When the Course Got Loud: Lessons From the Dojo

What a sudden change on the golf course taught me about Presence — and the difference between being Present and trying to be Present.

My round at Mariana Butte started exactly how I love golf to feel.

It was 7:00 in the morning.

The course was quiet. The air was peaceful. I was enjoying the beauty around me and felt calm and present.

I started par-par, followed by two bogeys where I barely missed the greens.

I wasn’t thinking much about my score.

I was simply playing golf.

Then I reached the fifth hole.

A charity tournament had begun with a shotgun start behind us, and suddenly the entire energy of the course changed.

Golf carts were everywhere.

The course became loud and busy.

We started waiting nearly ten minutes between shots. At one point, we waited almost twenty minutes on a tee box.

The peaceful rhythm of the first four holes was gone.

And eventually, so was some of my Presence.

I became frustrated. My attention started to wear down. Later in the round, some old patterns returned.

What I find interesting looking back isn’t that I lost my calm.

It’s how hard I started trying to stay calm.

I had meditated that morning. I had practiced Qi Gong. I wanted to remain Present.

And somewhere along the way, Presence became another thing I was trying to accomplish.

Maybe that was the lesson.

Presence came naturally during those first few holes when I was enjoying the morning, noticing nature, and simply playing.

When the environment changed, I started working at it.

The golf course gave me another opportunity to notice the difference.

Presence isn’t something I can force.

Sometimes I simply need to notice that I’ve wandered away and return.

Reflection

Where in your life have you turned something that once felt natural into something you’re trying too hard to achieve?