How to Experience the Feeling of an Eagle - Guest #Golf Blog

Eagle 2 - a golf blog written by Fred Poli, a financial adviser who also teaches and trains in that industry. Bio below but, for now, please enjoy Fred's article!

It had been a fairly bad round. Lately, I just had not been playing as much golf as I would have liked. 

I managed to par the par-3, 17^th and hit my best drive of the day right down the middle on the eighteenth, a short par-4. My playing partner also hit driver but pulled it into the water on the left hand side of the green. 

Classic risk reward hole. As I sized up my twenty-five yard chip, he joked about my straight forward eagle. Bad joke... I have never had an eagle. Never. 

Then a strange serenity came over me. 

I saw the chip. 

I addressed the ball and put a good stroke on it. It never looked like missing. 

Eagle two, 18^th hole  - Indooroopilly Golf Club, East Course.

Just like that, things change. That’s golf, the greatest sport in the world. 

Why? 

I have thought about that a lot. It’s many things. 

It’s the only sport in the world where you can take it up at any age and basically play until you can no longer stand.  It’s the only sport in the world where people of any standard can compete on the same “arena”. It’s the only sport in the world where if you break a rule, calling a penalty on yourself is considered the norm. It’s wonderful exercise. It’s a great social activity. It can be equally enjoyed by both genders. And so much more.....

The thing I love most about golf is the mental challenge. I have learned more about myself playing golf than through any other pursuit...and I did not take the game up until I was fifty years old. 

Yes, we have opponents. Yes, I am competitive, but golf is a battle with yourself...at least that is what I always believed. Now, of course, I have come to learn that it is not a battle but a learning process that never ends; a perfect partner to everything else that you have going on in your life.

To think that I almost gave up in the beginning because, like all great things in life, there are prices to pay.

Golf has two main obstacles. 

Firstly, it’s very time consuming to learn and to play it. That is an issue for a later article.  Secondly, it’s a very difficult game to play well.

Fortunately, David Capaldo, teaching pro at Kingswood Golf Club, taught me how to play this wonderful game. This is a must because for every Bubba Watson there are millions of golfers who will never enjoy the game because they simply don’t learn the fundamentals of hitting the ball.

So, if you have a set of old golf clubs collecting dust, or even if you have never played, get out there, book some lessons. I want you to experience the feeling of an eagle. I am still soaring.

Are you a golf beginner? Have you thought of quitting the sport but, after a miraculous shot or round kept playing to stick with, and enjoy, the game? 

Let us hear your story either here on Golf for Beginners blog, on @Golf4Beginners on Twitter ...and LIKE on Facebook. 

Fred Poli BIO:

Fred has a Diploma in Counselling and Communication from the Australian College of Applied Psychology and as much as he has learned in this field, he feels that his best life teacher has been the game of golf. 

Mr. Poli took up the game at age fifty and is fortunate to play in one of the best golf areas on earth, the so called “sand belt” of Melbourne Australia wher he is a member of Kingswood Golf Club and plays off 19. 

Photo credit: playaroundgolf.com, http://www.indooroopillygolf.com.au