Theodore is a majestic 110-year-old gum ball tree in the middle of the fairway on hole #3. Over the years, the members have nicknamed him Treeadore.
It takes a good
shot and precision to circumvent him and land your drive on the left side of the fairway. Today, with the morning dew, the ball rolled short and stopped in the middle of the fairway. This required a low stinger under Theodore’s branches. Feeling confident over the ball, I visualized it flying under the branches and rolling on the green. However, my ball took off higher than planned, hit a branch straight on and ricocheted, landing fifty feet behind me.
I bewilderly walked back to my ball, pulled the same club, but this time I had a new perspective. I could get on the green if I skirted Theodore’s left side. Hitting the intended shot, my ball landed two inches off the green. The pin was back, leaving a twenty-five foot putt, which astonishingly found the bottom of the cup … for par. What an bizarre way to play the hole.
In hinesight, sometimes what’s necessary is to go backwards to go forward. A metaphor for life. When I had to go back to rehit the shot, it offered a new perspective … a different way of achieving the same end result.
Golf gives immediate feedback by reflecting back what needs changing … on the golf course of life.
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