Golf Will Never Fail You

In his now famous manuscript, Donald J. Ross said that golf would never fail him. But in the spring of 2005, I thought it had failed me.

Back then, I thought Ross was crazy. I thought I could die never playing another round of golf. The childhood version of myself, the one who loved golf and found the game’s pursuit spiritual, seemed immature. College golf didn’t pan out like I expected and I felt like I fell out of love with the game. As a golfer, I was lost.

It was a good friend and a trip to Ireland that brought me back.

In my tour of Ireland with friend and teammate Matt Considine, I realized what I’d been missing the whole time. When you stand at the seaside on the first tee at Royal County Down, you’ll see it. When you look at the clubhouse situated eighteenth green at Royal Portrush, you’ll see it there too. You might not be able to explain it, but the spirit of the game will be clearer than ever. 

For me, I needed to go overseas to recapture my love for golf. I could have never gotten it back stateside. 

If you feel like I did back in 2005, I wish I could tell you that it just takes a trip to Ireland to recapture that spirit. I can’t. It takes time. But, I write you to tell you to take comfort and push through, because whatever it takes you to recover the spirit of golf, it will burn stronger than ever before. Your soul will be fed with brilliant course design and architecture. Your mind will be ignited by performance data and analytics. Your heart will be filled by the invaluable friendships golf has given you. Your passion will allow the game to give all it has to offer. 

I know firsthand that it’s easy to see the game for something it is not. I saw it as a job. I saw it as a grind. It became absent of companionship. It became anything but a game. 

Those experiences and feelings shaped me for the better. I now understand that golf will never fail you even after you have failed it. 

In the words of Robert Hunter, “Golf beats us all, and that is the chief reason we shall never cease loving her, nor ever give up our attempt to subdue her.” 

By Kevin Moore