Golf's Holy Week: The Metaphor of the Masters

Golf's Holy Week: The Metaphor of the Masters

In a sports-saturated culture like the U.S., people compare themselves to the games they like to play. Reading the newspaper, magazines, television, even sermons use sports to illustrate their points of view. Businessmen refer to moving their players around the chessboard of the market; using the “team” analogy in almost every presentation about their groups.

The Masters®

Bobby Jones (co-founder) on the course

If there is a “holy week” in golf’s religious calendar this is the week. We’ve hosted the PGA Tour® in Houston and all of golf’s attention now focuses on Augusta, Georgia and the Masters® which is the first and most prestigious major tournament; a tradition unlike any other. Most golf fans consider this the official start of golf season, like NASCAR®’s Daytona 500; and they worship Augusta as some sort of mythical Shangri-La location, like mecca to where all golfers hope to ascend. My two favorite Masters tournaments were 1984 and 1995 both won by Texas Longhorn Ben Crenshaw in dramatic fashion; yet first time winners Larry Mize (1987) and Phil Mickelson (2004) were the most remarkable and rewarding for the players as professionals.  

I’ve previously written a blog post about golf (August 2011):  http://bit.ly/1qdrHkV

I look forward to watching the Masters® broadcast over the weekend, in part because it includes so few commercials. Even though they appear on the same network, seemingly every game-break during MarchMadness® necessitated another loud advertisement. Everything about the Masters® telecast radiates the soft pastel beauty of an azalea spring; even the music, narration, and camera angles. (Full disclosure: this is the first time I’ll watch it in full-HDTV!)

From the concessions (burger, chips, and a beer for $6.50), to the bathrooms (all have attendants), to the pro shop (ship directly from UPS next-door), and the immaculate condition of the grounds (no cart paths), the event exudes pure southern class more than any commercial sporting venue. Many consider this tournament the highest priority for viewing in the entire year of sports; more important than the SuperBowl®--put simply, because of its “old school” charm.

Like chess, with its distinctive board, players, and strategic moves; golf involves fighting against an opponent in an intensely mental competition. I propose that golf provides an excellent canvass on which to paint the metaphor of life; but it is difficult game to embrace.

As a family man, golf extracts a certain amount of guilt as a result of dedicating half a day to the game. It’s inconvenient, expensive, and elitist. By elitist I don’t mean snobby, but the fellowship of golfers is not broad like sports we all play as youngsters. Like scotch, one develops a taste for golf later in life; however it is a “human” game with great historical significance.

Although many complain about its archaic and cumbersome format and rules, the handicap system gives an egalitarian opportunity for any player to challenge any fellow golfer to a match. Each golfer is equally weighted against the other based on the difficulty of the individual holes and how many shots the weaker player is given. It’s pretty cool.

After a long time apart, I re-acquainted myself with golf last October on a beautiful Sunday when all conditions were right for a game. KHOU-TV ran a story about the old Gus Wortham Park falling into disrepair and the city’s intent to re-organize the golf course or even demolish it. My family was out of town and the weather was perfect. The story provided me with the opportunity to learn some local history and get some casual exercise as well.

The city bought this course from the old HCC in 1972, and I curiously drove far into east Houston to find this historic site, originally designed in 1908. I suspected that it would be a classic styled shorter course, with cousins in Fort Worth, Austin, Oak Cliff, and Hermann Park. Besides, wasting another Sunday on the Texans or Cowboys did not seem like the best use of my time. The day provided a serene atmosphere and an enjoyable round; nature’s beauty combined with man’s ingenuity. The quiet solitude, the fall breeze, the beautiful pastoral setting; all combined for a therapeutic session of reflection and escape.

I decided to re-approach golf with lowered expectations. My game is weaker with no practice and ancient equipment, my attitude was simple: it’s a nice day, just go play! I lean toward hitting range balls for stress relief, my performance never exceeds inconsistency, flashes of brilliance, or the perfectionism bred by watching too much televised professional golf. My conscious goal was to learn the course by studying its terrain, grass, and greens; as well as walk the course in the pure golf tradition, taking care not to compare myself to any other golfer on this beautiful day. Secretly, I wanted to see the amber sunset over the last green as I finished the round, but I wasn’t sure I could finish all 18-holes that evening. Other than that, I held no agenda for this fresh round of golf.

