Grandpa - The Life of a Golfer and Great Man
As I got to know my husband's family, I knew golf was the one thing I eventually was going to have to learn. To them golf is more than just a sport, it is a way of life. Every summer they gather on the golf course for at least one round of golf a week and it always made me wonder, what is it about the game that has got them this hooked? Is there something about it I am just not getting? Every holiday, birthday or major occasion, there is always someone who will happily accept any gift related to golf. So one day, I began to ask questions, and eventually I found out the person they have to thank for this wonderful vice is Grandpa Luke.
Luke Sutton is an 80 year old man who has played many roles. As you see him standing on the green, you see a man covered with the suntan of many summers spent outside playing golf. You see big rough hands, worn down from years of factory work, and the grey hair and many wrinkles he has earned. But you also see the twinkle in his eyes and the great big smile on his face that always invites you to come and talk with him for a while, since he has many stories to tell. I would like to tell you the story of how he became the golfer that he is, since it is an accomplishment of his no one knows much about.
Luke Sutton was born in 1915 and grew up during the Depression Era in Henry, Illinois, a small suburb of Chicago. At age 9 he and his older brother found jobs as caddies at the Ravisloe Country Club. He was two years younger than the age limit for caddies, but he persuaded management to allow him to caddie for the ladies in the club. He was such a small boy and their golf bags were not as heavy as the men's golf bags. He was paid one dollar for each round played and when it was time to go home, he would walk the four miles back home. "Don't break the dollar for bus fare," his mother would say. It was a rough time financially and every little bit helped the whole family.
It was through caddying that he developed his love for the sport.
6AM. A young man wakes up, showers, and eats breakfast. He then continues to his bedroom, embellishing himself in the simple yet characteristic mixture of white and khaki. He continues to his place of employment, breathing the soft scent of elm and grass. Within the caddie must lay the characteristics of a well-rounded, young adult, embodying the work ethic of those most inspiring before him. Charles “Chick” Evans, who once was a caddy and worldly renowned golfer, appreciates the fine young adults that have endured the morning wakeup call everyday in the summer. To whom that are applicable can ultimately be awarded the Chick Evans Caddie Scholarship. Named after Chick Evans himself because he dropped out of college in 1912 for lack of money, the scholarship is funded by donations from golfers and the proceeds of an annual professional tournament (Spears, 1995). Although Chick Evans has passed away many years ago, his legacy still lives on through the 825 scholars currently enrolled in 19 universities all across the United States. Chick Evans has made a profound have impact on the golf community and caddies looking for a way to pay for college.
Woods grew up watching his father golf day after day in the garage and anywhere else his father could get his hands on a club. His father was not only his coach but his best friend and when he died a few years down the road, it showed in the way Woods played. Woods had his father as a coach since he was able to stand up on his own and without the encouragement and the talent of both his father and himself the world may have never seen a problem with golf being an all-white game. Woods hadn’t doubted himself since the day he stepped on the green in 1997 to prove everyone wrong about his ability, but the day he had to play without his father was the day it
I guess it started when I was about twelve years old. My father took me to this place called a golf course. I did not know why or what we were here for, but I was interested in finding out. We entered a building called a clubhouse; then, he paid for a bucket of practice balls. I followed him to the driving range. Once we got there, he got a metal stick from his golf bag and gave it to me. I grabbed the stick, and he showed me how to hold it. Then, he told me to swing it. I swung it back and forth as careless as I could. He then said, "Son, you have one of the nicest golf swings I have ever seen." I did not even know what I was doing with that stick, but I guess my dad saw something I didn't. My father then decided that he was ready to teach me how to use the three clubs of golf: a putter, iron, and wood. He handed me the putter, and we went to the green. He explained to me that a putter is used on a green to get the ball into the hole. I took a few smooth swings back and forth to get a feel for a putter. He said, "Hit this ball until it goes into the hole." I was impressed with myself because it only took me six hits to get it in the hole. He laid twenty balls on the green, and he told me to hit every ball in with one shot. It took me about three hours, but I accomplished what my dad told me. He thought I was ready to try the next club, so we headed to the next location. We went out onto the fairway, and he handed me an iron. He laid out some more balls on the ground and told me to hit them towards the flag on the green. The first ball I hit did not even get close to the green. The rest of the balls I hit went either over or on the front of the green, but I never let another one fall short. My dad said, "Keep practicing until you hit all of the balls on the green." I kept practicing until all of the balls were laid up around the flag.
