by Dr. Russ and Julieta Stack, LPGA Member….   

His tee time was 8:45am and Adam was just pulling into the parking lot next to the clubhouse at 8:40am, as usual. He hurriedly grabbed his clubs from the trunk of his car and ran, literally, over to the first tee where his playing partners stood shaking their heads and looking at their watches. “You’re up Adam,” one of them said. We already teed off.” Adam set his bag down, pulled his driver took a few rushed practice swings, teed the ball and proceeded to hit a duck hook into the trees off to the left about 185 yards down the fairway. As he started to tee another ball, one of his partners quipped, “No breakfast balls today; we’re already half a hole behind the group in front.” By hole #3, Adam finally seemed loosened up and was swinging the club better, though not until after a pair of double bogies on #1 and #2. 

We can easily see the impact Adam’s lack of warm up for the round and his rushed approach to the first tee have on his game. What we don’t yet know is the extent to which he approaches many things in his day to day life in this last minute way and, if so, what the effect of it is on his life.

Golf, more so then almost any other sport, mirrors life off the course—it offers a great metaphor for how we strategize, problem solve, handle mistakes, focus, deal with frustrations and stress, and how we contend with a roller coaster of emotions experienced during a round.