Written by Mike Cooney, Director of Golf.

I recently read an interesting Golf Digest article about PGA Tour player, Steve Stricker. The article, titled “He Gets ‘the Big Picture’“, described how despite Stricker’s success in the game of golf, he still recognizes that he is the person he is today because of his parents. Stricker credits his parents for instilling him with good, solid values, which have served him well throughout life’s many ups and downs.

Photo Source: Flickr by Keith Allison

Thoughts from Steve Stricker

Stricker is a soft-spoken, unassuming guy who won the PGA Tour’s Payne Stewart Award for exemplary professionalism in 2012. He is a very respected person in the golf industry who speaks with simple, yet profound wisdom. One of my favorite quotes from him in the Golf Digest article is, “I just do things the way I’d want to be treated.”

The article also touched on Stricker’s attitude when he’s not playing well. Stricker says, “I’ve learned a lot over the last six to seven years. The thing I learned the most was knowing how to act when I wasn’t playing well. That was hard, I wanted to let loose. But I wanted to look at myself in the mirror and say I wasn’t going to let my golf affect how I treat others.”

What Can We Take Away?

I like to think there is a good lesson that we can take away from this article. In fact, I think each and every golfer could benefit by adopting Stricker’s mentality towards the game. The take-away lesson is: don’t ever give up today because of a poor shot yesterday, treat others how you would like to be treated, and be a gentleman both on and off the golf course, even when you are not playing well.

Having this kind of attitude may lead to a better outlook towards a game with lower scores. Take this into consideration during your next game and see you out on the golf course!