One can learn about golf at an early age in “Junior Golf;” it’s like Sunday school—basic and easy to consume, but fundamental to proper mechanics. Even so, golf and life get more complicated when you get out onto the course and each shot presents risks & rewards, challenges & hazards. Learning the game early in life doesn’t guarantee future success, but like the scriptures admonish, raise a child right and when they grow up they will not depart from the Lord’s ways.

I resisted the innate urge to focus on completing tasks successfully. After a life of competition, the meticulous score-keeping of golf would naturally attract me, right? Yet, it isn’t a perfectionist’s game—they left the course long ago. Golf in all its complexity and seriousness is a game of grace. Like life, for those of us in the big, competent, average middle, golf reflects the ceaseless requirement of circumstances in life requiring mercy, patience, and forgiveness. 

Simple elegance or refinement of movement describes the subtle “grace” of a golf swing. I mean grace as a temporary exemption, a reprieve from the harsh criticism deserved for plunking a ball right in the water hazard. Grace in golf holds the hope that the next shot will be better, and finishing the round successfully generates smiles and the peace of mind enjoyed from simply playing the wonderful game on a pretty day. Grace is good for us, so golf is good for us. I keep trying this difficult game both for the good of the game and for the good of me!
 
Golf is like life in that every day is like every hole or every shot; it must be embraced one step at a time, and we cannot lose focus of our own vision, focus, or swing. Without concentration and balance, along with rhythm and confidence, I tend to rear back and hack at the ball with questionable results. The beauty of golf’s structure is that even after the worst hole, the score is written on the card and you proceed to the next hole. All the previous good or bad is forgiven and forgotten. [Jack Nicklaus, after making a quadruple-bogey 7 at the 12th hole of Augusta in 1991 and then making four consecutive birdies, said: "You have to put such things out of your mind."]

Each shot requires individual consideration and execution just like every day of our lives. The past is gone, the future uncertain; all that exists is the shot before you right now. Alistair Cooke said, “Golf is an open exhibition of overweening ambition, courage deflated by stupidity, skill scoured by a whiff of arrogance.” I’ve always remembered the great courses and the good shots, even years later.

“What makes the Masters different from the other 3 majors? Every shot was a summation of every shot played in my whole career. As fans, or as an announcer, one senses that. We very rarely see quick, careless swings at the Masters. Poor shots, yes, but never lax ones. Only the Masters brings that out.”  --Nick Faldo as told to Jim Nantz

Each hour is a swirling storm of thoughts, feelings, desires, etc.  Some are good, some are bad, like golf rounds with sweet shots and balls in the water hazard.  The rules of golf established by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club at St. Andrews Scotland are similar to God’s established moral standards, telling us which actions are good and which are bad.  Romans 7 says we should resist the bad impulses and cultivate the good.  A person's feelings vary hour-by-hour, just as my mood changes every shot and every hole on the golf course; yet they don’t change the standards of the game, even when I desperately want them to.

Character in life and golf is doing what is right when no one is watching; golf’s intense culture of self-regulation, and long held gentlemanly standards reflect daily life as much as any game I’ve played. The final day of The Masters® Tournament provides heightened drama: golfers' caddies traversing the back-nine like sherpas, competitors matching birdie for birdie with shot after shot. The greens of Amen Corner, with undulations and tricky pin placements call out for shots like the "Sirens," living on three small, rocky islands enticing golfers, but ultimately causing them to crash their ships into them, sinking their hopes for winning. ##

Scattershooting:

Dan Jenkins, covering the Masters® for his 63^rd year:

"I can only tell you that eggs, country ham, biscuits, a pot of coffee, a morning paper, a table by the window overlooking the veranda and putting green, listening to the idle chitchat of competitors, authors, wits and philosophers; hasn't exactly been a torturous way to begin each day at the Masters all these years." (end quote)

The Masters®

[2014 Tournament Facts:

• This is the 78th Masters Tournament
• 97 players were invited to play this year (six are amateurs)
• 25% of the players have never played this tournament before
• The favorite to win, Tiger Woods will miss the tournament this year for the first time since he was an amateur...
• Defending champ: First-time winner Adam "Ozzie" Scott (only 3 winners repeated)
• It is the only major where a winner hasn't shot in the 60s for all four (4) rounds in victory
• Coverage Thursday and Friday on ESPN
• Coverage of the final two rounds is on CBS
• Wall-to-wall coverage on Westwood One and SiriusXM satellite radio]

©Mark H. Pillsbury

Thoughts on the PGA and golf (Aug. 10, 2011):

I don’t believe golf is like life. It’s more complicated than that and golf has facets to it that are inscrutable.

