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The Golfer's Guide to the Meaning of Life: Lessons I've Learned from My Life on the Links
On the Nature of Champions
The most significant common intangible among the truly great is that they enjoy adversity . They want to be put in fear-inducing situations because they know it is the ultimate test. The true prize is not the trophy. Rather, the prize is the knowledge that at precisely the right moment, one is able to exercise absolute self-control and precise judgment.
On Fate
We who play the game know that sometimes we get pleasant and unexpected surprises, such as a hole-in-one or a ball that skips off the water and onto dry land. We also know we are equally likely to get a bad break-- a wild bounce of the ball, a sudden gust of wind. The game leaves us no choice but to accept the good with the bad and to move on to the next shot.
On Competition
The game of golf challenges your mind anew every single day and presents you with the ultimate yourself. I've always been amazed that people can derive so much satisfaction out of beating others when they have never taken the ultimate test of battling themselves.
On the Role of Mind
The swing is not the thing. The professional tours were and still are loaded with people who can swing the golf club as gracefully as you please. That does not make them great players. The difference between being a good swinger of the club and a great player lies between the ears, in the mind. To keep your mind open to learning new things is to keep progressing forward in life.
On Positive Thinking
I will say without hesitation that you cannot achieve any goal if you have negative thoughts running through your head. You must have positive and, what might even seem to others, bold thoughts. This is not to say that you should ignore the strengths of an opponent whether on the golf course, on a sales call, or in the boardroom. Acknowledge his strengths? Yes. Dwell on them? No.
The most significant common intangible among the truly great is that they enjoy adversity . They want to be put in fear-inducing situations because they know it is the ultimate test. The true prize is not the trophy. Rather, the prize is the knowledge that at precisely the right moment, one is able to exercise absolute self-control and precise judgment.
On Fate
We who play the game know that sometimes we get pleasant and unexpected surprises, such as a hole-in-one or a ball that skips off the water and onto dry land. We also know we are equally likely to get a bad break-- a wild bounce of the ball, a sudden gust of wind. The game leaves us no choice but to accept the good with the bad and to move on to the next shot.
On Competition
The game of golf challenges your mind anew every single day and presents you with the ultimate yourself. I've always been amazed that people can derive so much satisfaction out of beating others when they have never taken the ultimate test of battling themselves.
On the Role of Mind
The swing is not the thing. The professional tours were and still are loaded with people who can swing the golf club as gracefully as you please. That does not make them great players. The difference between being a good swinger of the club and a great player lies between the ears, in the mind. To keep your mind open to learning new things is to keep progressing forward in life.
On Positive Thinking
I will say without hesitation that you cannot achieve any goal if you have negative thoughts running through your head. You must have positive and, what might even seem to others, bold thoughts. This is not to say that you should ignore the strengths of an opponent whether on the golf course, on a sales call, or in the boardroom. Acknowledge his strengths? Yes. Dwell on them? No.
144 pages, Hardcover
First published October 12, 2001
2 people are currently reading
24 people want to read
About the author
Gary Player
76 books16 followersGary Player, The Black Knight
Gary Player has won 167 professional golf tournaments worldwide and is one of only five men to capture golf’s coveted career Grand Slam. He won nine Major championships on the PGA Tour and nine Major championships on the Senior Tour, and is the only player in history to complete the career Grand Slam on both Tours. Off the course, Player has raised more than $62 million for underprivileged children’s education globally through the efforts of The Player Foundation; he has designed nearly 400 golf courses worldwide; he has bred more than 2000 winning racehorses on the Gary Player Stud Farm in South Africa; and in recognition of his achievements in golf as well as his dedication to charity, Player has received many awards including the Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award and the PGA Tour's Lifetime Achievement Award. He currently serves as the Global Ambassador to the World Golf Hall of Fame and has been dubbed the Black Knight, Mr. Fitness, and The World’s Most Traveled Athlete™ having travelled more than 25 million kilometers. In 2015, he celebrated the 50th anniversary of his career Grand Slam achievement and his 80th birthday. In 2016 he captained the South African Olympic Golf Team in Rio de Janeiro at the Summer Olympics.
Gary Player has won 167 professional golf tournaments worldwide and is one of only five men to capture golf’s coveted career Grand Slam. He won nine Major championships on the PGA Tour and nine Major championships on the Senior Tour, and is the only player in history to complete the career Grand Slam on both Tours. Off the course, Player has raised more than $62 million for underprivileged children’s education globally through the efforts of The Player Foundation; he has designed nearly 400 golf courses worldwide; he has bred more than 2000 winning racehorses on the Gary Player Stud Farm in South Africa; and in recognition of his achievements in golf as well as his dedication to charity, Player has received many awards including the Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award and the PGA Tour's Lifetime Achievement Award. He currently serves as the Global Ambassador to the World Golf Hall of Fame and has been dubbed the Black Knight, Mr. Fitness, and The World’s Most Traveled Athlete™ having travelled more than 25 million kilometers. In 2015, he celebrated the 50th anniversary of his career Grand Slam achievement and his 80th birthday. In 2016 he captained the South African Olympic Golf Team in Rio de Janeiro at the Summer Olympics.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 4, 2021
Outstanding. Very well thought through philosophy as experienced in a life filled with golf lessons learned.
June 15, 2016
This was a great inspirational read. A lot of positive things that not only apply to golf, but life itself.
August 24, 2016
inspirational. simple. profound words from a man who has squeezed every ounce of life out of his god given abilities. must read.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews