On the Links: Every golfer is chasing a predecessor’s ghost
First off, let me say I am sorry for missing last week’s column. I do not know how I totally blew that deal, but I did, so in the interest of moving on, let me just say I am sorry and ask that you accept my mea culpa. I wanted to bend your ear a little this week on history, the history of golf. I believe that golf, aside from boxing, was the first individual sport in this country to create heroes.
Think about the following names: Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen, Willie Anderson and Francis Ouimet. Now these are names you may be familiar with, or not, but if you are intrigued by history as I am you know them. Jones was Jones, the preeminent champion, one many consider to be better than anyone, today included. Hagen was the first highly successful professional; Ouimet won the US Open and the US Amateur, coming from a lower class background. Anderson only won three US Opens in a row. Now I realize this does not mean much to us today, but every player in the middle of the 20th century knew these names and these records and they were spurred to surpass them.
Move to the middle of the 20th century. Boys and girls were spurred on by Hogan, Nelson, Snead, Didrikson-Zaharias and the like. These heroes spawned Nicklaus, Trevino, Player and Palmer. Those names triggered Woods, Els, Watson and the like.
The whole point of this is to remember where we came from. Every hero in golf had a role model or a “ghost” as a child. The model is who you wanted to be; the ghost is who you chased. Nicklaus chased Jones, Hogan chased Hagen, and Woods chases Nicklaus. It is all one story. Every player in golf, every great player, has been haunted and spurred by the early heroes, if not directly than indirectly, but the impact is felt every day.
Take a moment and map out your heroes and history. I guarantee it will be intriguing. You will also see that as time continues to march on, the ties to the past do not become weaker, they only become stronger, because those making history today are merely trying to replicate the early walkers of the fairways. They all chase ghosts and it is fun to analyze the connections.
Rich Conwell is the PGA Head Golf Professional at Uniontown Country Club. Rich has extensive experience in teaching players of all skill levels and is dedicated to improving junior golfers. Rich can be reached at richconwell@atlanticbb.net.