Tradition, History, Etc.

[cypressperch]

Clugnut started a thread that was great, and then others turned it into something that sort of stunk. I do not think REAL GOLFERS would allow for this to happen. Just as they uphold very high standards of conduct on the course, they would do the same on a Golf Forum and perhaps even in areas not directly related to golf. Golf is obviously more important than mere Life, so hopefully we allow the positive aspects of golf enter into our necessary other lives.

After bringing up the book TOUR TEMPO, I am not sure that I should bring up another book that I am reading THE WICKED GAME. This guy is bringing up lots of negative stuff about the game of golf and three of its all-time greats: Palmer, Nicklaus, and Tiger. I think I get the direction this book is going to take. Golf is for the elite. Golf is racist. The stars have become filthy rich and do not really care for the public that has made it all possible. Etc. Etc. Certainly, a bunch of this IS TRUE. Besides being a golf nut, I have been a history teacher for thirty years. A good historian does not over-look things that run contrary to his basic hypothesis. The author of THE WICKED GAME, so far, has over-looked anything positive that comes from golf, and there is much that is positive. Those little kids on the television ad that hold up golf balls with things like "honesty," "integrity," "etc", and then say, "Thank you" are showing what golf can and does do for those who allow golf to transform people in positive ways. Such transformations are not necessary just for children. So a full history of golf includes positive as well as negative aspects.

If one becomes a student of the history of golf as well as the actual playing of the game, they will find a very rich history. Those old golfers were really something. Their place in golf's history does not disappear when Nelson, Hogan, and Snead come along. Those three are still important when Arnie and Jack have made their contributions. And the rise of Tiger does not change for one minute anything that has come before him. To be sure, nothing in the future will diminish the greatness of Tiger. Everything has a history, and that includes golf. History is a chain of events that leads eventually to wherever people and fate make it lead. We do have some say as to what the future holds. To idolize someone in the past to the point that we diminish the importance of the present is foolish and in error. Just as foolish and just as much in error is to idolize some aspect of the present in such a way that it degrades the very worthy past. And if you understand history, you realize the present is forever in debt to the past in many ways, both negative and positive.

So it becomes every generation's responsibility to try to preserve what is good that golf and its traditions can give and to get as far from the negative as we can. Harvey Pinick said, "If you are a golfer, you are my friend." He did not refer to any race, gender, economic class, religion, or whatever. A golfer that is a true golfer will, indeed, possess the qualities that make a really good friend. When we start looking like those idiots on those political shows that yell at each other over things they disagree, we are not the "golfers" old Harvey was referring to.

Let us now turn to Hymn #78 on page 189. Let's all stand and sing!

Sincerely, Cypressperch (It was Clugnut's fault!)

[JEFF4i]

Awesome post Cypress. Really a policy that I really like, most of the time, "Encourage the good forget the bad."

[Bama Duffer]

This post falls into the "Wish I'd said that" category. Great post.

Remember the contributions of the past and admire the greatness of the present.

[zaphod]

hymn #78. O' Come all ye Faithful Joyful and Triumphant

What a great theme song for the true golfer. You have hit upon the reason history is important. Not just for formal study but for preservation of the good. It's also important for the historian to remember "You can have your own opinions but not your own facts". Just a side rant!

[Clugnut]

Awesome post, CP. But I think that hymn 78 is "When the battle is over". That one fits my game a little better right now.

I wish the general population would have more respect for history. For most people, history begins on the day they are born. If people would look to the past, sometimes they could learn some lessons and avoid some mistakes. Sigh. That's probably not going to happen.

Anyway, the Penick quote is great. So simple, so beautiful.

[cypressperch]

"Amazing Golf", or is that "Amazing Grace"? In a way, they are sometimes the same, and in more ways than one. CP