Watching the enthusiastic Tadd Fujikawa steal the limelight at the Sony Open in Hawaii last weekend, with his innocence, humility and infectious smile, has inspired me to try to have more fun and play with more enthusiasm.


Tadd Fujikawa

I found out in a round yesterday that it's not quite that easy. I'm already pretty upbeat when I play, but I have to work hard at staying that way when shots and holes get away from me. But upbeat isn't necessarily enthusiastic. There is definitely room for more fun in my game!

Yesterday, in an attempt at being more enthusiastic and fun, I made the mistake of treating the game like it is easy and fun. Looking back, I appears that my ego took over early in the round, letting me think I was good enough to just go out and have a good time hitting good shots, as if it didn't take any effort.

I made an impressive par on the difficult opening hole, but followed that with a 3-putt from 8 feet on the next hole for bogie. I gathered my wits and parred the third, then hit a perfect drive and layup on the long par 4 fourth, leaving me 90 yards out for my approach - my best position on this hole ever.

That all ended when I scalded my next shot with a sand wedge, sending the ball over the green and down the hill into a lake. I then dropped and swung my lob wedge right under the ball moving it a couple feet. My next shot was slightly better, but landed on the uphill short of the green. I finally chipped up and 2 putted for a 5-over 10… a quintruple bogie from 90 yards out!

I managed to put this fiasco behind me and play an average round afterwards, but I knew there was a lesson hidden in that - not so fun - experience.

I've been playing pretty well and consistently of late and I think I got a little cocky, treating the game with a little less respect, as if I can now score well no matter what. As I've learned many times, golf, like life, has a way of keeping you humble when you get complacent - or impressed with yourself.

Tadd's enthusiasm while playing great golf last weekend was balanced with a high degree of focus, concentration, and most importantly - humility. Thanks for the lesson Tadd.

Labels: Disciplines, Humility, Rounds, Tadd Fujikawa