Club Championship

Three weeks ago I won the Men's Division in the Club Championship at my local club. This was not the Championship Division...just the Men's Division, but still, it was the first time I won anything in Club Championship after finishing second once or twice in the past. So I should have been thrilled, right? I guess so...but for some reason I wasn't. It might have been one of my competitors who congratulated me for winning "the Hackers Division", or it might have been that even though I had a large lead going into the final round, I lost a few of those shots and so was a little disappointed in my performance. I don't really know what it was...but I didn't get overly excited about it.



This all made me remember David Duval. He won the Open Championship a number of years ago, and then almost immediately his game fell apart. When questioned about it he said that winning the Open had been his lifelong dream, that he thought that when he won it a whole new world would open up, and he would feel like he had really accomplished something in his life. I'm paraphrasing here, but you get the general idea.



Then when he won it...it was a let down. Nothing changed. He got some extra attention for a while, but the life-affirming feeling that he had finally arrived at the pinnacle of his career, was, basically, a huge letdown. His game suffered. There was no reason to practice anymore. He had gotten what he'd worked for all his life. And in the end...it didn't mean that much.



Now, I don't mean to compare myself to David Duval, but the night before I won this division I was lying in bed hardly able to sleep. I had a 5 shot lead going into the final round. I had slept on the lead once before and blown it on Sunday, so I tried to convince myself that it wouldn't happen again. "Don't be afraid to win" I told myself. I'd heard that somewhere before, and it sounded like a good thing to tell myself now. "Just relax...play your game..." all that stuff.



When I got to the course I was nervous. Double bogey on the first hole. But I gathered myself together, and as we made the turn the lead over my closest opponent was 6. He made birdie on 10, but I still felt confident. I got one back on 12, but, then he made birdie on 13 and 14 while I bogeyed both holes and suddenly, I had a three shot lead. I was beginning to get nervous again. On the 15th (par 3) he missed the green left and I was about 12 feet right of the stick. He chipped poorly, made bogey, and I drained the 12 footer for birdie and I was back to 5 up with three holes to play.

That's the way it ended.

I thought when I finished that I would be elated...or something. The truth was that it was nice to recieve the congratulations of my opponents and other friends and members at the club, but all in all it was kind of a let down. I just wasn't that excited about it.

What does that say about me? Is golf just not that important in the end? Am I simply a recreational golfer? Not a competitor?

I just don't know...