Presence Golf 

Lessons From the Dojo

I was playing reasonably solid golf until the head professional joined us late in the round. Almost immediately, I felt something shift in my body. Nothing about the golf course had changed, but suddenly I felt watched. I had moved from Presence into performance. This Lessons from the Dojo reflection isn't about fixing what happened. It's about noticing what golf revealed when someone's opinion suddenly seemed to matter.

A slow round frustrated me because I had to wait. Another round frustrated me because I felt rushed. Different circumstances revealed the same pattern: I was allowing the external rhythm of the golf course to determine my internal state. This Lessons from the Dojo reflection explores what happened when I stopped trying to control the experience and returned to one simple practice: Just golf.

My round began quietly, surrounded by nature and playing from a place of calm. Then a charity tournament changed the energy of the course. As the noise, waiting, and frustration increased, I discovered something unexpected: the harder I tried to stay Present, the further away Presence seemed. Another simple lesson from the dojo about awareness, golf, and letting go.

My first golf tournament in years brought fear, expectations, score, and attachment to the surface. Instead of seeing those things as failures, I began to see competition as another part of the dojo. Here are three simple lessons I learned about competing fully, staying rooted in Presence, and keeping golf in balance with a bigger life.

Before my round at Marianna Butte, I committed to one intention: Peace begins with me. During the round I battled snap hooks, chip yips, and moments of hesitation, yet I discovered something far more valuable than a lower score. Peace isn't something golf gives us—it is something we bring to the course. This reflection explores how Presence transforms not only the way we play, but the way we live.

Preparing for my first tournament in years revealed something unexpected: I still cared deeply about score. But I also realized that score no longer defines me. In this first Lessons from the Dojo reflection, I explore the tension between competition and Presence, why golf is my practice rather than my identity, and how true self-mastery begins when we give our best effort without losing ourselves in the outcome.