Firstly, a huge thank you to everyone who played in our golf day and to those who generously sponsored prizes. (A Dinner, Bed and Breakfast at one of TM Dining’s fine establishments, a £250 voucher from The Meat Co. in Westfield shopping centre, a voucher from the famous silhouette artist, Charles Burns, a beautiful (get out of trouble!) bouquet from Funky Flowers, loads of golf accessories, luxury spa items and copious amounts of wine and champagne!)
Our third golf day was enjoyed by all and we raised £853 for Daisy’s Dream, a charity very close to our hearts. Daisy’s dream provide a much-needed service for children and their families suffering bereavement. In memory of Celia’s husband and father to their two daughters, who sadly took his own life on 30 October 2014, we host a charity golf day annually to raise funds for mental illness related charities.
A heartfelt thank you to all! Please let Celia know if you’d like to join us for the 2017 Golf Day and she’ll add you to the golfers mailing list. For those of you who played in teams and you’re the registered player, please do pass this blog link on to your team. See results below.
First, here are a few reflections of what we can learn from golfers…
- Be prepared
Plan ahead! Make sure you have everything you need to give you the best chance. Arrive early, get a feel for the lay of the land, the quickness/ slowness of the greens, the potential change in weather and the programme for the day. What do you need to do to be prepared for having a successful day in the office?
- Keep calm and carry on
When things go wrong it is all too easy to throw the towel in, get yourself into a tizz, feel annoyed with yourself and lose focus and go from bad to worse. Keeping calm is paramount to a good round of golf just as it is in business. Take a deep breath, clear your head and focus on the next shot.
- Course management is key
When you get into the woods, stop and assess the best course of action before hitting your next shot. It is all too easy to feel frustrated that you’ve gone off course and just go and whack your ball aimlessly in the hope that it will miraculously land on the fairway or green. How often do you take time to step out of your day-to-day and assess the best way forward for your business?
- There is no comment column on the score card
Luck happens on the golf course just as it does in business. Sometimes results will surprise you. As Gary Player said ‘the more I practice, the luckier I get’. Luck has a role to play in life and business but looking at the successful icons, it’s apparent that an unwavering believe, focus, determination and perseverance played a huge part in harnessing the luck that came their way.
- Drive for show, putt for dough
Getting up onto the tee-box and driving the ball far and straight down the fairway is an exhilarating feeling! It gets wows and cheers from the crowd and the golfer walks down the fairway, head held high, very chuffed with him/herself. The real work starts after that! Just like on the golf course, it’s a fantastic feeling when you close a huge deal, have a fully booked diary, get awarded a tender or get accepted for a PHD. The real work then begins and it’s the final 10% which really pays off.
- Get help!
Practicing is one thing but if you are practicing the wrong technique over and over again, the results you get will be the same again and again. It’s common practice in the sports arena to have a coach support you to improve your game. Who is your coach in your business? Just like on the sports field where the coach does not play the game for you, your business coach does not run your business for you, instead your coach will motivate, challenge, support and help you to be your best. We just happen to know brilliant business coaches…
- Focus on the good shots
We can learn an awful lot from golfers. One of the biggest lessons is focusing on the positive. Golfers don’t come off the field, dump their clubs in the trash and declare ‘that’s it…no more golf for me, I am rubbish at it’ Instead, you’ll hear golfers chatting about their great shots, the ones that motivate them to take another five hours the following week to chase the little white ball around! Through life and business, especially when the going gets tough, we can easily fall into the trap of focussing on and replaying the 50 things that went wrong rather than the few things that have gone right. No matter how difficult life gets, there is always at least one positive thing you can focus on.
Finally, keep life light and laugh
Maurie was not having a good day on the golf course. After he missed a twelve-inch putt, his partner asked him what the problem was. ”It’s the wife.” said Maurie. “As you know, she’s taken up golf, and since she’s been playing, she’s cut my sex down to once a week.” , “Well you should think yourself lucky,” said his partner. “She’s cut some of us out altogether!”
2016 Painless Practice Golf Day Results
Well done to team Tony Gibbs who won the team competition with 103 points!
Well done to Mick Gillard for winning the individual competition with a very impressive 22 stableford points on the front nine and the runner-up, Jack Edmonds, with 20 stableford points.
And the winners for longest drives and closest to the pins:
Men’s longest drive: Geoff Williiams
Ladies longest drive: Bernie Copland
Closest to the pin hole 6: Ted Doherty
Closest to the pin hole17: Mick Gillard