A Game of Golf

548 Words3 Pages
A Game of Golf Ron Hansen’s essay “Why I Play Golf” is an essay a person may easily come to acceptance with. The essay shows the simple side of the game of golf; relaxing, simple, fulfilling, successful. Hansen creates a side of golf that not many people are privileged enough to get to experience. The author tells why he believes everyone should take up golf. It is a sport that will take you mind off all of the stress of life. I, however, am not quite convinced this idea suits everybody. When speaking of the game Hansen is beyond elated. The reader can tell he loves the sport. The thesis is suggesting a golfer becomes molded. The golfer becomes completely routine in swing. I agree, to a point. Certain times call for different swings. Not all golfers have the same swing, or the “ideal” swing, as some may put it. Routine and habit, two main points in this essay. Hansen gives the readers an example. An example about horses. There have been many test run on horses to show that when the horse was taught a certain task and was rewarded the horse continually did the task graciously. However, when the horse did not receive it’s reward, usually carrots or sugar cubes, the horse would not act so kindly. Becoming confused with the denial the horse would then begin performing the task in frustration until it was rewarded again. The game of golf is the same idea. Hansen paints this immaculate picture of the game of golf. “golf occasionally and mysteriously rewarded me with soaring, dead center drives, high approach shots that danced even nearer to the hole, and putts that craftily wantdered across the green and found the four-and-a-half-inch cup as if the ball were a hound sniffing its way home.” (para 2). This success is not always the case, Hansen later then points out how disenchanted he becomes when he doesn’t receive such marvelous rewards,

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