Bunker Mulligan "Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry." ~Mark Twain

As my sons were growing up, I insisted they participate in at least one team sport and one individual sport. Team sports give you the chance to work as a group, learning how synergism works. It teaches you to do your own job well without worrying about what others are doing. If everyone on the team takes that approach, the team does well regardless of individual talent.

Individual sports give you the opportunity to learn self-reliance and self-discipline. When you walk onto a wrestling mat or tennis court or golf course, it’s just you on your own. You had better be prepared. Nobody can pick up any slack you leave. Dedication can overcome talent. I’ve seen it happen many times. In fact, my oldest son was the least athletically talented of my boys, yet he was the one who played college football and baseball. He even wrestled his freshman year.

All three played football, baseball, and wrestled. While growing up, they also got a few seasons of basketball and soccer in, and tried tennis and golf on their own.

Along the way they had some good coaches and some bad ones, some who were good teachers and some who weren’t. Fortunately, they had a father who was involved to help them understand the difference. I coached a lot of baseball, and generally tried not to coach my own sons. When they had a season with a coach I didn’t think understood coaching, I made sure they played for me the following year. They suffered through a year with me as their basketball coach, and next year played for someone who knew what they were doing!

I had the good fortune of coaching junior varsity baseball at USAFA. It was a wonderful experience, and I learned a lot. In particular, I learned what college scouts are looking for. I later had the good fortune to get to coach high school baseball at a private school in Texas. It was a “part-time” position, and I still worked my regular job. If I were to calculate my hourly wages for coaching, it would have been less than $5 an hour. Regardless, I put the money right back into the program, along with another chunk of cash in the form of equipment, grass seed, fertilizer, and balls. Worth every cent. I think the boys got something from me.

What Bogey talks about in his post is very common. I replaced a basketball coach who had the baseball team as a sideline. He was (and is) a very good basketball coach. But he doesn’t have a baseball heart. The boys Bogey played with have a similar coach–one with no golf heart.

Coaching golf in high school is nothing like being the football coach or basketball coach. Practices are a time to work on specific areas of the game, and the coach doesn’t need to be a PGA professional. If a player wants to play, he’ll find the right swing instructor. A high school golf coach needs to know how to think his way around a course, because that’s what the players need to learn. They probably already have the skills, but they need to learn how to make the most of that talent.

The biggest failure in our public schools is exactly this, and it is the most important lesson a coach can offer–and one nobody else on the faculty really can. Coaches teach life. Be one if you can.

Today was one of those days. It started off well, but ended with 91. My swing completely deserted me. I got a bit frustrated, but finally reminded myself that the score wasn’t why I played. I played because I enjoy golf. Things went a little better after that.

Really, today was not a good day at the course in general. I am the Tournament Chairman for our local association, but only because I wasn’t around when the voting took place. For the last year I’ve been on the receiving end of every complaint by anyone who felt they were mistreated in pairing, didn’t like the format of a tounament, didn’t like playing in a group other than their regulars, or objected to playing from a different set of tees.

I thought I was through with the job, but had to furnish a tournament listing for this year to the course manager so he could set up the schedule. I simply gave him a copy of last year’s with dates changed to reflect the new calendar. He asked if they were all on the fourth weekend of each month because one group has the second weekend, another group has the third weekend, etc. I asked myself why I even bothered if he already knew which dates needed to be scheduled!

It’s really quite pointless, regardless. The association is made up of the same guys who play every Saturday and Sunday. They have a “blitz,” which is a computer-generated teams event. Everyone puts $7 in the pot, and plays with any group they want. While they’re playing, the course staff puts the names into a program which picks teams of three or four players based on handicap. You don’t know who your teammates are until you finish playing.

Now, this is a group who complain about paying $8 for half a cart. They want to roll the ball around on every shot to get a good lie. And they just want tournaments to be very similar to the Blitz. They don’t like individual play, or even two-man teams. Scrambles are favored. They don’t like playing the back tees because it’s too long–6500 yards!

I like match play, and individual stroke play. I like to depend on my own ability. I’ve never won playing in the Blitz. When I play well, the partners I get don’t When I don’t play well, it doesn’t matter what my partners do. I got tired of simply donating seven bucks.

So, I played alone this morning. The guys I play with Sunday mornings didn’t show up today, as one or two occasionally do. So, I played the back tees, and finished in three hours.

I didn’t play well. I didn’t have a playing partner to tell lies with. I hit some really bad shots.

But I got a few pars, missed a few birdie putts, got out of the sand well, and even had one or two decent drives. It was golf, and I enjoyed my time in the cool January air.

It was golf. Life is good.