I thought I’d give this week’s Post a little class by linking it to a real poet.
The Shakespeare Connection
Just as Shakespeare
links to bard,
So does “Swing easy”
To “Hit it hard.”
Leon S White, PhD
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The Shakespeare Connection
August 29, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Par The Last
August 21, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Shakespeare wrote “All’s Well that Ends Well.” In psychology there is a precept called the “peak-end rule” which states that the way an experience ends determines the happiness we ascribe to it. In golf, the effect of the rule might be described as,
Par The Last
Bogey after bogey,
You’re failing the test,
Par the last hole . . .
And you forget the rest!
Leon S White, PhD
Please come back next week for another poetic observation on golf.
Trapped
August 14, 2017 by 2 Comments
How many times have you heard or read “It’s easy to get out of a trap” or “Bunker shots are easy.” Here is my view,
Trapped
If you’ve found that your ball
Came to rest in the sand;
Were the rules more obliging
You’d remove it by hand.
Leon S White, PhD
Hope you will come back next week for another break from the prose of golf.
Roughly Speaking
August 7, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Last week I mentioned my book, Opposites in Golf. It consists of a series of 32 poems. Each takes a golfing term or expression and then embarks on a poetic adventure seeking its opposite. Here is an example.
ROUGHLY SPEAKING
What is the opposite of rough?
Smooth an answer, not too tough.
But golfers might say, “Wait a minute,
Rough, we’d rather not be in it.
The fairway that is our suggestion.
The opposite of rough, no question.”
Leon S White, PhD
Please come back next week for another golf poem to remember when you are in the rough!
Understanding Golf in Four Lines
July 17, 2017 by 2 Comments
I recommend that you memorize this week’s four line advisory. It will come in handy the next time anger gets the best of you on the golf course. And if you have friends who need this advice, please feel free to recite it to them.
In all seriousness, these four lines will help you to enjoy golf more, if you take their meaning to heart.
Understanding Golf
When on-course failings
Set your mind aflame,
Try to remember
Golf’s just a game.
LSW
Tee It Forward
July 3, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Last week I played behind a foursome of 60-some year olds who were playing from the white tees. Over nine holes I would bet that none of them ever reached a green in regulation. It seems that for some men teeing it forward (playing from the tee that gives you a decent chance to make a par) is as difficult as adjusting to a receding hair line. Golf course designers offer closer tees so that men (and women) who drive shorter distances can still have fun and sometimes make a decent score. Failure in golf is the rule, but to insure failure by playing from the wrong tees just doesn’t make sense and slows down the game for the groups following.
With these thoughts in mind, I offer the following verse, which reduces the above paragraph to four lines (the beauty of poetry),
Tee it Forward
When you’re coming up short on every hole,
and not lighting any cigars;
When you’re totally frustrated with how you play,
Tee it forward and start making pars.
LSW
If you want to pass on the idea at your club, post this four-liner on the bulletin board. (Attribution is not required.)
Recite Golf Poetry
June 26, 2017 by Leave a Comment
What do you think of my Father’s Day present?
My golf secret is revealed in this week’s poem. It contains a tip that your won’t get from your golf pro.
Recite Golf Poetry
Recite golf poetry
To lower your score
If one doesn’t do it
Recite two or three more!
LSW
It works for me. Let me know how it works for you. But remember, it only works for golf poetry!
Golfing Truths
June 19, 2017 by Leave a Comment
I’ve been offering some of my four line golf poems for a while now. But such short verses of golf advice or “wisdom” certainly didn’t begin with me. Below are two on the same theme from an earlier time.
From the December 1875 issue of Blackwood”s Edinburgh Magazine:
The apple-faced sage with
His nostrum for all,
“Dinna hurry your swing, keep
Your e’e on the ball.”
And from the English Golf Magazine of February 1891:
In playing strokes of every kind,
This rule remember above all:
Let confidence possess your mind,
And “keep your eye upon the ball.”
And we still have to be reminded today!!
Shooting Your Age
June 12, 2017 by Leave a Comment
The week’s four line poem came to me after watching a recent HBO Special called “If You’re Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast.” The cast featured Carl Reiner who is 95 and a bunch of his friends (and a few others) who are 90 and over. Since I’m 81 and still an avid golfer, while watching I though about shooting my age. Here is what I came up with,
Shooting Your Age
To shoot your age
Stay out of the rough,
But just to make sure . . .
Live long enough!
LSW
Please tell your poetically inclined golfing friends about this Blog (golfpoet.com). And come back yourself next Monday for another brief excursion into golf poetry. Thanks.
Jason Dufner on Putting
June 5, 2017 by Leave a Comment
It was reported today (June 5, 2017) that Jason Dufner, the winner of last week’s Memorial Tournament, has found a way to improve his putting. When over the ball, he concentrates on his breathing.
“I’m just focused on my breathing,” Dufner said. “That’s a conscious thought for me and then I let the putt and the motion of the stroke be subconscious and natural.”
He may have something there, but then again . . . . .
Jason Dufner on Putting
Think about your breathing’s what Dufner says
Calls it “subconscious” putting, give it a spin
But while you’re at it, keep your head still
Then you really have a chance that your putt goes in.
Leon S White, PhD
Please come back next week for the next golf poetry Post.
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