The agency I chose to do is the Hillandale golf course, which is located in Durham North Carolina. The reason why I chose to do my project on Hillandale golf course because since the beginning of the semester I have been traveling over to the golf course twice a week for a class learning the rules and the way the game of golf is played. Hillandale golf course is named the “Granddaddy golf course of Durham/ Research Triangle golf”. Hillandale was donated to the Durham area back in 1911 through the philanthropic interests of long-time Durham resident John Sprunt Hill. Donald Ross and Perry Maxwell originally designed the course. Donald Ross had designed the first 9 holes and Perry Maxwell came up with the last 9 holes. Since 1960 over 1.7 million rounds of golf have been played that being an average of 45,000 yearly. This public golf course provides a challenge from each level of players in the game of golf. In 1960, the Hillandale Golf Course was moved to its current location in Durham and was redesigned by George Cobb, who is also the designer of the Surf Club in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Golf is a sport that has been on the rise in popularity since the early 1900’s. The early years of golf was on a membership basis, only men of noble birth and privileged high class were able to be members. The stereotype of this “gentlemen’s sport” as a rich white man’s game has changed since the introduction of public courses in the US, and with women of the LPGA offering role models for young girls. More and more public courses are opening around the world, and the cost of the sport is readily available for the general public. Golf was once a game for “gentlemen”, now it is the middle class that is taking over the sport.
The game of golf is one of the oldest of today’s modern sports. Its exact beginnings are not known; however, some historians trace golf back to the Stone Age while others claim it originated from the “idle antics of shepherd boys knocking small stones into holes in the ground with a crook while their flocks grazed nearby” (Peper 1). Researched back to the time of the Roman Empire, it is also believed the sports-oriented Romans played a forerunner of the game of golf called paganica. This sport involved the use of a bent stick and a ball stuffed with wool played in the open countryside.
Contrary to what most think, an “Arnold Palmer” is not just a blend of tea and lemonade. One day, all might be able to swing a golf club like Arnold Palmer. Golf has been around since the thirteenth century and was introduced by the Scottish and Dutch. The main goal of golf is to reach the hole in the fewest amount of shots possible. One main difference between golf and many other sports is the lower the score the better. Regardless of the fact that the game was once banned, golf is now enjoyed by many (“The History of Golf”). Despite the images in common golf commercials, the golf swing is endlessly complicated.
Golf is different than any other sport I’ve ever played. Golf challenges the body, mind, and soul. The average person doesn’t think a lot about golf, or thinks that it is not a challenging sport. Once they have played it is a different story. Golfing is not just taking a swing at the ball, it involves several tedious techniques and strategies such as; making sure you are aimed where you want the ball to go, your hands are in the right spot on your clubs, your knees are slightly bent, etc. In the book “The Mind at Work” a member of the UCLA Graduate school of education and Information Studies, Mike Rose, states “With time and practice, all this becomes routine, automatic.” We are asked to compare Rose’s work with intelligence that we as students have acquired through our lives thus far. Something that I have worked for and learned about since I was young is golf. I
Critical thinking is recognized by accrediting bodies as an outcome for graduates of bachelor and master’s level programs, but no consensus exits on its definition and measurements (Ali, Bantz, & Siktberg, 2005, p. 90). Some critical thinking “descriptors are: confidence, contextual perspective, flexibility, inquisitiveness, intellectual integrity, intuition, open-mindedness, perseverance, and reflection. In addition, individuals who think critically have the ability to use the cognitive skills of analyzing, applying standards, discriminating, seeking information, reasoning logically, and transforming knowledge (Scheffer & Rubenfeld, 2000) (Ali, Bantz, & Siktberg, 2005, p. 90).
Three out of every four American workers describe their work as stressful. According to the Holmes-Rahe Life Events Scale, which rates levels of stress, many of the most stressful events in life are related to the workplace. Some examples are firings, business readjustments and changes in financial status, altered responsibilities, a switch to a different line of work, trouble with the boss, changes in work hours or conditions, retirement and vacations. Workplace stress costs American employers an estimated $200 billion per year in lower productivity, absenteeism, staff turnover, workers' compensation, medical insurance and other stress-related expenses. However, stress may not always be a bad thing. It can stimulate creativity and productivity. The natural pattern of human behavior is to experience a stress-causing event or situation, react to it with increased tension and then return to a normal, relaxed state. The problem occurs when stress is so overwhelming or constant that this pattern is broken. This overwhelming feeling is usually caused by some lack of communication.
Many people think of stress as a simple problem. In reality however, stress is complex and often misunderstood. We all know that stress is the body’s reaction to any demand on it. Perceptions of events, whether positive or negative, activate stress. It is, therefore, a highly individual affair. What is stressful to ‘X’ may not be so to another. But it is fairly easy to conclude that everyone lives under a certain amount of stress. In fact, the only people without stress are dead. At the same time it is certainly wrong to conclude that stress is always bad. Mild stress may improve the productivity. It may force people to focus more sharply on the problem and produce solutions. But if stress is severe and persist for long periods of time, it can be harmful. Stress can be disruptive to an individual as any
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There are two basic types of stress that affect our every day lives, good and bad stress. Managing psychological stressors to optimize reward is good stress, the kind that leads to peak performance, especially at the workpla...
Stress by definition is; any circumstance that places special physical and/or psychological demands on a person such that an unusual or out-of-the-ordinary response occurs. No one is immune to job related stress, making its existence a serious problem for employers and employees alike. Stressful jobs span an organization’s ladder from the bottom rung to the very top.