Vision 54

On my last night in Kansas City, I had dinner with my brother and his family, and we watched the final round of the U.S. Open.  I’d never understood the appeal of golf, particularly televised golf, but I have to admit that it was exciting.  I think it was the combination of being in the presence of people (my brother and nephew) who are passionate about the game, and because so much was at stake for players Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate. 

“If he makes a birdie, he ties,” said John at one point.

For the first time in my life, it occurred to me to ask “What is a birdie, exactly?” 

Clay and John then explained that a ‘birdie’ is one stroke under par, an ‘eagle’ is two strokes under par, a ‘bogey’ is one stroke over par, etc. 

Woods and Mediate both finished the round one-under-par, so the following day they played an 18-hole playoff.  I was at the Detroit airport during much of that, so I joined a large group of golf fans standing in front of a television, watching the match.  I was the only woman in the group, as it happened, and I felt very impressed with myself when a newcomer asked “How are they doing?” and I was able to explain authoritatively that Tiger was one-under having just made a birdie.

When you learn something new, you never know how or when it might suddenly come in handy, if only to impress a bunch of strangers at Wayne County Airport.

Today I learned another bit of sport related minutiae, namely that what I referred to in my last post as ‘taking kicks’ is actually called a ‘penalty shootout’.  I trust Dwight to know what he’s talking about, but I’m from the Show-Me state, so I had to look it up for myself, and while I was at it, I looked up golf scoring as well.  What I learned was that a ‘Perfect Round’ in golf is when a player makes a birdie on every hole.  Most championship courses are par 72, so in the rare event that a player does go one-under-par on each of the 18 holes, his or her score is 54. 

This fact has been developed into a motivational tool (‘Vision 54′) to encourage people, golfers and non, to pursue perfection.

I think this may be one more reason golfers love the game as much as they do.  Of course I’m speaking from the point of view of someone who has never played more than golf of the putt-putt windmill and waterfall variety, but how many other sports, games, or activities are there where there is a definable ‘perfect’ score or result?  Not gymnastics, where a ‘perfect 10′ is so subjective, or basketball, where the higher the score the better, with no real ceiling, or running, where the lower the time the better but you never know when you’ve gone as low as one possibly can.  Or changing the arena, at work, when do you ever know you’ve done something perfectly?

A 54, on the other hand — that’s math, and math isn’t an opinion. 

That’s real, and solid, and something you can aim for.

Years of indifference to golf, and suddenly I think I get it.