will have several loses and the key to moving forward is acceptance.
ACCEPTING YOURSELF
Acceptance is one of the biggest rules of life most people fail to grasp. Many of the golfers I know often relate their score to who they are. Golf is truly a game and not who you are. If you shoot 67 or 97 you are neither of those scores. All of us want to shoot a 67 and tell our friends that score; but if you shoot 97 your family still loves you. Acceptance is so important to life. Until I lost a brother-in-law and in 29 days later my second oldest brother I had never truly accepted death as a part of life. Accepting your abilities in life and all the ups and downs of life is just like accepting the up and downs of a round of golf. I get to play with guys who hit it 300 yards on demand and I have beat a lot of them at different times. The key is I play my game, not theirs; I accept my abilities in the game.
I’m a purist of the game; therefore I’m not in favor of anything that will lower the standards of the game. No matter how you feel about Tiger Woods, I will always honor him for raising the standards in the game. We need people who will raise us to the next level. Beating a guy you know you can beat will only keep you at that same level or less. Golf and life demands our best and our pursuit of excellence.
As a nation I see too many good standards being lowered because people seek the easy way out. As I said earlier the people who inspired me are the one’s that were better than I was or the ones who working to pass me. Recently I played with a guy who said the reason he desires to play with me is because I push him to be better. I hope you will read this article and say, I want to be better.
Lorenzo Hobbs is an avid golfer and serves as a Program Manager with the U.S Department of Veterans Affairs OSDBU. He resides with his family in Fredericksburg, VA.
