written by Jacques Bornman
I have a love/hate relationship with golf. I love talking about the shots, the pro’s, the tournaments, the courses and all things golf. I love to spend money on magazines and equipment — all in the hope of improvement. Once, I’ve even been on top of the golfing world. I won tournament after tournament. Competitors crumpled with fear at the sight of my name on the leader board. It was the stuff of legends — a sight to behold. But it wasn’t to last. My career came to an abrupt and tragic end — a power failure forcing me (never a good thing in golf) to abandon the “Tiger Woods for PC” fantasy world.
The hate dimension of the relationship comes into play on the fairways (I wish) and greens. I have been playing golf for more than 10 years now, endured many troubles and toils. Golf is a humbling game — where one day you have the game figured out, and the following day you’re reminded that its math is not that simple, and it doesn’t always add up. One perfectly executed shot though, is enough motivation for rounds on end.
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People who follow their life’s quest have faced their fears. They’ve conquered many of them. But, even in spite of persistent fears, they still run the good race. They continue to climb the highest mountains. They can’t stop chasing the brightest stars. If necessary, they’ll even flop their way to the top. Like Dick Fosbury, they challenge conventional ways of doing things, even if it means not doing the high jump the conventional way. In 1968 at the Mexico Olympics, Fosbury chose not to cross the bar with his body parallel to it, but to bring his legs up and flip over the bar backwards. The result of this ‘Fosbury Flop’? Well, he set a new world record for high jump at 7 ft 4 inches.
Eli Wiesel tells the story of his visit to a Jewish community in the old communistic Moscow. During a religious feast, some of them openly danced in the streets. When he asked why they danced, a woman answered: “All year I live in fear. But once a year, on this day, I refuse to be afraid. Then I’m a Jew and and I dance in the streets!”