However, as we approach the final of the four “Majors” which tees off Thursday morning, I want to talk about golf and tell what it means to me:

Golf is a jealous mistress, requiring time, money, attention, long-suffering patience, and secret obsession. Egalitarian and often blind, watching others play golf sometimes confounds: I have seen people who “look-like” golfers play poorly, and those street urchins on a public sandlot play like Seve Ballesteros, always known to attack the course and any opponent on his way to par. Real pressure in a golf game with Seve would be playing for $10 when you only have a $5 in your pocket!

Because golf has gone global (as FedEx® says it has) its future is probably as bright as any major sport. Like basketball, with numerous multi-national stars, and competition played worldwide, the post-Tiger era seems promising. A strong wave of young guns arrived on the golf scene a year ago, comers who surely began the game as 8-9 year olds when Tiger started his legendary run.

It is a unique game, historic and humbling; anyone can play, the great players with the hackers, boys and girls, old and young. It affords players a social opportunity as well as one grounded in nature.

Truly hitting the ball without “thinking about it,” when it leaps off the clubface with the crack of a good shot, gives me a childishly fun and pure reaction. Like life, the hazards along the course infuse fear into the average player, taking away the trusting mindset required to swing freely. The combination of physical, mental, and natural processes make it a challenging, lifetime sport, requiring concentration, dedication, and ethics. I’ve learned a lot about respect, about values in life, to be honest with yourself whether you hit it well or in the hazard because you're the only person who can give yourself a penalty, if you do something your playing partner hasn't seen.

The year’s last major is the PGA played in Atlanta (AAC). The PGA suffers from a bit of an infereriorty complex, the tournament invented a tagline with a branding twist: “Glory’s Last Shot!” Mathematically it is one-quarter of all majors just like the other ones, except in almost all the metrics of modern golf it comes in fourth place in importance.

Maybe it is just so damn hot in August, football is heating up, baseball going into a pennant race; nevertheless, hoisting the huge Wannamaker Trophy pays in multiple exemptions for the winner (means he gets invited to lots of tournaments without qualifying), as well as a $1 mil check. It was once the only match-play major until television convinced the PGA to change the format in 1958. With this year’s field almost 156 players (98 out of top-100 ranked) including Mr. Woods, any golf fan can find a horse on which to bet. Speaking of football and heat, the PGA was twice played in Dallas!

It does help that almost a third of this tournament’s champions are big names, such as: Gary Player, Lee Trevino, Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Lord Byron Nelson, Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Walter Hagen, and Sam Snead (28 PGA titles among those names).


“You know, I started thinking back there on that last hole. All I’ve done my whole life is play golf, work at golf, study golf, listen to golf, read about golf. I’ve worked to build a game I can rely on, make a living with. Find a ‘repeating swing,’ as Hogan called it. I’ve experimented with all the equipment—graphite, metal, titanium. I’ve found what works best for me, for my body, my swing. This year I come up with some solid chances to win a big one. After all the years and all the hard work out here, my game’s ready to win a major. But what happens? I get a lousy ruling in Augusta… I get a lousy ruling at Pinehurst… and I get another one here. Each time I let it beat me. I really let it beat me. So I’m thinking my hard-headed ass has finally learned something. Golf’s not about equipment… technique… distance… practice… saving shots… the putting stroke… any of that. Once you know how to hold the damn golf club, golf is only about one thing. How you handle bad breaks.” –Bobby Joe Grooves in Slim and None, by Dan Jenkins (Doubleday 2005)

If you wish to hide your character, do not play golf. It strips you naked and forces you to strategize in an area as small as 5-inches across: your brain!

Every hole contains chapters like a book: the big opening salvo off the tee, winding through the hazards finding the way home to the green—the climax. Then the soft finish as the putting closes the story. I find the chance at renewal after each hole refreshing; as you walk to the next teeing area, leave what happened yesterday at the previous green. The new day dawns as you push the tee into the ground and look forward down the fairway, new opportunities and dangers await you.

Dealing with the reality of my game, I have come to the conclusion that it is more satisfying to be a bad player at golf: the worse you play, the better you remember the occasional good shot! That shot is the one that brings you back next time, the one fantastic glass of Cabernet in a week full of $9 Chardonnays.

Sex and golf are the two things you can enjoy even if you're not good at them, so the best thing you can try to do, is go out there and have fun!

©Mark H. Pillsbury