Golf-prone*

What Libertarianism Is

2010-11-21T13:46:00.000-08:00

John Hospers:

Libertarianism is the doctrine that every person is the owner of his own life, and that no one is the owner of anyone else's life; and that consequently every human being has the right to act in accordance with his own choices, unless those actions infringe on the equal liberty of other human beings to act in accordance with their choices.

Opera-lovers often say, "The state should subsidize opera, so that we can all see it. Also it would be for people's betterment, cultural benefit, etc." But what they are advocating is nothing more or less than legalized plunder. They can't pay for the productions themselves, and yet they want to see opera, which involves a large number of people and their labor; so what they are saying in effect is, "Get the money through legalized force. Take a little bit more out of every worker's paycheck every week to pay for the operas we want to see." But I have no right to take by force from the workers' pockets to pay for what I want.

When a government guarantees a "right" to an education or parity on farm products or a guaranteed annual income, it is staking a claim on the property of one group of citizens for the sake of another group. In short, it is violating one of the fundamental rights it was instituted to protect.

The wealth that some men have produced should not be fair game for looting by government, to be used for whatever purposes its representatives determine, no matter what their motives in so doing may be. The theft of your money by a robber is not justified by the fact that he used it to help his injured mother.

Libertarian doctrine is embedded in a view of the rights of man. Each human being has the right to live his life as he chooses, compatibly with the equal right of all other human beings to live their lives as they choose.

Expectations

2010-08-03T08:05:00.000-07:00

Before last year's Forsyth Invitational Golf Tournament I and almost everyone else had very little expectations for how high I should finish. The only thing going through my head was my standard desire to win, but nothing too pressure-packed. But this year is different. Since I finished second last year my expectations have gone through the roof. I now hold myself to the high standard that if I don't win it will be quite disappointing. But I wander if everyone else holds me to that high of a standard.

I was reading the Winston Salem Journal article previewing the field for the Forsyth and I wasn't mentioned once. I have mixed emotions about this. On one hand I'm disappointed. I think most people would agree with me when I say that to be widely recognized is very desirable. Deep down I want everybody to see me coming and for me to be popular. But on the the other hand I am very glad they didn't include me in their list of notables. I enjoy flying under the radar. It's where I've always been and it's where I'm most comfortable.

I'm genuinely excited about playing in the Forsyth this year. I'm playing with Dad on Friday morning and Saturday afternoon at Reynolds Park GC and Tanglewood's Championship Course, respectively. Then the final day, Sunday, is played at Winston Lake GC. The tee times are determined by how you played the first two days. The better you play the later your tee time and closer to the final group you get. I played in the final group last year. Let's see if I can do it again.

There Was Nothing To Be Gained Under The Sun

2010-07-04T05:39:00.000-07:00

I said in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself." But behold, this was also vanity. I said of laughter, "It is mad," and of pleasure, "What use is it?" I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine -- my heart still guiding me with wisdom -- and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life.

I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the children of man.

So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil.

Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 2:1-11

Certainly you may enjoy things that are here on earth, just don't expect out of them joy that will last forever. Take from Solomon, who was very wise, that even all the possessions he could get his hands on didn't even satisfy him. I just don't want you to get to the end of your life and realize you wasted it. So, Don't Waste Your Life.

Good Results Finally

2010-06-30T21:29:00.000-07:00

For the first time in five tries I beat Dad at our four-hole game at Maple Leaf. I'm not sure what had been the matter with my game. I had repeatedly had the thought that my confidence level was very high both standing over the shot and in between shots. I had felt that my head was in the right place the whole time and felt flexible and comfortable swinging the club. It was the weirdest thing to have such poor results after feeling so good about my game.

Even before I had lost to Dad twice in a row I lost to Charlie McKinney in the gangsome by one shot, him shooting 70 and I a 71. Once again I felt great while I was playing but come the end of the round I found out that I had only shot a mere even par round, something that I am highly dissatisfied with at this stage in my game, especially at Maple Leaf. So needless to say, my frustrations were growing as the days of bad results went by.

But today I broke that chain and won the four-holer with two pars and a birdie (we only played three holes because I won 2&1). It felt very good, even for three holes, to not have a bogey. That has defined a good round for me lately is a bogey-less round, because I know the birdies will come if I just keep giving myself chances, so if I don't have any bogeys it's going to be a good round.

I'm playing with Kim tomorrow at Oak Valley so that will be a good test of my current game. I continue to feel confident about my game so we'll just have to wait and see how the results pan out. Maybe a few putts will find the bottom of the cup.

*This has been a test for using my iPhone to post a blog.

