Counsel on the Course

Traipsing down the 11th hole on a sultry, August morning I find my attention to the game shattered when one of the golfers I’m caddying for says something quite profound.

“Joe,” he says casually, “I’d have to say that all of my success in business can directly attributed to me out-working everybody around me.”

Conversation on the course is limited in nature; it goes against golf etiquette to speak when other players are hitting or putting. However dialogue between the caddies and golfers is another story. Every time I go out on to the course I can expect the same three queries: “What grade are you in? “What high school do you go to? What colleges are you looking at?” Even for the golfers I’ve carried for a half dozen times will still fall back on the safety questions. Aside from the basic trinity, talk is intermittent and short. However when it does come, it can be meaningful.

As we continued to play, I returned time and again to this auto-biographical phrase as I handed him his putter, cleaned his ball, and moved ahead of the group to forecaddie. This particular man, Colin Foster, I’ve known for years. His son is a fellow boy scout in the same troop as me and I’ve camped with the man on numerous occasions. One would think that on account of our previous acquaintances, he would have opted to transfer his clubs from his travel bag to a summer bag before we teed off. Nonetheless, he’s a very successful, high-ranking, corporate man who is quite wealthy; you almost have to be to own membership to a country club. It is precisely because these golfers are so successful financially that I value their advice in the hopes that I can apply it to my own life and also prosper.

The notion that hard work yields rewards is an idea that I hold to be true and one that I aim to live my life by. I have decided that I will not life an insignificant life or be forgotten when I die, and am determined to do everything in my power to make that dream a reality. Hard work, determination, perseverance, and ambition are all qualities that will be need to be put to good work to realize my goal, and it is clear from Mr. Foster’s own experiences that he also possesses those attributes.

While cleaning Colin’s clubs after the match had concluded, I was approached by none other than Mr. Foster and paid a sum that was lower than was typical for the quality of work that I felt I had done. I didn’t bemoan the emission of a tip from my pay, there are some frugal golfers at the club and they are well-known among the caddies for it. What I did take away from the episode however, is that not even the best of efforts will yield the reward they deserve. Mr. Foster inadvertently showed me that it will ultimately be up to others to first judge my efforts in life before determining a reward; acting as a reality check to my idealistic views on hard work.