Bruce Baird Founder of Nationwide Golf Schools

After 63 years of active  golf participation, and
as I move  slowly towards the end of my  personal  golfing experiences , the intangibles of    THE Game  have become  more prominent and  significant. I have concluded that  the real essence of  Golf sometimes is  lost on us!

Most golfers  are intrigued by  this game, but many players don’t know why!  It takes a very special  writer to show us the way. That writer is James Dodson.  

Dodson, a  professional sports writer for Golf magazine, for 20 years wrote about and      was intimate  with, the golf legends of the 70's  80's  and 90’s.  Palmer, Watson, Snead  and Hogan, to name a few.

His book entitled “A Son of The Game” is an uplifting  exploration of golf and life experiences.   It is a  true story of Dodson’s mid-life crisis( career and golf)  and developing relationship with his young son.

The  golf  setting is in Pinehurst NC the real “golf capital of the word” Home of Harvey Ward, Julius Boros, Peggy Kirk Bell, who  all lived "the Pinehurst cure"

It  is a father-son-golf life journey unrivaled by fiction writers.  

For those golfers who are enamoured with competition,
and the search for the perfect golf swing, Dodson has different  insights.

He explores our golfing soul!

His work and his insights are  so entwined with golf and why the game is “larger than life” , Dodson makes many  of us look like  disinterested bystanders. If you haven’t read Dodson, do so. You will take  your golfing experience to new levels. Be prepared for some emotions you haven’t experienced lately on the fairways!

 

Every athlete understands that top-notch equipment is nearly as valuable as hard work for achieving excellence and success. Without the best equipment in hand, the results of long hours spent practicing cannot be maximized. Technological progress in equipment design and manufacturing is constantly raising the bar of performance such that failure to utilize the latest advances creates a genuine handicap for the modern athlete. This fact is true for no sport more than golf. Golf equipment manufacturers incorporate new technological innovations in their products every year.

For the last several years, drivers have received a great deal of this technological attention. From larger heads to adjustable parts, drivers have been radically altered to improve distance and forgiveness to the point that the average golfer can hit the ball nearly as well off the tee as a tour pro. Several new drivers for 2012 possess innovations that make them better than ever.

CALLAWAY RAZR FIT

Callaway has long cemented its status as an elite golf brand by consistently making some of the most innovative equipment in the industry. Their driver technology, however, has lagged a bit behind the booming trend of adjustability. For 2012, Callaway makes up for lost time with the introduction of the RAZR Fit. Now golfers can find the perfect combination of face angle and center of gravity by means of multiple sole weights and a rotating hosel with three settings. Further, Callaway has reduced the weight of the club head by redesigning its face, which saves four grams. The RAZR Fit may be Callaway's best driver ever, and it deserves serious consideration from any golfer looking to add a new big stick to the bag.

TAYLORMADE R11S

Unlike Callaway, Taylormade has led the charge of adjustability in driver technology. The club maker remains at the forefront in 2012 with the R11S. The new driver offers three points of adjustability: an eight-setting rotating hosel, two moveable weights and a five-position sole plate. All of this adjustability results in 80 possible settings, which exceeds last year's model by 32 possibilities. Loft, face angle and center of gravity can be tweaked to provide the perfect ball flight for a golfer's swing.

TITLEIST 910D3

Titleist has long been recognized as the player's brand. The company has consistently provided better golfers with equipment to further elevate their games. The 910D3 continues this tradition of excellence. The look and feel of the driver at address is elegant and promotes confidence. A two-way adjustable hosel allows loft and lie to be altered independently. This adjustability allows a golf ball's launch to be perfectly calibrated to fit the golfer's needs. Further, the 910 series includes a shaft that weighs less than 55 grams making the club extremely light thereby increasing club-head speed.

This year's driver offerings provide options for golfers of all skill levels. While the specific features of each model differ in several ways, all of the drivers have something in common; each model maximizes distance and forgiveness. What golfer wouldn't be excited about that?

  Too many golfers describe the game as a      frustration visited upon a happy population, or as "the best game in the world in which you can be bad". I absolutely deny those negatives and will provide some differing insights into the golfing experience as an enlightenment, not a source of frustration.

Playing golf is one of the few life- time opportunities to march to your own drummer. Can you imagine playing football, or basketball at age 75? The golf course is in fact your life-long playground. We all need a playground of one kind or another! Whether in your mind or in your heartdoesn't matter. When the opponent is yourself and a small grass area, this lifelong competition can never be considered trivial or negative.

Most golfers are well aware of senior (meaning old) players who, (with a handicap) can destroy many younger competitor's egos. Old age and a short game will overcome many flaws of the young. The small skills of putting, chipping and wedge play create respect and sometimes awe for the least talented. Hardly an embarrassment here for the individual who masters these techniques.

Certainly no one needs to be embarrassed about the camaraderie of a lifetime of bonding which makes our lives much richer. The father/son, mother/daughter, acquaintance or true friend is an experience not available in many other physical sports. This bonding is one of high individualism, private agonies and disappointments, moments of shared triumphs, and always a test of our compassion, as well as our skills.

A most notable reading of the father/son golf experience is that written by James Dodson, "Final Rounds a Father, a Son, The Golf Journey of a Lifetime". Our relationships and the stories of them are after all, what we live for and die with.

Ben Hogan claimed that his description of a perfectly struck golf shot "goes from the ball, up the shaft and right to your heart." I would offer that regardless of your skill level, one's age or infirmity, that golf is unique in providing these rare moments. Because you hit a tree on the way to making your hole- in -one does not diminish the enjoyment!

My wife holed a 75 yard sand wedge on a par three hole after playing  for only a year. We were at Pebble Beach no less. Should she have been embarrassed?

The drama of your "miracle shot" of 50 years ago for your friends and acquaintances who shared the event, are an integral part of the 19th hole even without the beer! Our competitive opportunities, still apparent decades after their conclusion, are the essence of this sport.

In golf these opportunities to compete are laced with overwhelming doses of sportsmanship, and humility for those who experience them . We can compete without malice, be tough and respectful, and best  of all, see the human condition in its best form.

Can any of this embarrass a golfer, when in reality it enlightens and elevates his life?

Lastly most of us never really get our 15 minutes of fame or glory. To some in the game of golf this comes early and easier (not easy). To some later and harder, but almost all seekers of the heart of the golf experience can recall their own personal 15 minutes of satisfaction. A hole in one is not a miracle, but carries bragging rights of accomplishment. Shooting one's age at 80 is a great athletic feat , and surely minimizes the aging process because of its rarity.

Golf is an experience of the mind and intellect.  Where, but in our minds, do we live after the physical skills fade? In the last analysis, the humbling aspects of the game enlightens us to our human values of rational aggression , strength of character, honesty and respect to others struggles, and lastly a unique opportunity to see into our own heart and mind!