A few years ago I learned the expression: “Golf is a game where you can start as four complete strangers and end up four hours later as four complete enemies.”
I speak only from personal experience, I found it true. It was a company golf day – I won’t give away the course – and every Fourball member had paid for it. We played behind a group that included a pro who could wait a bit and watch our swings, have a bit of a chat and then return to his group.
Everything started well until one of the foursome hit a five on the first par 4. He actually hit a six, but it was going to be one of those days.
One time, an industry leader hit his tee shot into some thick bushes. He waved at us to keep going, play faster, etc. But we all did a little searching, as one does, and found nothing.
As we walked up the fairway, a ball came flying out of the exact spot where we wanted. Brilliant tip, I must say.
This person was an inconsistent driver, although he admittedly hit a long ball. But his ball recovery skills were outstanding. Professional-like, even though nothing about the rest of his game suggested it.
On one hole I also pulled my ball and, to cut a long story short, caught our esteemed partner teeing up and hitting a new ball in the rough. On another occasion the other leather iron came into play (another Fourball member) and I was shocked when he came away with the longest drive (from that hole) at the later awards ceremony. And the third member infuriated me when he decided to award himself mulligans and said he would donate to charity afterwards.
Me? I didn’t contribute much to the result and was by far the worst player on the scorecards. Well, that’s golf. It just wasn’t fair.
However, golf can do this to even the most “respected” people. And so it was amusing but not surprising that while watching clips of the first presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, the two clashed over their golf game.
“I just won two club championships,” Trump said after Biden mocked him on social media. “That’s not even a senior championship. Two regular club championships (at Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach).”
The former president continued: “You have to be pretty smart to do that, you have to be able to be pretty smart, and you have to be able to hit the ball a long way. And I can do that. He can’t do that. He can’t even hit the ball 50 yards.”
Biden then stumbled over the fact that his handicap was six, but then changed it to eight and challenged Trump to a “driving competition.”
“I’d love to play golf with you if you carry your own bag. Do you think you can do that?” Biden asked.
“Let’s not act like children,” Trump said.
“You are a child,” Biden replied.
So there they were: two grown men vying for the popular vote to be the most powerful president in the world and talking about their skills on the golf course.
And you know what? I think they both lied.
The lesson? Golf is a game for all of us. Even the bad days are good, so don’t lie. Don’t cheat.
– This column first appeared in the August 2024 issue of Complete golfer Magazine.
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Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
