Spirit of the Law
Greetings Golfers,
A few nights ago, I was reading a guy’s post on Facebook … his grandson had lost a hole in match play when his opponent called him out for playing out of turn. The grandson had rolled his putt up to the lip, waited for his opponent to say “Good” … the opponent didn’t say anything, so the grandson just tapped it in. Then the opponent called the penalty for “playing out of turn."
The grandfather said that his grandson had learned a valuable lesson.
Yeah … watch out for jerks.
I then posted a reply about the difference between the Spirit of the Law and the Letter of the Law.
Spirit of the Law focuses on the goal, ethics, or intent.
Letter of the Law focuses on the literal text rules and explicit definition.
So … Spirit of the Law considers context, human need, and common sense.
So … Letter of the Law can be manipulated using loopholes and technicalities.
Ok … which one is at the heart and soul of golf?
Not a very tricky question.
Unfortunately, it seems that our country has been moving towards a Letter of the Law mindset in everything. And I don’t think people respect that mindset:
The criminal who gets off on a technicality.
The business that squeezes its workers on technicalities.
I could go on and on.
Golf is supposed to be different. Golf is supposed to be better than everyday life.
On a positive note … our MN PGA Fall Meeting on Monday was great. I’m not a lover of meetings. They’re usually just Letter of the Law reports … and Letter of the Law speakers.
However, the coach of the U of M basketball team - Niko Medved - gave a Spirit of the Law speech.
And the presiding President of the MN PGA - Scotty McDonald - gave an impassioned Spirit of the Law speech.
Hmmmmmmmmmm. I think something good is happening.
I feel that as the Letter of the Law machine is growing and taking over … that people are waking up and finding their own spark.
The machine wins on paper because it controls the “Letter” - the laws, the code, the money, and the metrics. But it remains entirely vulnerable because it cannot manufacture the one thing it needs to survive - the spark of life.
As I always say … golf has the answer.
Cheers!
Tom Abts
GM/Head PGA Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com