Witnessing the Difference

What the view from a burger joint overlooking a practice area taught me 

2020 has proven a lot of things are bigger than golf. That being said, golf is back, and what I witnessed on a recent road trip was truly inspiring.

Somehow in this pandemic an employment opportunity came knocking that I could not refuse. So for me it was a Saturday full of house rental searching in or near State College, PA. After looking at five meh to decent to pretty nice places, it was 7:30 PM and I was getting hungry.

I read a couple of reviews, made a call to make sure they were open, and before I knew it I was seated in The Field Burger & Tap, an upscale feeling but not close to overpriced custom hamburger & beer joint at the amazing Toftrees Golf Resort.

Outside my picture window of The Field was the Toftrees practice area. It wasn’t dusk. It was pretty well after dusk. And what was I seeing? A half-dozen junior golfers working on their craft.

The Hurricane Junior Golf Tour was in action this particular weekend with the State College Junior Open. A field of 89 young men and women hit the Toftrees links for the two-day event, with congratulations to Ryan Bilby, Nicholas Ciocca, Nick Werner, Angelina Tolentino, and State College native Madison Koshko for winning their respective divisions.

But what I also noticed in that moment while enjoying a frosty cold one paired with the Eleven Oaks Farm burger (which could only be described as damn near perfection) was the tenacity, the desire to improve, the want to win, and the drive needed to do so.

These “kids” had all played 18-holes on a Saturday. It was late. Hell, even with my barely into prescription glasses eyes, I think I would’ve been hard pressed to be able to see my Titleist rolling more than 25 to 30 feet out on the large practice surface. 

But there they were: grinding, learning, working, doing that little bit extra.

All of us recreational golfers hit the range, roll some on the putting green, play 9 or 18, and maybe use an at home simulator if we’re fortunate enough. But these young golfers showed me something that applies to everything in life on and off the course: the extra. 

It was about 9:00 PM when I left. There were still three on the green working on their game. They embodied the extra.

The chances of these young men and women making it to anything more than playing college golf is incredibly slim. That didn’t matter. They were giving the extra.

Most of us are coming out of the pandemic work from home phase of life, while some are also going to unfortunately be waiting for their jobs and businesses to resume where they left off, if so lucky. What many didn’t realize or may just now see is the COVID-19 shutdown was and still is the perfect time to find your extra. It doesn’t have to be golf like these junior talents, but would sure be cool if you did. 

Finding that extra may mean more time with your family that gets sacrificed by our inability to separate work life from home life thanks to the evil known as our smartphone or tablet or laptop. Finding that extra might be reading that book about business you always wanted to open or taking advantage of the tons of free educational resources being made available by colleges to advance your current knowledge or even pivot to a new career or entrepreneurial endeavor.

Honestly, I don’t know if we as a collective world will ever have a chance like this ever again to pull a control-alt-delete on our current paths. This freedom should be cherished, not booed.

As legendary college basketball coach John Wooden said, “A true test of a man’s character is what he does when no one is watching.” 

No one was watching these few juniors striving for the next level except for a hungry fat guy who happened upon this green-side restaurant out of pure necessity. But I have to say they taught me a lesson.

Also, I really need to work on my putting. These “kids” put me to shame.

Cover Photo by Jakub Kapusnak on Unsplash