The Dreaded Golf Outing Days (08/04/2024)

Yesterday, there was some sort of golf outing. I’m not sure if it was a tournament or just a gathering of some special group. They were playing best ball. So, there was great emphasis on hitting the balls as far as possible. And when that is the goal for newbies to the course on which I live, my house takes a beating. Yesterday, my house was hit by over 20 balls. And can you guess how many times the golfers apologized? If you guessed none, you get the prize.

These outings worry me. If the golf etiquette that is operative around my home on outing days is any indication of our overall communal etiquette, I think we’re in serious trouble as a society. It points to our lack of accountability. And you and I both know that doesn’t end well.

This happens frequently during the summer. I built my home on the course knowing that chances were high that my house would get hit occasionally. What I didn’t realize at the time was the frequency with which this would happen because I didn’t consider the difficulty level of the hole nor that it was a dogleg. However, I know as well as anyone that accidents happen. I’m basically a forgiving person because I’ve made so many mistakes in my own life for which I needed mercy and forgiveness.

The issue I have with yesterday’s golfers isn’t that they hit my home with their balls. The difficulty I have is that not a single one stopped to say “sorry” and acknowledge that it was them. None of them afforded me the opportunity to say, “It’s okay. I understand.”

Some of the golfers played the hole. They drove up to see where their ball was and then pretended that it wasn’t their ball which they could do because it obviously wasn’t the best ball. Some walked over, retrieved the ball, but never apologized for hitting the house. And some abandoned their balls and skipped the hole rather than face me.

In fact, in the nine years I have lived here, only 2 people have ever stopped and apologized. Now, that’s just not right. But, the lack of accountability on the part of others has taught me the necessity of accountability on my part. I am learning day by day, ball by ball, to take responsibility for my actions and how they impact another.

Christ taught us to be accountable. Christ taught us to be merciful as we ourselves will inevitably need mercy. As we journey in faith, hope and love, let us recognize the impact of our actions and words. Let us seek out those who have been hurt or negatively impacted by those words and actions. Let us seek forgiveness. Let us seek to maintain the bonds we have with others through loving kindness, through mercy when needed, through accountability when needed.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.