The Downhill Lie Giveaway Winners

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Last week, I asked you to tell me if you’ve ever left the game and why, for a chance to win a copy of The Downhill Lie, Carl Hiaasen’s tale of woe chronicling his taking up the game again after over 30 years away.

There are two winners to the contest:  the story I liked the most, and a second winner chosen at random from the remaining entries.  I will be contacting each winner by e-mail shortly.

First I’d like to thank Vintage Publishing for sponsoring this giveaway.  Stay tuned in the near future for my complete review of the book.

Now, the random winner.  Congratulations to Chris, who shared a great story of discovering the challenge of him versus the course instead of him versus other players after having given up the game for 18 months.

And, now for the winner that I selected.  First, I want to say that I really enjoyed all the entries and it was truly difficult to pick a winner.  I’m not just saying that to console everyone who didn’t win.  I really mean it.  Thanks to everyone who took the time to submit an entry.

Drumroll, please…

I’m choosing Brad Clardy from Brad’s Wonderful World of Golf as the winning entry.  Have a look at his story and then I’ll talk more about it below.

I quit for one whole week last year. I was shooting in the low 80’s looking to bust into the 70’s last spring, when all of a sudden on one of those days when you feel like you can win every lottery in town, I played a round in the triple digits. It came out of nowhere. It slammed me like a sack of potatos on the curb. I could not believe it! My buddies kept asking me if my marrige was on the rocks. From slices, to shanks, to putts off the green. It all happened at once like some terrible nightmare, except I was fully awake and powerless to stop it. I never blew up or out. I calmly left the course, went home and drank 2-3 scotches trying to put my finger on the worst round in my life.

The next thing I did was put up a web page ad listing every golf club I owned. I listed every club, in single lined description, with the value of each to the side. At the bottom of the page I let my words flood a full paragraph as I finally dumped my anger and emotions on to my keyboard and explained to the whole world why I was giving up the game of golf. At the bottom of the $2500 price tag, I put this note.”50% off to the first guy that helps me quit.”

Three days later, I get this call from a local, where I ran the ad and he says he’s interested. He shows up at my door with a van full of clubs and starts telling me he wants to do some trades. I was a little upset and told him that he didn’t even read my ad. I said, “I’m trying to quit mister!”, and he said, “And I’m trying to keep you in the game.” I shook his hand laughing as he left. After four days of stewing, I deleted the ad and went back to the same course and shot an 80. If you quit on life you die, If you quit on golf, you’re just a loser.

One of the reasons I chose this entry as the winner is because I could literally feel the frustration.  Anyone who takes the game seriously has felt it at some time.  It’s kind of like being stranded on an island alone.  It’s one of the most frustrating things that can be experienced.  Here’s this game that we love so much, and it has stopped being fun.  Our friends and families can only watch the spectacle and feel sorry for us, as if we’re dying a slow death.

But what really did it for me is the conclusion he came to at the end.  I personally wouldn’t call anyone a loser for giving up the game.  I say, to each his own.  But the point is a valid one.  Why would we give up this game that we love?

Now, I’m not talking about people with young children or people stricken with financial hardship.  Sometimes people have to make hard choices like that.  It’s the ones that love the game and walk away willingly that I’m talking about.

In the end, we have to look inward to ask ourselves why we would give up something so dear to us because we put up a big number or have a case of the shanks.  It’s a defense mechanism to protect us from the negative emotions, but really, it’s a failing in our own ability to manage expectations and to handle adversity.

Golf hasn’t changed just because we face adversity.  It’s still the game we became attached to for whatever reason.  The answer for those of us who have faced this despair (and I’ve been there, believe me) is simply to work a little harder and to reshape the expectations about what golf gives to us, and we’ll see no reason to walk away.

We’ll stop obsessing about winning the club championship or about looking foolish in front of others or falling short of our own lofty goals and enjoy the game for what it is and what it always has been:  several hours of camaraderie, companionship, and competition in the great outdoors.  It’s wonderful exercise, and a challenge that can never be conquered.  It provides exhilarating highs and depressing lows, all which make us better players and better people.

Congratulations to Chris and Brad.  I’m thoroughly enjoying the book, even if I do think Hiaasen shouldn’t have sworn off the game to begin with. Stay tuned for my full review in the near future.