Lessons From Bill

During my early childhood, I fell victim to believing the stereotype of what golf was. Society portrayed golf as an “old man's sport” and that is the perception I had of it. I considered it to be a sport for lazy, unathletic people. Boy, was I wrong.

At the age of 13, my dad took me to my local municipal course. He signed me up for a lesson with a guy named Bill Wilson. With a golf club in my hand, I walked up to the hitting mat in Bill's room. In my head I remember thinking how easy this was going to be. I had a sense of overconfidence as I glared at the little white ball right by my feet. I set up, I swung back and with all my might I tried to hit the ball.  As I followed through I looked up into the distance looking for the ball to be traveling far away in the air but it was nowhere to be seen. I looked back down and there the ball was, untouched and unmoved. Frustrated, I swung over, and over, and over again, and kept missing. Within an hour alone, my false perception about golf was completely shattered. 

After that first lesson with Bill, I took the sport as a challenge; and I was determined to master it. I spent hours on the range and course every single day hitting hundreds of golf balls. Eventually I got good enough to start competing in many different leagues as well as play for my high school varsity team. Through my journey as a junior golfer, I learned patience, discipline and persistence. All virtues that I carried with me later to other aspects of my life. 

Now at the age of 25, golf plays a very different role in my life. To preface this I should mention that like alot of people, the pandemic affected me negatively. It especially impacted my mental health. Being stuck at home, seeing what was going on around us took its toll. I realized over the course of a few months I became reclusive, anxious, and quite honestly, depressed. This was until I started golfing again. Being one of the few sports you could play during the pandemic, I started playing quite often. I instantly saw improvements in my mental health. For the four hours spent on the course, I was able to take a breather from thinking about anything negative that was going on in my life. 

Golf for me now continues as a form of therapy. It checks so many boxes for healthy mental habits. Being in nature (often with some nice views), getting exercise and sun, being around friends, meeting all kinds of interesting people and most importantly having fun! I’m forever thankful for what this game has taught me and the role it plays in my life.

Vihaan Behl