Golf and Character

The British Open Golf Championship began today in England. On a links course in the northwest “Lancaster walking country.”
This isn’t Syria or the UN debate or even questions about what Romney will do to reveal his tax returns or what Obama will do to try to cover up his dismal failure with the economy.
No. It’s about golf. And, for me, golf is not simply a sport. It is a code of conduct. A way of life.
Because on a golf course, you are facing yourself. Nobody can cover your errors. Nobody can make up for your weaknesses. Nobody can give you a second chance. There you are, facing 7,000 yards divided into 18 holes, with 15 clubs, a pack of balls and your own character for company.
The men who are playing in the Open this week have played the game during most of their lives. They know what to do. What counts this week is execution and character.
On the long, well-mowed and carefully groomed American golf courses, a good golfer can muscle his way to victory if he can hit a straight long ball. On other American and world courses, perhaps shorter but with more hazards built in, he can win if he can aim the ball toward the green and putt well.
But, the British Open is often on a links course. The courses played by the first golfers 500 years ago in Scotland. Links are laid out along the sea. They have roughs that often hide the fairway from the vantage of the tee. They have tall sea grasses that defy any golf club to cut through them. They are unpredictable because of the sea winds and rain that pelt or caress them, depending on the weather pattern in effect.
It is on links courses that real golfers are tested and proved. Or fail.
And, failing is not so much winning or losing. It is more the ability to keep one’s cool in the face of the impossible.
It’s a lot like life really. Life delivers blind alleys, tall obstacles that seem impossible to jump over, winds and surprises that no one can anticipate. But, the goal in life is to stay calm. Learn as much as possible. Control your emotions. Be polite but determined. Don’t blink.
On any golf course, it’s the same. Be polite. Don’t lose your temper.
But, on a links course, it is also the ability to arrive by accommodation, without trying to force events. A links will kill you if you try to overpower it. The old axiom of golf, play the ball where it lies, must have been spoken the first time on a links. The ball is often in a place only a devil could have conceived. But, play it. Calmly. With sangfroid. Knowing that at the end of the day, it will be not just your score but how you handled yourself on the way to the 18th green that will count.
Maybe that’s why golf is so compelling as a sport. It is about politeness. Perseverance. Humility. Planning. Facing oneself without flinching. Winning without cheating or lying to oneself. Character.
Maybe that’s also why, when I was ten, my father handed me over to a golf pro. I will never forget what he said. “Make a lady of her.” Not a golfer. Not a pro. Not a competitor. A lady. Because, lady or gentleman, that is what golf is all about.
Like life, it isn’t whether you win or lose. It’s how you play the game.
The only person I’ve ever admired who turned that idea on its ear was Al McGuire, a great American university basketball coach. He said, of course it matters who wins, otherwise they wouldn’t keep score.
So, keep score, guys, on the British Open links this week. But, as I know you will, remember also that it’s how you play the game.
Now, if politicians could just take that truism to heart.