Opportunities

Golf is the closest game to the game we call life. You get bad breaks from good shots; you get good breaks from bad shots - but you have to play the ball where it lies.
- Bobby Jones
Dear Citizens:
Before I was out of my teens I was offered a rare opportunity which, in my infinite collegiate wisdom, I turned down.  To put myself through University I had taken a job as student cook at the athletic training tables. One day, in passing, a defensive back on  the football squad asked me if I would carry his golf clubs, at certain times, while he practiced and played a few rounds of his minor sport.  In payment he offered to teach me Golf.  I answered no and that I was very busy with music and had my own practicing to do.  Looking back I will admit I was offended that a football player asked me to be his caddy.  He only asked once and I missed the opportunity to learn Golf  from Hale Irwin.
Twenty years later I had the chance to take up the game again this time from a Episcopal priest who was a scratch golfer.  This time I jumped at the chance.
Now I should be honest at this point and explain I am a "duffer" at the game of Golf and sometimes at life also. But I keep coming back to both and hope at the start of each round and each day to play and not pass on important opportunities.
Be well
A Journeyman
Golf is the loneliest sport. You're completely alone with every conceivable opportunity to defeat yourself. Golf brings out your assets and liabilities as a person. The longer you play, the more certain you are that a man's performance is the outward manifestation of who, in his heart, he really thinks he is.
- Hale Irwin