Reminded by the Summer Dew
This morning I stepped outside and looked out at my back yard. The coffee was just right and I decided to take a stroll around the yard.
I stepped into the grass and my foot became engulfed with dew.
Those steps became a reminder of my summers when I was young. I was blessed to move at the age of 8 across town in Kansas City to a little nine-hole golf course. It was there that I spent most of my summer mornings waking up early and hitting the dew soaked tee-box to begin a fun round of golf with my neighborhood friends. We were blessed with one of the finest junior golf programs in the city and it was in those years that I fell in love with the game.
Occasionally none of my friends could play so I would join a group of retired gentlemen. These men loved having a “youngster” join them to play. They played a relaxed pace but still kept score and honored each stroke with patience and routine, while paying close attention to the rules. They kept accurate score, called penalties on themselves, and would laugh and talk about all sorts of things in life. Most importantly, they took the time to invest in me by teaching etiquette and that golf is a great game to play by yourself for a challenge. With that, they taught me by example that relationships you can develop in a golf-foursome are invaluable. Last, watching these gentlemen play showed me that the game was a sport that could be played until they day I die. Even at the age of 8, it was clear to me that this game would never go away.
I’m pretty sure I became a morning person because of the game of golf. This is why I’m writing this now in the wee hours. I don’t play much golf anymore since I have a young family and my mornings are spent clowning around with them. My kids will soon be spending their summers at sports and other craft camps so it will be interesting what connects with them. Their stories will be written in the next few years and I can’t wait to read them.
The circle of life continues…
Tell me your favorite summer sports story when you were young! What did you learn from it?
Top 10 Caddyshack Lines You Will Hear at the Office Today
Here are the Top 10 Caddyshack Lines you will hear around the office today.
1. You’re the keynote speaker at a trade conference and your competitor yells out…
“Miss it Noonan! Miss it!”
2. You develop this amazing new product and share it with your group. Someone comments…
“Oh, this is the worst-looking hat I ever saw. What, when you buy a hat like this I bet you get a free bowl of soup, huh? Oh, it looks good on you though.”
3. The college intern walks into a brainstorm meeting, throws out a good idea and says this…
“Cinderella story. Outta nowhere. A former greenskeeper, now, about to become the Masters champion. It looks like a mirac… It’s in the hole! It’s in the hole! It’s in the hole!”
4. You’re on a sales call and you hand the client an invoice for the services. The client says…
“Oh, uh, there won’t be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness.”
5. You’re at the vending machine wondering what to get and someone walks up and says…
“How about a Fresca?”
6. You’re receiving some coaching from your boss about a difficult situation at work. The conversation goes like this…
Boss: You take drugs, Danny?
You: Every day.
Boss: Good. Then what’s your problem?
You: I don’t know.
7. You’re totally screwing up a presentation to your team…
“Just be the ball, be the ball, be the ball. You’re not being the ball Danny.”
8. Your client walks into your office, takes a look around. The conversation goes like this…
Client: This your place, Carl?
You: Yeah, whatta ya think?
Client: It’s really… awful.
You: Well, I got a lot of stuff on order. You know… credit trouble.
9. A friend just bombs a TPS report they turn in and are looking to you for support. You say…
“You’re not, you’re not good, Al. You stink.”
10. You arrive at the hotel during a business trip. You ask the receptionist “This place got a pool?” Your friend next to you says.
“Pool and a pond… Pond be good for you.”
Bonus: You and your co-worker are about to go on a sales call and the conversation goes like this…
Your friend: You’ve got to win this hole.
You: I kinda thought winning wasn’t important
Your friend: Me winning isn’t. You do.
You: Great grammar.
Love of Golf, Love of Team
When I was 8 years old my family moved across town in Kansas City and found a lovely house that sat above the first hole of an executive (shortened) 9 hole golf course. Like most kids that age, I was playing soccer, baseball, basketball, and tennis. Later I even tried football. I was doing way too much but my parents were just trying to test out what I enjoyed and fit me best. My grandparents that year bought me my first set of golf clubs to try out this new sport. Thankfully we had a tremendous local junior golf program and I began that journey.
I was truly hooked at 11 when I played my first golf tournament outside of that course. It was the United Commercial Travelers Junior Golf Tournament qualifier for the state of Missouri. It was a mere 9 hole qualifier and the night before the area received a lot of rain, which discouraged many players from even showing up. The field ended up being about a dozen golfers qualifying to go to the national tournament in Victoria, British Columbia. I can’t even remember what I scored that day but it was enough to earn the victory and get a free trip to Canada for the tournament. My dad accompanied me on that memorable trip.
I remember thinking, “Wow, all golf tournaments must be like this. Winning is pretty awesome.”
I remember not playing very well in Canada but what it did do is hook me into the game and I began quitting other sports. The person who taught me golf told me I had to either quit baseball or golf, my swing would be mess unless I did so. My summers became filled with traveling around Missouri and Kansas, playing in golf tournaments and spending endless hours practicing on the driving range and putting green. Golf to me was perfect for my personality at the time.
Individual.
Me versus the course.
Me versus the others.
It thought it was perfect.
My college days playing for The University of Evansville
When high school came along I played on the school team. For the first time in my life I was part of a team. A golf team? It is an individual sport, right? If you have seen The Ryder Cup or The President’s Cup you usually witness a spirit among those players that is unlike any other time in their individual tournaments. You will see high fives and cheers for each other in individual matches to succeed as well as select formats of two-man best ball and alternate shot. In team golf there are still individual awards for lowest score but the most important prize goes to the team that wins.
I was hooked.
Throughout high school and eventually in college golf I was a moderate success on an individual basis. There are 5-6 players that play in tournaments and I was usually the #3-#5 player. I don’t recall any major wins individually but I do remember every big win our team made. Even on a day I had a double-eagle in a high school tournament, what was more prominent is that our team, The Webster Groves High School “Statesmen” won that tournament and eventually went on to the state championship tournament. I was elected Captain of the team so it was my duty and pleasure to celebrate that feat. It felt amazing.
The 1997 Webster Groves HS "Statesmen" golf team
Life is individual. It is your life to live. But you can’t live it alone and you surely cannot succeed without others. Even most professional golfers have a team of people with them to motivate, teach, and even just listen to them. Most of us in our jobs today work on an individual basis. That mentality is wrong. Look at any successful person in life and you’ll discover their teams.
I love the teams I’m a part of today: Thomas Nelson Publishers where I work, my church, St. Bartholomews, my men’s group, my close friends from Young Life, friends in Kansas City, St. Louis, Evansville, and Nashville, and I would be lost as can be without my family.
My last hole in my college golf was memorable. I duck-hooked my drive into a lake and ended up with double-bogey. I remember being mad at my self because I felt like I let the team down.
But you know what, I graduated a semester early and later the team won a big tournament that spring. That is what I remember most. I’ll take the Ryder Cup competition any day.
Tell me about your teams.
PS I don’t know what it is but these lines from the crass movie Team America: World Police always make me bust out laughing. Hope you do too.
Spottswoode: Remember, there is no “I” in “Team America”.
Intelligence: [pause] Yes, there is.
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