Quote of the Day - Bern Williams - “Man never made any material as resilient as the human spirit.”

Boy does that apply to golfers. This game tests the human spirit and demands resilience like no other. When you think about it, resilience is about as important for golfers as any other mental or physical attribute. No matter how good you are (Tiger, Jack, Arnie, and Ben included), you must be resilient to be successful in this game in the long term (or short term for that matter).

My childhood golf hero growing up was Ben Hogan. Talk about resilience and “bounce-backs”! After his horrific auto accident, Ben came back to win and win a major at one of the toughest Open tests, Oakland Hills not far from my home town, Tecumseh, MI. It just so happened that victory came about the same time I was dealing with a bout with polio. His example was inspirational to me then and continues to be for me now. Aging involves a some different kinds of resilience.

Golf tests us all each and every time we play. Even the best are not capable of playing the perfect mistake free round. Every round demands resilience! Toughness of spirit - dogged determination - those are the ingredients of greatness in life and in every sport - none more so than golf.

Although I must admit to struggling a bit with the “pink thing”, that is why I am now a fan of Paula Creamer.

Because she is from my home area (born in Mountain View, CA and raised in Pleasanton), I have followed her career more closely than most. Being the “old fart” that I am however, that “pink thing” put me off until I saw how she recently demonstrated her “resilience” (see my previous post on “bounce-backs”). That young lady has grit. I am now an avid fan and eagerly look forward to more examples of her resilience.

Lesson: A big part of the challenge of golf is about resilience. Resilience is critical for golfers. If you want to improve your game become more resilient. Your resilience is measured in how well and how quickly you are able to “bounce-back” from your mistakes. The mistakes will happen. Let them go! Forgive, forget and focus on the next shot.

Hey bloggers … that also applies to anyone doing websites and blogs - what do you think a “tweak” is - it is a techies “bounce-back”. ( My word fun for the day: A “geek tweak” is an example of resilience for techies.)

Wheeew! Boy have I earned today’s nap. I got this post written and it’s only 5:45 AM. Not a bounce-back but a pretty good “bounce out of bed”. At least for TOFG.

- - Val Spangler, TOFG