Teeing ground: When it rains on your parade, swing easy

CHENNAI: Well-meaning friends may tell you to make lime juice if life throws a lemon at you. Golfers, however, will advise you to swing easy.

In fact, golf is the most philosophical sport while being one that is most rooted in simple, earthy things. When I say philosophical, I am referring to the fact that your mind has to not only be entirely blank but also be fully focused on the shot you are about to play. Nishkam Karma or detachment, whichever way you view it, golf requires a certain mindset as you wind through the course.

If no good ever came of comparing your fortunes with that of your neighbours, well, it is true of golf as well. You will score neither an eagle nor a birdie – not even a par – if you look at another player’s shot and put yourself under pressure to better that. After all, it is human nature to compete against another but in golf, you play against yourself.

Eyes wide shut: There is something truly metaphysical about the game. The calmness required as you tee up and survey the field. The balance you try to achieve in your practice swing is more mental than physical. To go on down the course overcoming one hurdle after another. To know that you will play better when you are having a bad day and to be aware that the fortunes will turn when your game is on song. It is a full-life experience in about four hours.

What else can you say, except mea culpa, when you repeatedly get into the bunker when 40 yards from the green with a clear view and the whole fairway as clear as the Rajapattai of Kalki’s Ponniyin Selvan? The attendant caddy might say, “oh, chicken wings! You pulled it in,’ alternately, he will admonish you with the ‘you did not see the ball’ refrain. More likely scenario? It was a racing mind that sent the ball into the bunker rather than on to the green.

Established golfers can often go on auto pilot, but those in the earlier stages of the life cycle – which is where most recreational golfers are – do have a lot on their minds even when they are smiling, chatting or checking their shot set-up. This shows in the shot execution. Go to a coach for help, and he will likely say, “you have all the shots; It is important to find the inner rhythm before every shot.”

Get up, get going: Golf teaches you to never give up, and to get up and keep trying no matter how bad yesterday was. Most caddies have a hard time hiding their grin when a daily golfer says, “This is it. I am not playing this stupid game anymore. I am going to throw away my set.” The caddy knows that the golfer will be back on the course same time the next day.

TNGF AGM matters: At a broader level, Chennai golfers had a lot to be philosophical about – accept various factors which affected their engagement with the game. The Cosmo TNGF golfers had to shrug their shoulders and accept the lack of playing opportunities for well over two years and when it all opened up, they had to grin and bear the loss of part of the course. The AGM, held on Wednesday, without any prizes being given away was an undocumented long-term effect of COVID-19 as no tournaments could be held during that period. Traditionally, the AGM was the event of the year, with winners of various tournaments getting felicitated. However, at the AGM, when N Srinivasan, president, TNGF, announced that the new club house – a long pending work in progress on the course – would soon be completed and be fully functional in the near future, there was collective relief. Let us leave all the scepticism behind and say cheers to that.