Backspin Volume 3, Issue 6 | Page 45

“Walking 18 holes is equal to a 3.5 mile run or a 5 mile walk. It burns up to 2,000 calories and over 10,000 steps are taken during an 18-hole round.” – wearegolf.org Wendelken, the manager of tournament operations and membership services with the Northern Ohio Golf Association into the game. “When I was in sixth grade, one of my friends’ older brother worked at the local course. We would go to the course in the evening and play as many holes as we could. My parents never played golf, and the course that I grew up playing is now closed.” Logan Ray, assistant executive director and director of championship operations of the Louisiana Golf Association, said golf came into his life a little later than most. “I did not play golf very often growing up, but my interest was sparked in college at Sewanee: The University of the South,” said Ray. “I stayed on campus for two summers between my freshman and junior years and worked as the assistant superintendent at the 9-hole Sewanee golf course.” Being around the game of golf everyday made Ray appreciate its beauty, he said. “The USGA P.J. Boatwright Internship brought me even closer to the game. Once I was immersed in golf administration, I realized that it was the perfect fit for me. The relationships that are developed through the game of golf are amazing. I was captivated by how unique golf No golf course is the was compared to other sports. same, players call No golf course is their own penalties, the same, players and integrity is the call their own foundation of the penalties, and integrity is the sport. foundation of the sport. As Bobby Jones once said, ‘Golf is the closest game to the game we call life.’ You get bad breaks from good shots. You get good breaks from bad shots, but you have to play the ball where it lies.” Golf is more than birdies or bogeys, handicap indexes, and championships. The sport is about bringing family and friends together for a duration of time in nature. Whether you play once a year, a month, a week or everyday that the weather permits, golf is a passion. It should be enjoyable and an escape from other things that stress us and consume our lives. We all came into golf because of someone or something that made us try it, and somehow it stuck with us. The game is social, and it can bring four total strangers together any day for a round and sprout a new friendship and bond. Everyone has a golf experience, even if he or she tried it once or twice and never returned. It is a sport where greatness is never measured in years and decades, it is defined by days, weeks and months. In the end, we all know that even the best in the world can chunk a wedge shot from 50 yards out just as easily as a 20 handicapper on a Sunday afternoon. 45