Mentally Tough
I know, I know… pathetic showing of blogging lately. Been busy!
I played 9 holes last weekend and shot 44, dispelling my earlier notion that I’d continue to get better through the summer.
Here’s a great video to tide you over:
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Hunter Mahan’s Golf Magazine Interview
Mahan is an up and coming golfer on the PGA tour. His recent interview in Golf Magazine is OK but his answer to one question in particular caught my eye.
Question: Mentally, you have had your struggles on the golf course. Is that a result of your father always demanding perfection?
Hunter’s answer is a signpost (thanks Mr. Tolle) to greater awareness in life. Simple replace "golf" with "life" and add water…
Answer: No, that’s just me. That’s been one of my weaknesses: trying to be perfect. And then I realized golf (life) has nothing to do with perfection. It has to do with getting the ball in the hole in the quickest time possible (add your own life metaphor here). I haven’t seen anyone play perfect yet, and I don’t think I ever will.
Golf continues to amaze me.
The Best Partner… Ever
I played two 9 hole rounds this weekend with the best partner a guy could ever ask for. Way better than playing with Tiger or Bob Hope or any chummy celeb for sure.
I’ll take this partner over any in the world, in a tournament or just for fun. She’s a joy to be with, hits the ball straight just about every time and never loses her cool.
My 8 year old daughter is an absolute pleasure to play with – she’s so calm and funny. She plays quickly, lines up her shots and really watches what’s going on. It’s amazing to see her learn quickly, avoiding stepping on peoples lines and thinking through her club selection.
We played with two different pairs this weekend – both father/son duos and I know they were blown away by my kid. Not because she’s so great, but because she seems to be having so much fun.
I’ll take her as a partner any day and am looking forward to the day we can hit a full size course together.
A Smart Course for Data
Like many of my readers, I’m not a professional golfer. I make my living as a marketer working for Microsoft. My current role has me managing a web site for CIOs (if you are a CIO, drop me a line). In order to keep up, I read trade magazines like CIO and InformationWeek.
This month’s issue of CIO has a terrific article on how the PGA does data management. There is a ton of great insights in the article, but the thing that jumped out at me was ShotLink’s accuracy:
ShotLink averages about 27 inches of deviation (i.e. ShotLink is within 27 inches of being exactly right on the fairway). On the green, the deviation is 2 inches. Think about those numbers and then remember that a golf ball is an inch and a quarter wide. That’s amazing! The system manages more than 32,000 shots over a typical 4-day tournament resulting in some errors of course – but the team prefers to have the data flowing as fast as possible.
The article also points out that players have full access to the system and are able to use the data to refine and understand their game.
Separately, while I’m on the CIO/Golf connection, if you are wondering if Golf is good for your career, check this out.
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