Golf: A Course in Life

By John Hanlon

That golf reflects life is not a new thought. What John Hanlon has attempted to do here is to extend the metaphor, to examine it in depth and apply it to both the mental and physical sides of golf, as well as the business and personal sides of our everyday lives.

He is not a scratch golfer or a qualified golf teacher, merely a competent golfer who is a master of metaphor and strives to do his best in all areas of a multi-faceted life. The book is structured with the left hand page identifying a golf experience, and its facing pair commenting on the life lesson that can be drawn from that experience.

As well as being a former creative partner of Sydney communications agency, LOUD, John is a successful singer-songwriter and recording artist, and a writer who has a way with metaphor.

From the Foreword: “I’m well aware some will consider my view of the world to be anachronistic, naive and idealistic and, I admit, in some ways I doggedly cling to what many regard as old-fashioned values. However, I make no apologies for this. I have little time for cynics or so-called realists who abandon tradition in the name of progress or decry idealism as weakness. Cynicism is a close relative of apathy in my view and a man without ideals is a man without a soul. If you don't know what I mean when I say this, this book is not for you.”

About the Author

John Hanlon is a Eurasian who was raised variously in New Zealand, Malaya, Singapore and Australia. In the early 1970s he accidentally became a New Zealand pop star. A few hit songs and a significant number of awards followed before he chose to seek a quieter life. He then spent three decades as a Creative Director in Australia, before returning to live in New Zealand to explore less certain creative pursuits like writing fiction.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Woven Words
• Release date: Jul 8, 2016
• ISBN: 9780992552404

Book preview

Fore!

THAT GOLF REFLECTS LIFE IS NOT A NEW THOUGHT. What I’ve attempted to do here is to extend the metaphor, to examine it in depth and apply it to both the mental and physical sides of golf, as well as the business and personal sides of our everyday lives.

My qualification for attempting this is simply that I’m a writer who has a way with metaphor.

I am not a scratch golfer or a qualified golf teacher. I’m merely a competent golfer who strives to do his best in all areas of a multi-faceted life. In that sense, much of what is written herein unabashedly reflects my own approach to life.

I’m well aware some will consider my view of the world to be anachronistic, naïve and idealistic and, I admit, in some ways

I doggedly cling to what many regard as old-fashioned values.

However, I make no apologies for this. I have little time for cynics or so-called realists who abandon tradition in the name of progress or decry idealism as weakness. Cynicism is a close relative of apathy in my view and a man without ideals is a man without a soul. If you don’t know what I mean when I say this, this book is not for you.

One final thing: I chose to set the words of this book in black and blue; anyone who has battled with this great game will understand why.

Enjoy.

John Hanlon, 2011

Play with the right spirit

GOLF IS A COMPETITIVE SPORT. However, I recently watched a golf tournament where the leader hooked his ball into knee-high rough and his playing partners – and their caddies – instead of concentrating on their own shots, were looking for his ball. They were doing their best to assist the guy they were trying to beat.

That’s golf, and that’s why I’m driven to write this book.

While combatants in other sports resort to sledging and blithely bend the rules to the point of cheating, professional golfers proudly display a sense of fair play and a respect for each other and the traditions of the game.

Some say this gentlemanly conduct is to the detriment of the sport, arguing that a genuine sense of disrespect, even hatred, for your opposition is necessary if you want to win. In recent years I’ve heard comments suggesting that professional golfers are too nice to each other and that ‘nice guys come last’ or ‘nice is boring’.

Such misguided, win-at-all-cost cynicism is no doubt spawned by the steroid-fuelled, multi-million-dollar contract worlds of other professional sports. But money has never been a good excuse for bad behaviour and never will be.

Despite the many hilarious ‘gamesmanship’ ruses some of us employ from time to time in social rounds, we golfers generally try to prevail through our abilities instead of by deliberately psyching out the opposition. Even in head-to-head competition we want our opponents to play well. We just want to play better than they do.

My greatest enjoyment as a viewer is watching international contests like the Ryder Cup or President’s Cup, where both teams vie for supremacy, their competitive passion and pride on display for all to see. They want to win; there’s no denying that, but it’s the spirit with which they contest, their conduct in the heat of the battle and respect for each other at all times that never fail to impress.

IN MANY WAYS, LIFE IS COMPETITIVE. And if you believe everything you hear, it would be easy to subscribe to the line of thinking that states winning is everything. It is not. Winning is undeniably better than losing; but it isn’t everything. Winning doesn’t mean you are the best any more than being the best means you’ll win. There are countless examples of dishonest, selfish and mean-spirited people achieving success, and accruing great wealth in doing so, but are they winners?

In the same way a fish raised in muddy water will taste muddy, a goal attained through less than honourable means will ultimately leave a foul taste in the mouth of anyone with a conscience. No amount of money can change that.

Most wins come at a cost, usually sacrifices of some kind: loss of leisure time, a missed career opportunity, not having that extra piece of cake or, in extreme cases, relationships that suffer through the single-minded pursuit of an unshared goal.

But if you have to sacrifice your soul to reach your goal, the price is too high. It’ll be a Faustian deal and inevitably destructive.

You have free will and you alone choose how to live your life – you alone choose the spirit in which you want to play the game.

In life, as in golf, you’re essentially playing against yourself, testing your ability to deal with various obstacles, conditions, changing landscapes, temptations and personal devils along the way.

If you deal with all these things in the right spirit, you may not always win but you will always be a winner and your life will be enriched in ways money can’t buy.

Think ahead, and then work back

MANY YEARS AGO, after reading an article about Brad Faxon practising for The Open at the Machrihanish links course on the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland, I took Brad’s advice and headed for Machrihanish. The course was everything he claimed it was: a natural jewel set amongst windswept dunes.

