Not Just Another Top Ten List
Here’s an idea that I think you should all try. If you try it, I think you will be very glad you did it. And it’s easy. It doesn’t require anything other than your memory, a pencil and some paper. It probably only applies to those who play golf, but damn, it sure is a positive experience. Why should you try it? Because it will be fun.
To do this, you have to put on your memory cap and try to remember all of the golf you’ve ever played that has made a strong impression on you. But, forget any lousy shots and only remember the good. The good shots. The good courses. The good times. The goal is to try to make history come alive again in your memory. To remember ALL of the shots you can think of that you might want to categorize as the excellent (or even lucky) shots you have made over your golfing career. Write things down. The course, the shots, the situations, the memories.
All those rounds where there might have been a lot, a few, or even just that one great shot that was so good, it got you wanting to get back out there and play golf again as soon as possible. Then, narrow the good shots down to ones that were great. Then, narrow that list down to the magnificent. The goal of this exercise is to create a list of YOUR top ten golf shots of your entire life.
There may be fifty shots that you think might apply to this list. You will want to really make a shot earn its spot on this list. You might want to give more meaning to a great, competitive shot that you pulled off that helped you win a bet or a tournament. Or, you might want to just say it was that feeling you got on the first tee of a great, famous course you were lucky enough to play. Or, a very good shot on a legendary course might have more meaning than an even better similar shot on the course you’ve played a hundred times. It’s YOUR list.
But this is the list where you can put that Hole In One that you got (if anyone was ever fortunate enough to have scored an ace). Or that holed out ninety foot putt in front of all the club members on the 18th hole that made you jump up in the air and shout for joy. Or that chip shot or bunker shot you holed out that turned a disaster on a hole into a birdie. In that one moment, you were as good as or better than Tiger, Phil or any of those pros. You made your shot of a lifetime.
The fun is in narrowing down the fifty or so “best shots of your life” into your top ten. What is it that makes any of the shots you choose into a top ten shot of all time? Which golfing shots or moments have made the most impact on YOU? You hit ALL of these great shots over your lifetime. You get to narrow it down to the top ten. It’s your list and your memories. Enjoy the task.
When you have finally written down your list of top ten shots of all time, I will hope that everyone can see that they have had some of the greatest sporting moments of their life in golf. Really good shots made you feel really good. Great shots made you feel great. Maybe the ten best shots of your life made you feel extraordinary.
And when you are done with this exercise, you will feel really, really good. Because those amazing things from your past that were such extraordinary moments for you when they happened — they are not gone forever. They are still alive (in their own way) in your mind. That even though during all those times that you’ve been golfing and nothing seemed to be happening, somewhere in there you had some moments that were just plain awesome. It will make you want to go golfing again, because there’s a chance you just might do something amazing once again. Isn’t that what it’s all about?
