Golf is a funny sport. I remember in middle school, I hit a beautiful cut shot just off the green. I approached the chip shot with a bold thought that it was going in. It came off the club face so soft and pure. It took one, two, three hops and rolled out and finally dropped. Th click of the ball hitting the bottom of the cup was one of the greatest sounds ever. I thought that I had just started one of my greatest rounds ever. Oh man was I mistaken, I finished that day with 6 straight bogey’s and two pars. The game of golf had stuck out it’s hand ripped it away from me.

I also remember one of my greatest rounds. I had gotten on the first tee and for some reason I had a lot more nerves than I usually did. These nerves fueled me to beat them and do well, which I did. I had two birdies back to back then lipped my third one. I played the next three holes with all pars. I drove the seventh green and two-putted for birdie. I scored par and then drove the eighth green and scored a birdie and finished the day with a par. One moment that really stands out to me was when we had finished and one of the opposing players looked at me and said, “What did you shoot?” and when I told him he didn’t believe me. The only thing that affirmed my score was my partner who kept my score.

One of the hardest parts about going to high-school was jumping from eighth grade golf to varsity golf. I was used to playing with seventh and eighth grade, certainly not juniors and seniors. The only thing that gave me the ability to compete was how hard I worked and the amount of tournament experience I had. In my first invitational I was so scared that I couldn’t feel anything on the tee box. My favorite round was our King of the Hill match where we play both of our rivals.I played really well and ended up medaling in it but what made it best was that we had won and got an immense trophy for our feat.

What I enjoyed most about golf is the people it brought me together with and how it shaped my personality and taught me that it’s okay to be different. It gave me some of my best friends and good friends for outside of golf. It also brought me adults that I can talk to and that genuinely care about me.  It also was hard growing up as a golfer because most kids found it to be silly and for wimps. The way I fought that off was by working hard and becoming good because they can’t make fun of me for being bad at something.

In conclusion, golf will always be many things to me. Golf will always be pain reliever and pain causer, golf will always be my most loved thing and most hated thing. Golf will always be the word I identify with.