Give Luck a Chance.

I played in the Quinte Cup today.  It is apparently the oldest inter-club competition in North America.  I wrote an article called "Why Worry," which expressed some concern that I was playing poorly and had to play in the number one spot for our club.

This year things went well and I won all my matches, including winning on the last hole against Brian, a fine player from Napanee, to clinch the Cup for our club.  This year, I'm a hero.  Next year, I might be a dog.  That's golf.

What helped me today was Bobby Jones' advice to play Old Man Par--not your opponent.  Old Man Par is still usually good enough in my circles.  In any case, it was edifying not to have screwed up.  This was as much good luck as it was good management.  But all you can do in this game is, as Harvey Penick once said to Davis Love about his putting, "Give luck a chance."  If you just keep hitting it, and don't give up, sometimes good things can happen.