The Gimme
The ball rests on the greenside slope. All you need is a small chip close to make your par and move on. You’ve been working on this shot for a week, waiting for a chance to try it out.
You step to the ball, pull the club back, and proceed to hit the ground first, giving the ball a shower of dirt but no movement. In frustration, you do it again, angrily now and without care.
The ball rolls to four feet.
You think to yourself and say, “I’m not counting that one.”
The better question is, why?
007 himself, Sean Connery, once said, “Golf is the easiest game to cheat at.” The problem is, the only person you’re cheating is yourself.
This is the revealing quality of the game. I’ve always wondered why anyone would make up stories about their golfing exploits. There’s this preconceived notion that other golfers want to hear how well you shot or how good a golfer you are. Honestly, most golfers couldn’t care less. They’re already caught up in their own inner dialogue.
Golf is a revealing sport. It shows us our inner weaknesses and our greatest mental strengths. It strengthens our resolve and provides moments of stress and contemplation. Should I hit the hero shot, or should I be conservative and save my round for later?
These are all questions we answer during a round of golf. “There’s a lot of golf left to play,” I tell myself. That alone can calm the nerves and allow me to relax. You stop dwelling on the current struggle and start looking forward to better shots and better situations.
Which brings up the question: why do we play a game that is so stressful and complicated? Why do we set aside so many hours of a perfectly good day to play a game that, in one turn, drives us insane, and in another provides us with feelings that can only be found in the bedroom? I’m serious, by the way.
I always come back to a quote from the film Tin Cup: “There has never been such a pure feeling as the well-struck golf shot.” The round will challenge your ego, create distress and despair, make you feel like you should go pro, and eventually provide you with just enough hope to come back again.
By giving yourself a gimme, the only thing you are doing is cheating yourself out of the truth. You are putting unwanted pressure on yourself to perform next time, expecting yourself to be the person you weren’t today and won’t be tomorrow.
That is unhelpful for a lot of reasons. By inflating your inner ego, you’re only hurting your chances of doing better in the future. Be honest about your ability. Put in the work, if you’re able to, and that is the only way to master the game, although not many can say that.
I guess the only thing left to do is go out there and play the game you have that day. Attack when you can, retreat when you can’t, enjoy the fresh air, have a great walk outside, and maintain a level head.
This is why golf might be the best sport for those who are unsure, unrealistic, and unhumbled. The game will figure out how to remedy all of those things, whether you like it or not.
So get out there and be terrible. Nobody cares anyway.
See you in the bushes.
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