Up and Down

Golf is a crazy game. As Max Homa once said, “You are one swing away from thinking you can win the Masters, and another swing away from considering retirement.”

This ideology is something I have struggled with over the past couple of years. At times it feels like golf comes easy, while other days I feel like I don't know the first thing about putting the ball on the tee peg. Through my work with Arthur Hoffman and countless learning experiences, it has been a breakthrough realization that the journey is the destination. The ability to fall in love with the ups and downs of this game and embrace it all - that is the win. 

A good example of what I am trying to describe has come in the form of Rickie Fowler. Having dropped down outside the top 150 in the world in September of 2022, Rickie was struggling. Once a member of the Spring Break 2017 crew, he felt like he no longer belonged with his buddies Jordan Speith and Justin Thomas. However, less than a year later, he is in the final group at the U.S Open with a chance to win on Sunday, with his ranking climbing inside the Top 40 in the world. 

Brooks Koepka was another one. Rumors are that lingering injury and lack of confidence with his swing pushed him over the edge last year when he took the money to go to LIV. It got so bad that apparently he couldn’t think about planning his wedding as his swing was consuming him. With that being said, he just won the PGA Championship and will look to represent the USA at the Ryder Cup in September. 

I was reminded of the struggle of golf seeing Justin Thomas finish second to last out in Los Angeles. It is easy to get wrapped up in the guys who you are seeing on TV, the ones who are playing well. JT, arguably considered one of the top players in the world over the last five years, is finding golf very difficult right now. 

The biggest hurdle, like I mentioned before, is being comfortable with the impermanence of golf. There will be good days and bad ones. Even yesterday, playing in the final match of the CDGA Am, I felt uncomfortable compared to the prior three days where I was in total control. With the awareness of my swing dwindling, I struggled to find it throughout the 36 holes. You will have great feels one day and lose those the very next one. What you can control is how you go about your business and trusting that process because in the end, that is all that matters. 

Golf is chaotic. Thousands of variables in play at once, most of which fall in between your ears. As Brooks Koepka mentioned at this year’s U.S. Open, “find peace in the chaos.”