What stories have been told of glorious heavenly days spent upon the links contrasted by total irrational madness driving us to the dark outer fringes of hell.
Could Charles Dickens have been a golfer?. Who knows. Had he have been he would surely have experienced an avalanche of bewildering emotions during his round of golf. Perhaps too, he was observed drowning his sorrows at the 19th, and when asked how did go his round he may have uttered "It was the best of days,it was the worst of days".
We all get them. Every one of us. A game of opposites surely, when the back nine doesn't correspond with the front nine or vise versa. Days when the putters hot and the chipping cold. The drivers good and the irons bad. Short game, long game or any combination within the game all fighting for domination.
The game sucks! and yet back we come for more punishment. Why?
Is it because we're all nutters and relish the frequent trips to the outer finges of hell? or could it be perhaps capturing those moments of sheer heavenly blis where the golfing gods bestow their blessing upon the 5 iron which sends the ball soaring gracefully towards the flag on the 170 yard par 3 bouncing once to end up 6 inches from the cup. It's that magical moment when we sink a 20 footer to win the hole. It's that moment of joy to watch our 270 yard drive split the fairway it's all of these and more which keeps us hooked.
It's when the window of opportunity opens that allows us, if only for a brief moment to feel and act like a professional golfer and when that window closes and satan takes over it's when things can get very ugly indeed.
The reason we get annoyed with the game is because deep down we do not want to blame ourselves. It's always external factors like the wind or the rain or the down slope or the up slope the side hill lies or the ball lying in a divot that ruined our shot. It's never our fault.
If we can produce moments of pure magic then why why on earth can we not replicate it at will? It's because my dear friends we have our mind to thank for that. Is is not when you think you're on top of your game things begin to go bad?
For me it would be no fun at all to turn up each and every day with the knowledge I could shoot par golf no matter what the weather. Golf needs it's ying and yang, it's pluses and minuses, it's joys and sorrows. It is the game. The game we enjoy because tomorrow is another day and this day could be our day to tell our story.
No comments:
Post a Comment