One of my favorite golf/life experiences came years ago in the North Dakota State Open.
While I was the golf pro at the Mandan Golf Course, I was playing at Oxbow in a one-day event before the Open and was paired with three older gentleman. They were about the same age as I am now!
One of my amateur partners was a scrap-iron dealer from St. Paul, Minn. He was a very nice man and could hit the ball pretty darn good and - I almost forgot to mention - he only had one arm! Well, I thought I was pretty good and was not playing that way. I was whining and I think I even stuck a club in the turf on one hole. Not a very pretty act.
Those gentlemen
tolerated my antics until the back 9 and then the gentleman from St. Paul (the one armed golfer) walked over to me and said, "Steve, if things are so bad then next hole, why don't you play with one arm and I will be play with two!"
His wisdom taught me a valuable life lesson and I felt pretty small.
Man did I every feel uncomforable and I deserved it, too.
A few holes later he looked at me with a little smile and said, "Steve, do you think I should use the overlapping and interlocking grip?"
He had taught me a great lesson and then let me know that it was OK - he was just trying to help a youngster grow up a little.
Tip of the Week - When you have a long chip shot take a less lofted club, like a 6 iron, and pinch the ball against the turf and let the ball roll to the hole. Get the ball back on the ground as quickly as you can with avoiding landing in the fringe.
Rule of the Week - 11-3. If a ball, when not in play, falls off a tee or is knocked off a tee by the player addressing it, it may be re-teed, without penalty. The Rules of Golfs Can be found at (www.USGA.org).
Quote of the week - "Then there was the husband-and-wife tournament whereat one lady golfer said to another, 'Your husband looks to be playing a better game now that he had a new stance.' The second lady golfer replied, 'That's not a new stance. That's a new husband.'" - From the book 89 Years in a Sand Trap by Fred Beck, 1965, Hill and Wang.
Etiquette rule of the week - Do not stand or walk in persons intended line of putt. Also do not stand directly behing the hole when a felllow golfer is getting ready to putt.
Keep it in the fairway.
(Steve Kottsick is the golf professional at Souris Valley Golf Course. He writes a column for The Minot Daily News during the golfing season. Kottsick can be reached by e-mail at sports@minotdailynews.com)