SLO W DOWN ...!

Ilearned one of golf’s most valuable lessons from a caddy at St. Andrews when I found myself in the infamous “Hell Bunker” on the 14th hole.

The 112 bunkers at St. Andrew’s, some of them so deep that you’re lost in shadow, can break your game and your spirit. In his victory at The Open Championship there in 2000, Tiger Woods did not go into a single one over his four rounds. Also, not so fortunate was Jack Nicklaus, who took four shots to get out of Hell Bunker in the opening round of the 1995 Open. One of the greatest names of all time, Bobby Jones, famously picked up and walked off the course after several attempts to escape the cavernous “Hill” bunker on the 11th hole in his third round in 1921.

Back in Hell Bunker, I was hitting my third shot from the sand before I knew it and I was setting up to whack my fourth. My mind and body felt shocked by this crushing turn of events, compounded by feelings of embarrassment. Heart racing, I started to move faster with each subsequent deteriorating swing. My caddy mercifully intervened, stating with sage-like compassion, “Laddie, when you start to lose your game, slow down.”

So, I stepped out of the bunker, knocked the sand off my shoes, and took a deep breath. I returned as if I were new to the situation entirely and was able to escape sideways onto the fairway. Slowing down and re-centering is as central to golf as it is to daily life, especially when things are not going well.

You may ask, “What good is slowing down if I have such a flawed bunker game in the first place?” Everyone has flaws in their swing. I’m not here to tell you that you can avoid learning proper basic golfing techniques just by learning how to slow down and breathe. Of course, you do need to know how to set up and correctly utilize the bounce on a sand wedge. However, without obtaining the skill set of slowing down, it’s likely that knowledge will not be as effective as it could be.

More often than not, we are mindlessly speeding our way through life: getting chores done, rushing along shopping aisles, trying to find a parking spot, paying bills, trying to solve a computer glitch, reading dull work reports, getting through our call list, meal prep, or ticking off the “mustsee” places on a vacation.

Pretty soon some people find themselves rushing through a round of golf to get to the next thing on the list. We lose our equanimity and ability to engage with the present when we rush through a round simply to complete the next thing on our list. We can get away with this approach much of the time, but overall, rushing through life is not the best way to achieve happiness and it can even lead to hypertension and long-term stress-related health consequences.

For more information or to purchase Better Golf Better Life, go to www.drrichgolf.com.