Ten Life Lessons Learned On The Golf Course

Golf, like many other sports, offers life lessons to those who are willing to learn. Regardless of if you’re already a golfer or thinking about starting– there are many things that you can learn from the game.

After asking a handful of golfers what they have learned while spending time out on the course, it became evident that people were experiencing the same things. Here are 10 lessons that golfers of varied ages, gender, and experience all learned while out on the course.

1. Communication and Cooperation

Golf is a great sport that can help you in building communication skills that will help you get along and cooperate with others. If you’re out on the course, oftentimes you don’t always have a four-some and you’re with random people. An 18-hole course takes a while to get through, so communication is a great tool to have.

When golfing, even if you’re in a competition it’s important to be able to cooperate with others. You can find common ground with competitors, make friends with people you’ve just met, and you will find that you’ll be able to interact with others on a
whim. Golf helps build your skills in communication and cooperation, which is a valuable skill to bring with you when you leave the course.

2. You can’t always Control the Uncontrollable

Golf is a sport where you definitely can’t expect to control every aspect of your game. Sometimes you’ll hit a shot and feel like it’s perfect… only to see that the result was horrible. If you try to control the uncontrollable, the game quickly becomes frustrating and you stop having fun.

When on the course, if you stop trying to control the uncontrollable you’ll be able to enjoy yourself and accept that sometimes you’re just unlucky. And that’s okay. There are things you can control, such as your swing, your mentality, decision making, etc… but if your shot happens to hit a sprinkler head that sends it flying 30 yards over the green, you definitely can’t control that.

3. You’ll Have Lucky Days and Unlucky Days

Golf is a game where you’ll have more bad shots than good ones. Even in a great outing, you’ll probably have quite a few bad shots. Sometimes you’ll have quite a few lucky shots, and other times you’ll have some unlucky ones. In some outings you’ll feel like you’re on top of the world, and sometimes you just gotta roll with the punches.

Learning to work through the reality that you’ll have to have unlucky days intermixed with your lucky ones is a great lesson that golf teaches us. Some days everything goes well and things all come together, and on other days nothing seems to go well at all. Golf teaches us how to deal with the mentality we need to get through the unlucky times and the persistence we need to get the most out of every day we have.

4. Persistence and Resilience

To be honest, golf is not an easy sport. Wherever you’re at in your development, things will not always go your way. If you stick with it, you’ll learn the important lessons of having resilience and being persistent with your goals.

Resilience comes with having toughness during adversity and continuing forward when things don’t go well. If you have a few bad shots in a row, it takes resilience and persistence to make a good one to break the pattern. Being persistent in practice will not only make you a better golfer, but will help you in every walk of life. It’s a great lesson to learn that will help you reach goals and grow in whatever you apply it towards.

5. Goal Setting leads to Growth

Setting goals and achieving goals is a base that people use to strive for success… and golf teaches us how to do this. Golf teaches us how to learn to set achievable goals that allow us to grow. Goal setting is an important skill– but setting achievable goals for yourself is even more important.

Growth is not always an upward slope, and sometimes you’ll fall short of your goals. Golf helps us recognize the times where new goals need to be set to get us back on track and going in the right direction. Whether it’s setting new goals to work on our
swing, our mentality while approaching the tee, etc., goals help in our growth.

6. Patience is Key

Golf teaches us patience as it is a game where you have to go shot by shot– you can’t get ahead of yourself and you have to stay in the moment. That being said, having patience is important in golf. You can’t force a great shot, a birdie, or a lower score. You can’t make a birdie with your tee shot, but you can make a double bogey or worse if you force it.

Being patient with yourself and your shots, making sure each time you approach the ball that you’re in the moment and not two shots ahead will only make you better. This is a great approach to take with you in life– be patient, in the moment, and approach each task like it’s the most important task you’ve ever done. That’s what golf can teach you.

7. Humility is Valuable

Humility is another valuable lesson that many golfers can learn while out on the course. Being humble is a powerful attribute that comes from being tested by other opponents out on the course, respecting other golfers, and recognizing other talent on
the course.

Having humility allows you to play through the good and bad while still being approachable and gives you a space to find mentors who will help improve your game. This is a great lesson that you can take with you into multiple aspects of your life, whether it’s at work, at home, or in other hobbies– humility is a great attribute to have.

8. Have Integrity in Everything You Do

Another lesson that golfers tend to learn while out on the course is what it means to have integrity. In golf, there isn’t someone there to watch your every shot. Even in tournament play, the only people there to see your every shot will be your playing
partners.

You’ll discover that there are many ways you can cheat to get better scores– but in the end, cheating the rules will only cheat yourself. Having integrity every time you step out on the course and playing by the rules will only benefit you, as integrity is a valuable lesson you can take with you off the course!

9. Etiquette and Respect

The etiquette and rules for golf is very important to know and respect for any golfer. Golf etiquette is something that people should be aware of on the course and maintain. For example, not stepping into someone else’s line, being quiet when someone is hitting, not driving the golf cart on the tee boxes and greens, fixing your ball marks, moving at the pace of the course, etc.

Following the etiquette shows your respect for the game, the course, and the others who are golfing. By showing respect, it makes it easier to communicate and work with others out on the course and gives you a great experience.

10. Have Grace for others Around You

Golf is a sport where having grace for others out on the course with you makes your experience a great one. Oftentimes you’ll meet people that come from all walks of life out on the course. If they don’t adhere to the same etiquette and rules as you,
sometimes it takes some grace to recognize the situation and cooperate with them.

Out on the course, you’ll have groups in front of you and behind you. If the group in front of you is going slower, making you wait before each hole– sometimes you need to have grace if they’re not matching your pace. There may be new golfers, older golfers who need more time, etc. Having grace for their situation is important, and will start to blend into your life off the course.