Not Only Golf, but God

2010-06-16T18:04:00.000-07:00

I'm going to change things up a little. Like the title of this post implies, I'm not all about golf, but rather heavily in love with the God of the Bible. My love for golf is not an end in itself; it bleeds out of the joy I seek in Jesus Christ and through that love for golf do I experience joy in God. I was reading "When I Don't Desire God" by John Piper recently and I got to a chapter titled "How To Wield the World in the Fight for Joy", in which Piper talks about the inseparable nature of our physical experience and our spiritual experience. He says on p. 182,

". . . [C.S.] Lewis also reminds us that spiritual emotions, like joy in God, are only experienced in connection with physical sensations. They are not identical, but they are almost always inseparable. In this earthly life, we are never disembodied souls with only spiritual emotions. We are complex spiritual-physical beings who experience joy in Christ as something more, but almost never less, than physical sensation."

So you can pick up on the inseparable nature of our physical and spiritual experiences.

All this is to to let you know that just because I am absolutely in love with the game of golf, everything I feel, hear, say, and do on (and off) the course is filtered through my love for God.

My Second 65: A Product of Relaxation

2010-06-16T08:11:00.000-07:00

I shot a 65 for the second time ever last Wednesday (the first was with Kim also at Maple Leaf GC), also marking the second time I've ever had a bogeyless round (the first being at Oak Hollow GC when I shot my 64). I played at Maple Leaf GC with the Thompson/Morricle group. I played in a group with Larry, Wayne, and Roy. They kept me very relaxed. So it stands: when I'm relaxed I play my best. Or when I'm playing my best it keeps me relaxed. I haven't figured out which one comes first, the relaxation or the good play. Or perhaps they work hand-in-hand in perfect harmony and complement one another as I go. I started out with an easy par and had my first birdie on 2. My next birdie was not until 7 where I chipped in from the front-right rough. I had a long string of pars until 12 where I started my streak of four birdies through 15. That got me to 6 under and that is where I finished. I didn't feel relaxed to begin with, because I was playing with guys I had never been with before and it was early, having only gotten 6.5 hours of sleep. So I wasn't relaxed, but somewhere along the way I became comfortable in my own skin again and started to make smooth swings. And then I was just on cruise control. It seemed like good golf just naturally flowed out of me. It was very nice. So it goes to show that when I'm relaxed I play much better, and then when I play better it relaxes me even more, so the two kind of leap frog each other and create a snowball effect (if you'll let me use two analogies at a time). I tend to think relaxation comes first. If I could recreate the relaxation I have felt when I shot my 64 and my other 65 and multiple 66s, I could be deadly and very hard to beat. And just for the record, I was wearing my black ASU hat, white Kernersville Chamber of Commerce shirt, black belt, regular cargo shorts, white Nike socks, and my black golf shoes. And I didn't line up my ball the whole day, nor did I use my rangefinder or Golfshot on my iPhone. It was an all-feel-day and boy did it feel good.

Summer 2010 Thus Far

2010-06-15T19:31:00.000-07:00

My summer this year has been inconsistent, to say the least. My last day of my freshmen year at Appalachian State University was May 3, and I hit the ground running once I got home. I was waking up at 6 in the morning, studying the Bible for about 30 minutes, doing a cardio workout or riding bike until 7:00, hitting Maple Leaf GC at 7:30, playing 18, eating lunch at home, playing another 18, then resting and reading John Piper until crashing in bed around 10:00. That lasted about two weeks. I hit the hardest proverbial brick wall I think I've ever hit. I suddenly had no desire to play golf, read the Bible or read anything for that matter, lost my appetite, and couldn't sleep. I got to the point where I shot an 80 and a 78 back-to-back. On the outside I was very cheery and happy, but on the inside I was nearly desireless and passionless. I sought wise counsel from Kim (my male friend at Maple Leaf) and Stephanie (my female friend whom I graduated high school with) on the matter. They both prescribed a hiatus from golf. Both gave great examples of taking a long break from the thing they loved and testified to the vigor and drive that they came back with after the leave. So I tried it. I went two days with no golf. The days were very relaxing, but two days wasn't enough. I tried playing the next day after the short two-day layoff, and I played decent, but I didn't enjoy myself at all. So I went two more days of no golf, and by the end of those I was itching to play. I went back the first time and shot a 70 at Maple Leaf and have only shot one or two rounds over-par since then, and it's been about three weeks. So the break was uber-profitable. So what I would take out of this post as a reader is to never be afraid of taking a break from the things you love. You are capable of getting burnt out. I thought I would never get burnt out, but it came out of nowhere and slapped me in the face like a brick in a tornado. So take a break and refresh the desire and passion for greatness.