골프에 관하여(Golf Nigeria에 기고)

Golf has been one of my favorite sports and it lasted longer than any other of my hobby.

 

I started to play golf in early 80s and enjoyed this marvelous game since then. I played golf in US, Vietnam, France, Swiss, Australia, Korea, and finally Nigeria, thanks to my diplomatic job. My official handicap was 22 while I was in Vietnam nine years ago. Still my score lingers around there. Is it because I am a weekend golfer without any practice in the range?

 

Golf, I realized, has many merits but very difficult to master.

The merits, I think, are that it provides an opportunity to walk on the grass and also it lets us view nice scenery around the course. I enjoyed various sceneries such as Mt. Mont Blanc, Lake Leman, beaches of Jamaica while playing. Sometimes I played on the courses where deer and kangaroo are roaming. In the past I used to play more than 18 holes in one day. If we can emphasize quantity or quality on playing golf, I would rather choose quantity. I sometimes endured Vietnamese heat all day long. However difficult it might be, I believe that it gave me sense of achievement and rewarded me with good health.

 

Golf game, however, is very difficult to achieve good result. It requires concentration during the whole round. one careless stroke ruins a game. As somebody defined golf a mind-game, as soon as I expect something good result after I played nicely during first several holes, my stroke loose calm and flexibility. So we need to vacate our mind. It also requires body fit not too weak not too strong and requires loosening up enough while maintaining strength. Therefore I think golf is just like meditation. I practiced Korean meditation from middle of 90s. The important point of meditation is that upper body has to be as flexible as feather without tension while lower body has to be as solid as tree trunk. Isn’t it similar to golf?

 

With all these experience, I am adding another in IBB International Golf and Country Club, Abuja. Thank God that I can play golf in IBB. It has nice layout, and it is challenging. Also, it commends nice view of Aso Rock. Without IBB, how boring the life of Abuja will be.