The only purpose of the lesson was to help my player, a very good 9th grader who is one of my favorites, be prepared for anything, and I mean anything, that could happen on a golf course.
Whether the situation was good or bad, weird or annoying, odd or downright goofy, I wanted this lesson to help him learn how to keep a steady attitude and stay focused on the task at hand.
I had no idea how fantastic this lesson would actually turn out to be.
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I give most of my lessons out on the golf course instead of the driving range. Most of my players are trying to get better at playing golf, and golf is played on the golf course. With many of my players, I play with them during the lesson. This way, they get to watch how I handle myself, we sometimes compete, and many a times I want to show (not tell) them something.
With this particular student, it’s a little bit of all three, but he has gotten so good, we now definitely compete. (There’s a standing offer to his dad that the first time he beats me the lesson is free.)
But in this particular lesson, it was all about demeanor, resilience, attitude, and mental fortitude regardless of what might happen. I had a few simulated tricks up my sleeve, but it turned out I wouldn’t need many of them.
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Straight out of my office, I double bogeyed the first hole like I’ve done a million times. It used to be annoying. Now I just laugh.
I birdied the second hole, as I confidently told my player I would.
My player jumped up to the third tee in front of me, which usually doesn’t mean a damn thing to me. But I wanted to throw some things his way, so I kicked his ball off the tee. Don’t jump in front of my birdie. He got pissed and started to unravel. Had he not chipped in for a remarkable par about five minutes later, this lesson would have been over.
The fourth hole runs adjacent to an outside neighborhood, and every now and then, a teenager or two sneak onto the property. On this day, it was a guy and girl, the guy dressed like Spider-Man, and they decided to roll around in our bunkers and steal our boundary stakes and bunker rakes. Caught in two minds between playing, teaching, and being the golf professional, I ran them off with my glare, but I was indeed annoyed. Distracted, I double bogeyed the hole after a perfect drive, a victim of my own golf lesson.
I birdied the next hole, obviously.
I double bogeyed the next hole, inexplicably.
I narrowly missed birdie on the seventh, then remarkably again double bogeyed the eighth. Boy, we were all laughing. Double bogey, birdie, kicking a golf ball, Spider-Man, birdie, double bogey, nearly another birdie, and then another double bogey? Little did we know I was saving the best for last.
—
Throughout the roller coaster of a lesson where I almost had to call the police to eradicate the trespassers, I stayed focused on the next shot, kept a great attitude, and laughed a lot. I couldn’t do squat about what had already happened, and that’s what I wanted to teach my young blossoming player. Laugh (or be annoyed) about Spider-Man, but birdie the next hole.
After I made my fourth, yes fourth, double bogey in eight holes, my player and his dad were nearly speechless as we approached the ninth tee. Just finish strong. That’s all I was thinking as I piped one down the middle. I had 158 yards into a front left pin, and just to put an exclamation point on the greatest golf lesson ever given, I hit the ball straight into the hole for eagle.
Four doubles, two birdies, two pars, one eagle, a kicked golf ball, my player chipping in, a Spider-Man sighting, and a near phone call to the police.
How did you do that, my player asked as we all laughed hysterically.
One shot at a time. Nothing less. Nothing more. It’s a goofy game.
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Have a great week.-Benj
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