Most people view golf as pure recreation. There are those that make a living in and around golf; players, caddies, equipment manufactuers, club designers, repair shops. For the recreational golfer, this game is usually an escape from their 'real life'. For the artisans in and around the game, it is daily life and they could not eat without it. But for barstool philosophers such as Sandy here, this silly game mirrors life in sublime ways. Take causality; that which is done resulting in some outcome. In most games, causality is relatively immediate. You hit the incomming fast-ball pitch and it goes across 2nd base causing a runner to be on 1st base. You kick the ball and it lands in a net causing a goal and perhaps the match won. In most games, the results of a game are done at the end of the match, or perhaps the season. In golf, however, after the round is over, does the real impact of individual shots begin, perhaps decades after that shanked 5 iron punch. There are glof shots left in my brain from last season that I can directly attibute to: (1) Purchasing new equipment months later, (2) Signing up for short-game lessons 1 year later, (3) Mis-struck approach shot over flowers that could take the heads off of a fleet of munchkins constantly reminding me to pop-in that wizard-of-oz movie years later, (4) Missed putt for a match and enough money lost to my competitor who is enjoying warm sunny Florida while I sit here blogging in Western New York.
And there it meets. Life and Golf. When I speak to someone about something that appears minor, the impact of my actions may have immediate consequences, as well it may be something of import many decades later. Does any person involved with some personal relationship doubt the truth of this? Revisit your actions on that day you met the people most important in your life. Maybe you did something different, likely you did what you normally did during any of those days. Yet some shot you took at that time had dramatic life-changing consequences. That casual round happening somewhere right now with that golfer making the imaginary 'putt to win The Masters' may indeed be the putt to win decades from now.
As for me, I'm running over to my video player and visit the lillipop guild so I can recall that munchkin-killer on the 5th hole in Spring Island South Carolina which set up a 2 foot birdie putt and the one-shot win for the match paying out a yellow-brick-road amount of money which I used to buy a few books which caused me to re-evaluate some business plan in my 'real job' such that sales increased by 10% which got me to a new client in Toronto Canada who turns out to be related to a very famous footballer who I met and had a lovely dinner with him and his wife where we talked about home remodeling and I got them the name and number of a friend that is the best at designing those things where they built their addition to the house and invited me back where I admired their pets so much that I too obtained a yorkie which pooped one too many times on the carpet forcing me to contract the services of a carpet cleaning company, the owner of which came over to clean it and is now one of my best friends. All that, from a single golf shot. Recreation indeed.
