Nothing But Love :: golf blogger

Oil for Food Program

Here in the northern territories, we hesitantly enter golf season. For instance, Mother Nature poured about 8 inches of snow in a blizzard onto the local course where I usually play on Saturday. Of course, there are those zealots who never stopped playing; and there was a time way before the turn of the century when I was counted in those numbers. I like to play golf; and I've been called on to be the "ringer" by a lot of friends and acquaintances when they play for money or prizes, which is pretty cool, I must say.

Switching gears here, there has been a big hubbub going on over the humanitarian "oil for food" program that was being conducted in Iraq after the Gulf War and before the present war. A Texas oilman was recently indicted for giving kickbacks to Saddam Hussein and his henchmen. You may infer what you like from the fact that the guy is from Texas and that he was in the oil business. I think this deal-making has Bush fingerprints all over it. Does anyone recall the Iran-Contra affair orchestrated by the CIA, which was a scam run by George Bush the Dad, the director of the CIA?

Let's not get into all of the problems of graft and corruption, which seem to be standard operating procedure in nation building. How about Dick Cheney and Halliburton and bribery in Nigeria? We haven't heard much on that front lately.

So, I would like to embark on my "golf for food" program. There can be no doubt that golf can play a great role in advancing your career or it can be a pleasant, peaceful diversion from that same stressful career path. But golf lessons by PGA professionals can be extremely costly and burdensome time-wise. Group lessons, while less expensive, can be intimidating or even embarrassing; and group lessons do not give you the one-on-one attention that is necessary for speedy improvement. In addition, professionals lack significant understanding of the needs and desires of the beginner, together with the necessary compassion. You will end up being a funny story on the golf pro banquet circuit.

I, on the other hand, am not so arrogant to think that I know everything there is to know about golf; but I do know more than enough to teach the beginner so that the beginner can be comfortable, with some practice, on the golf course. Rather than charge ungodly amounts for lessons, I propose that the golf student house and feed me and my small family for a week in exchange for lessons. Or longer, depending on where you live.

Posted by Bill at April 27, 2005 07:38 PM