Golf and God

Golf has been an enormous part of my life; it has helped make me the person who I am today. Over the years I have learned many life lessons and other valuable pieces of information while on the course. Growing up my parents raised me to be Jewish; we went to temple twice a week until I was a junior in high school and had a bar mitzvah. My parents really pushed religion on both my brother and I, if we did anything wrong my mom would say it’s because we’re not religious enough. Events like these pushed me away from religion and my belief in god, until I step on the golf course.

            Many golfers pray to a higher being or the “golf gods” for wisdom and guidance on the course. The majority like myself is not super religious off the course, but there’s something about the game of golf that drives people crazy enough to pray and worship the gods. In the Michael Brooks article Born Believers: How your brain creates god, he discusses why people believe in god. After looking at his article I thought of myself on the golf course and thought about why certain events take place. I can remember countless times where I have hit perfect shots but something out of the ordinary will occur like a ball ending up hitting a shovel that was left behind or having an animal come move a ball or even just how the wind will pick up whiel my ball is in  the air. 

            Over the years the connection between golf and religion has been made and many people have commented over the situation:

"The only time my prayers are never answered is on the golf course." - Billy Graham (Guru)

"Some of us worship in churches, some in synagogues, and some on the golf course." - Adlai Stevenson (Guru)

"If you're caught on a golf course during a storm and are afraid of lightening, hold up a one iron. Not even God can hit a one-iron." - Lee Trevino (Guru)

"If I'm on the golf course and lightening starts, I get inside fast. If God wants to play through, I let him." - Bob Hope (Guru)

"I never pray to God to make a putt. I pray to God to help me react good if I miss a putt." - Chi Chi Rodriguez (Guru)

"If you call on God to improve the results of a shot while it is still in motion, you are using an 'outside agency' and subject to appropriate penalties under the rules of golf." - Henry Longhurst(Guru)

Works Cited:

Guru, The Golf. "Golf and Religion: Quotes on God and Golf." HubPages. 14 Apr. 2009 .

Brooks, Michael. "Born believers: How Your Brain creates God."New Scientist. February 4, 2009.