By the end of that first round, I knew I’d have to stay and play this links again. So I found my way into a dimly lit clubroom to enquire about accommodation. There, framed on the wall, was Brad Faxon’s scorecard. He’d shot in the mid-60s if I remember correctly. Having just played the course, I thought the score impressive, even more so when I was told by a man sitting there that it was Brad’s first ever round on the links.

Apparently, before playing, Brad walked the course backwards from the 18th green to the first tee, checking out each hole in reverse. He then went out and shot the amazing score.

He thought ahead and worked back.

And that is what we all should do – especially on courses we know well. Try to play each hole backwards in your mind before teeing off. Imagine the easiest place on the green to putt from, the best angle from which to approach the green, then figure out how best to reach that position from the tee.

You often hear golf commentators saying things like: ‘He’s got to make sure he leaves the ball below the hole’; ‘She’d be better to miss it left, rather than short side herself on the right’; ‘He’s using a three wood to take the bunkers out of play’. These are all examples of thinking ahead and then working back.

If the best golfers in the world try to make their shots as easy as possible in this way, surely we should too.

In doing so, don’t let your ego overrule your good judgment. Know your strengths and weaknesses and allow for them. Try to give yourself the easiest, most manageable shot possible each and every time.

WANDER INTO ANY BOOKSHOP AND YOU’LL FIND THE SHELVES REPLETE WITH SELF-IMPROVEMENT BOOKS that say you’ll never reach a desired place in life unless you can first visualise yourself being there.

While this may be true, there is a vast difference between visualisation and wishful thinking. As paradoxical as it sounds, dreams most often come true for those who take a realistic approach to achieving them.

In any aspect of life – with the exception of lottery winners and the occasional pop idol – you don’t go from the bottom to the top in a single bound. You reach the top from somewhere near the top, and you work your way up to that place one step at a time.

Mountain climbers, for instance, don’t just start at the bottom of a mountain and climb blindly upwards until they reach the summit; they plan the climb in stages. Before they set off, they map out the last stage of the climb and know precisely from where on the mountain to launch this final assault.

The previous stages of the climb will all have been designed to get them to this point and each subsequent stage will have been planned from the top down.

This is thinking ahead and working back.

Similar thinking needs to be applied to all the mountains you plan to climb in life. Imagine yourself exactly where you want to be in life and then – in reverse stages – plan the most manageable steps to get there.

Do your homework and get all the information, training, qualifications and/or assistance you’ll need to reach the next stage.

Don’t kid yourself by overstretching your abilities and resources. Set realistic manageable targets for each stage.

Know when to cut your losses

I DON’T REMEMBER THE TOURNAMENTS BUT I DO REMEMBER THE SHOTS. The first was Tiger Woods, in what appeared to be knee-high rough behind trees about 230 yards out from the green. The on-course commentator, David Feherty, assumed Tiger was going to try thrashing a four iron up to somewhere in front of the green for an easy pitch. Instead he lashed and the ball flew out, hooked around the trees and landed on the green. Memory tells me Feherty uttered something unintelligible that sounded like an amalgam of restrained profanity, unfettered adulation and sheer incredulity. But maybe he was just speechless.

The second was Phil Mickelson who’d come to the 72nd hole of the tournament needing to make par to get into a play-off but had sliced his tee shot into a copse of trees. The commentators all agreed he’d have to take the safe route sideways onto the fairway and rely on his sublime short game to save par. But no, not ‘Lefty’. He took out a wedge and muscled the ball up through a tiny gap in the trees that no one else had factored in, landed it about 12 feet from the stick and went on to hole the putt. We had a winner!

In neither case would I advise you to attempt what these golfing geniuses did. What they can do, we can’t. What’s more, we shouldn’t try.

To play your best golf you need to play smart. While this begins with having a course strategy, it also requires changing your strategy when things don’t go to plan. A shot aimed for Position A may well end up in Position Z and, when it does, you need to get the ball back into play as safely as possible. You may drop a shot with such prudence, but if you try to play a miracle shot to make up for a mistake, more often than not, an even bigger number will ensue.

You’ll make more triple bogeys by making bad decisions than you ever will by playing bad shots. I’m willing to bet you have made more pars by reaching the green in one over regulation and one putting than by pulling off the miracle shot.

Knowing when to cut your losses is playing smart; and playing smart is the key to consistent golf.

THE PATH TO SUCCESS IN ANY AREA OF LIFE IS LITTERED WITH OBSTACLES AND HAZARDS. Even with the best planning things can go awry, but surviving failure is essential if you are ever to taste success.

While I’d be the first to urge you never to give up trying in any endeavour, there may well be times when it would be wiser to cut your losses and live to fight another day.

The trick is to recognise and accept when you are at a point when the only way forward is backwards or sideways, or in some other direction to the one you have been travelling.

In more dire instances, there may even be a need to cease the pursuit altogether and find another ambition. Who among us has not pursued some self-fuelled illusion of romance only to be forced to admit in the end that the object of your desire is just not that into you? Those unable to walk away and find more promising candidates for their affections become lonely, pathetic, self-absorbed losers at best, or stalkers at worst, none of which makes an attractive prospect for future romantic interests.

In business, a great deal of time, effort and money can be wasted pursuing some big deal or another when an honest appraisal would have confirmed the cause was lost to begin with, and all work and expenditure would be to no avail.

When deciding when to cut our losses, knowledge gained from experience is usually the best guide. We often know a cause is lost well before we are prepared to say so out loud and, by the time we do speak up, it is too late.

Nobody likes to admit defeat or to be known as a quitter, but to compound a mistaken course by continuing to battle on in the same futile direction can be ruinous.

As Kenny Rogers sang in ‘The Gambler’: ‘You’ve got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em.’

Do it your way