5 LIFE LESSONS from the golf course
1. Sportsmanship: Sportsmanship is very important in the sense that you can’t always win and when you don’t, you have to know how to handle it. You can show sportsmanship by congratulating the person you are playing with by saying “great round” or “nice playing with you” or even saying “That was fun I hope we get to play together again” This is how you show sportsmanship to your playing competitor.
2.Determination: As in not winning every time, but working hard to become better. Or practicing when you may not really want to, but you do it because you have the determination to want to get better. Or as in practicing while it is pouring, cloudy, and cold. This is determination and if you have determination and want to get better, nothing is stopping you from becoming the best you can be. Even if you are already good at your sport, remember that there is ALWAYS better.
3.Honesty: This is an important step in playing the game. If you tell the person you are playing with you got a 5 when you really got a 6, this is not telling the truth and you aren’t being honest. This is letting yourself down and isn’t helping yourself in any way. Just because you say you shoot a 51 doesn’t mean anything unless you can do it consistently. Be honest all the time and just be yourself– don’t try to be someone you’re not.
4.Patience: Golf is a game that definitely takes patience. Golf has no key secrets. It takes patience, time, and a lot of practice to be good at Golf. A 9 hole round of golf can easily take up to 2 hours and an 18 hole round can go up to 5 hours. If you don’t have the patience for the game, you will never get to enjoy it the great sport it is and you will never have a chance to become good at it. For example if there is a group in front of you that is playing very slow, you have to wait till they finish the hole and it is then your turn to play forward.
5. Respect: Golf is a game of respect for others around you and the course you play on. When you play, you should respect the people and players you play with. You shouldn’t make fun of them or pick on them– you should help them and try to get along. When you play and you take a divot out of the ground, you should replace it and when you make a mark in the green, you should fix it. One more way to show respect is to shake your competitor’s hand when you finish.
Ryan Lovelass is an 12th grader here at Galway. He is very active in his community and participates in many activities both in and out of school. He has...