Succulent turkey, the perfect bite of pie, good health, great conversations, friends and family who fill Thanksgiving with love and laughter—that’s what inspires gratitude. Add a lap around your home layout before feasting and you are lucky beyond compare.
On a holiday, or any day at all, golf offers so many simple pleasures. Here are 10 things to be grateful for during your next round.
Lucky Bounces
When the ball hits a tree and lands somewhere playable instead of behind a gnarly, thick root—that’s a lucky bounce. When instead of finding the water, the ball ricochets off the bank and rolls sweetly into the first cut, take it! And when an average drive catches the top of a hummock, kicks forward and covers another 40 yards, relax and smile. If it’s kissing the cart path, steering clear of the forbidden pollinator area, or staying out of a bunker—anytime something favorable happens, humble gratitude is a good response.
Playing Partners
Maybe your ideal playing partner prefers to walk, always putts out, and is a veritable encyclopedia on the Rules of Golf. Maybe your ideal playing partner feels the Rules of Golf are guidelines and strongly believes in mulligans. Maybe it’s someone who talks about golf, hardly talks at all, or loves to play some music. For all the differences, be grateful for the handicap system providing a basis for competing with anyone. Compatible playing partners are a treasure, so when you find that special foursome, lock in some tee times.
Beautiful Scenery
It’s easy to be grateful for fresh air, wildlife, and the great outdoors. When the scenery for your round could double as an Ansel Adams photograph, that’s even better. You know you’re somewhere special when a mountain range is visible from every tee, or black lava rocks punctuate the landscape. Maybe the setting is the Highlands of Scotland or a desert in Arizona, complete with cacti and Gila monsters. Maybe there are regal forests or one iconic tree for you to appreciate as you manage your way across the course. If it’s extraordinary, appreciate it, and take a few photos to help you remember it all.
Quality Snacks
It’s a well-stocked beverage cart with drinks colder than an arctic stream when the temperature is soaring. It’s when the snack variety at the hut near No. 9 is top-tier, or maybe the protein bars are freshly made in the kitchen with peanut butter, bananas, and oats. Truth-be-told, a well-stocked refreshment cart stopping by at just the right time has saved many rounds. It doesn’t matter where the nourishment comes from, including from the pocket of your golf bag, but quality snacks are a simple blessing. Enjoy!
Finding a Ball
There are those places on course where it’s difficult to find your ball when it strays from fairways and greens, but chances are if your ball is in a tough spot, someone has been there before you. Finding a bonus ball—whether you are looking for it or not, and particularly if it’s your favorite brand, is a treat. That said, finding your own ball each and every time—that’s the best.
Great Weather
Beautiful weather during your round adds to the atmosphere. Partly cloudy, low humidity, with a temperature in the mid-70s might be just what you are wishing for. Maybe you enjoy crisp fall air, a comfy quarter-zip, full sun, and dry turf that’s playing firm and fast. Maybe you’re playing along the coast, traipsing the links, and you want the challenge of a stiff breeze and a soft drizzle to soak in the full experience. Whatever weather you desire, receiving it is a blessing.
Pace of Play
When the course is quiet, and few groups are playing, pace of play is not an issue as long as you and your playing partners have an accord. When the course is crowded, more likely, and everyone respects and adheres to a good pace of play, that’s something to be grateful for. The right pace of play helps the players, the property staff, and the agronomy team—everyone benefits.
Agronomy
During the Open Championship at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland, the fescue greens were cut to .157 inches, the tees .236 inches, and the fairways .315 inches. Cutting heights vary among courses but consider the awesome abilities of agronomy teams to maintain pristine turf and prepare courses every day, much of it ahead of play and as the sun rises. They mow, cut cups, nurture the soil and different varieties of grasses, aerify, and perform cultural practices to keep the course where it needs to be for ultimate playability. There is so much to be grateful for with the advances of science and technology to help with course care, but the people managing it all deserve continual thanks.
Your Game
Be thankful for your game. Sure, it’s great when the putter gets hot and your short game doesn’t go MIA, but your game has evolved to a place where it is distinctly yours. If it’s not where you want it, tomorrow is a new day. Make your game work for you—how can you manage the course so that it plays to your strengths, pulling your favorite club as often as possible? There is always that one club that’s a lock. When your game is struggling, lean into great memories and feel grateful for all that you have experienced because of golf.
Hope
How many hole-in-one stories have you seen, heard about, or witnessed? The base probability of the ball dropping into a 4.25-inch cup from a distance makes every hole-in-one incredible. How many times has one great swing given you that little high, that pure love for the game? Those moments are hope realized. Hope is a huge part of golf, and much of the fun because there are so many variables to tackle to put improvement within reach—a different swing thought, a tweak to the way you address the ball, an equipment change, playing your best on that course that totally suits your eye… so many ways to hopefully play. We can all be grateful for the sport, the people we meet along the way, and the potential of another round.
What are you most grateful for during a round?
