A Whole-In-One Mentality

I was born and raised in the Tampa Bay area. Because I’ve lived here for 37 years, one might readily surmise that I have played a lot of golf – a lot of bad golf.

Nevertheless, I have made the intrepid journey onto many courses and like other golfers have had moments of brilliance among the many more moments of frustration.

But the most brilliant moment I have ever experienced was my one hole-in-one (to-date).

I was playing an executive course, Countryway in Tampa, Florida with a friend of mine. We had just finished a twilight-start of the front nine and were approaching the tee box of the tenth hole when the weather rapidly turned (as so common during a Florida summer).

In just a matter of minutes, the sun was obscured by dark and heavy clouds and rain was imminent. We agreed we could weather a little rain, but at the first sign of lightning, we’d head-in.

By the time we played the eleventh hole, a slight sprinkle had become a steady rain; and as we approached the twelfth, the course ranger motored past us and removed the pin as I teed-up – an unsubtle sign the course was closing. I decided to make my tee-shot anyway.

With iron in-hand, I looked toward the green; it was barely visible, obscured under rain and gray sky.

I tweaked my grip, and repeated in my head the same refrain I always do, “Head-down, nice-and-easy swing, follow-through.”

I swung…head-down, nice-and-easy and followed through.

My friend complemented me on my swing. I accepted and then asked if he had followed it, he had – right to the green.

With the rain now heavier, we decided to just pick-up my ball and head to the pro-shop.

As we approached the green, neither of us could find my ball. My friend was sure it was on or very near the green, so it must be there. After a few minutes of vain search, my friend asked me if I had looked in the hole. No, I had not; it didn’t even occur to me.

Lo-and-behold, there it was!

The moment I pulled the ball from the hole, we began laughing and celebrated with high-fives and cheers.

I could not believe it, a hole-in-one!

As soon as I got home, I phoned my brother and told him about my magnificent swing, detailing exactly what I did: addressed the ball and told myself, “head-down, nice-and-easy swing, follow-through.” Wah-la!

My brother asked if it hit the pin or rolled-in. I could answer because I lost-track-of-it and the pin had been removed. Then it hit me, the mere fact that I couldn’t see the pin meant I followed my ritual without inhibition. That is to say, all the pressure and reservations were removed when the pin was removed; all I could do is relax and swing.

That’s a whole other mentality than golfers normally take. Instead of trying to remember every single game-changing tip and incorporating them into the perfect swing, I was resigned to the essentials, to the basics…a simple, but whole-in-one mentality.