Spieth saves the day for golf
CHAMPION: He’s young, handsome, polite and he teaches us about friendship, life
UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. — Just when you think you’ve figured out all the reasons why Jordan Spieth is great for golf, he gives you another.
Forget the fact that on Sunday he saved the U.S. Open. That with players ripping Chambers Bay and the United States Golf Association over bumpy greens, Spieth turned the day into a big win for the championship and the Pacific Northwest.
Forget the fact that he’s jumped in headfirst to help fill the Tiger Woods void that professional golf has long been terrified of. That he’s proven — even a little short on firepower — he has what it takes to become a generational rival to Rory McIlroy.
Forget that he’s young, handsome and polite. That at 21 years old he’s humble and well-mannered and even the most cynical sports fans can’t spot a shortcoming.
So, besides saving the season’s second major, professional golf, and our perception of athletes, on Sunday evening Spieth did one better, he offered advice for young golfers that accidentally held the secret to the long-term success of the game.
“I loved playing other sports and I found a great group of guys that I grew up with at a golf course where we pushed each other, but we also had a lot of fun. We would play some holes and then we’d go swimming, then we’d play football in the parking lot and then we’d go back and play some more holes.”
Wait a minute. Isn’t golf supposed to be old-fashioned, stuffy and slow?
The golf industry is trying hard to convince millennials that golf is more than five hours of strict rules and estrangement from mobile phones. There are campaigns promoting nine hole rounds. There are 12-hole golf courses. There’s even golf courses where players use a soccer ball instead of a golf ball, because apparently, golf is so boring it’s turning to soccer for excitement.
The 21-year-old Masters and U.S. Open champion explained the very best that golf can offer in about 30 seconds on Sunday.
“Find a group of friends with the same interests. If your goals are set to be winning major championships, then you’re going to have to push yourself and push each other. I had a great time growing up with these guys at Brookhaven Country Club in Dallas. We were there from sun up to sun down, my years of 10 to 15. And it shaped me into the golfer and into the person I was.”
Now it’s time for parents to listen. There is nothing harder than trying to make sure your kids are going down the right path. Nothing more worrisome than wondering where they are 24 hours a day. Spieth describes a familiar upbringing as a young golfer: Get dropped off at the golf course in the morning, spend the day there, and get picked up a night. For him, it was a place to see friends, to get exercise, to learn to associate with adults, and to become the best golfer in the world.
Five formative years of life at a golf course — from age 10 to 15 — produced two-time major champion Jordan Spieth. At 10 years old, kids still listen to you; at 15 years old, good luck. If you can get them involved in a positive hobby that spans those years, you’re ahead of the game. Golf teaches life lessons, and it does it with a taste of freedom, and a dash of responsibility.
People say that life is short. As an adult, it sometimes seems as though you fall asleep for a night and five years has passed. Next time you have that feeling, think of what five years meant to the youngest man to hold both the Masters and U.S. Open titles. Life’s not short.
And there’s time for a round of golf. Thanks, Jordan.