Business is like Golf

Business is like Golf Sharing the same principles for success As Your Uncle Ralph, writing for entrepreneurs at LearningEntrepreneurship.com, I have often used the analogy that business is like golf. It seems timely to revisit some of those themes and you don’t have to be a golfer to recognize the similarities and the shared principles for success. Business is like Continue Reading

Good luck or bad bounce? Hazards of the British Open Tiger Woods was leading after nine holes. At one point it was Spieth, also Kisner, Schauffele, and Chappell. Finally the winner, after four days of challenging conditions and 72 difficult holes of Scottish links golf, was Francesco Molinari. How to explain it? Yes, the best golfer won, that’s the way Continue Reading

Impressive, talented and tough Business is like golf Brooke Henderson showed great skill and determination on the weekend as she dominated the strong winds and the world-class competitors at Ko Olina Golf Club in Hawaii to win the Lotte Championship for her sixth LPGA Tour victory. After a disappointing round of shaky putting trouble in the third-round, Henderson finished strong at 12-under par for a four stroke Continue Reading

Tiger lessons – Business is like Golf Coming back as a contender Tiger Woods is back. Playing in the Bahamas against the top 32 golfers in the world, he clearly belongs there again, hopefully for the 2018 season. Age 42, after four back surgeries and he has not played more than two tournaments in almost three years. How does he Continue Reading

I can do this I’ve seen it done. Hideki Matsuyama surprised everyone but himself, at the WGC-Bridgestone golf tournament on Sunday, with a 9-under-par 61 that tied the course record and gave him a sudden victory by five strokes over all the contenders, including World Golf leaders, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Zach Johnson. Matsuyama knew it was Continue Reading

Forgetting failure Don’t forget the lessons learned. Jordan Spieth is back at the Masters tournament at Augusta National this week and trying to forget his horrific collapse last year on the 12th hole that knocked him out of a commanding lead and caused him to finish second. He says he’s “over it”, but there will be powerful reminders, questions, and Continue Reading

Stick to the plan Calm and confident pays off Business is like golf. Consider the challenges faced by Canadian Adam Hadwin on the final round of the Valspar Championship on Sunday. This is his third year on the PGA Tour and Hadwin had recently attracted attention with the rare and remarkable achievement of a 59 on a par in California, Continue Reading

Performing past the obstacles Dustin Johnson keeps calm and gets the job done Dustin Johnson won again last weekend at the World Golf Championship event in Mexico City. He held off the challengers on Sunday and finished first, in spite of losing one ball in a tree, hitting into the water and stumbling on a couple of holes to suddenly Continue Reading

New top gun or one-hit wonder? Justin Thomas has a great start to 2017 Justin Thomas suddenly won two tournaments in a row in Hawaii with total scores at 49-under par and set all-time records with a round of 59 at age 23 and the lowest 72-hole score in Tour history. Who is this guy and where did he come Continue Reading

Ready to play is not enough Ready to win is the question Just ask Tiger. He's almost ready to come back to competition, but not yet. He could play now, but not well enough to win, he thinks. Are you playing just well enough to get in the game or are you ready to win? Ready to compete is the first Continue Reading

Pressure improves performance Raising the stakes may help you too  Compared to the recent disappointing Olympic golf tournament, the Ryder Cup was a tremendous spectacle of high performance under pressure. Drama and excitement for three days of competition. At the Olympics, the golf event was a complete failure. The best golfers did not go, the spectators did not care. At Continue Reading

Dramatic finish for the FedEx Cup Severe tests of skill, strategy and nerve.  Just like your business.  Proving he is definitely back, Rory McIlroy came from behind to win the PGA Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup on Sunday. It was a big win worth a total of $11.5 million. And he took it all from Dustin Johnson, who had been Continue Reading

Rory is back, or he never left? Talent and hard work are hard to beat Within hours of a suggestion that Rory McIlroy was “at risk of no longer being part of the conversation”, he suddenly forced himself back onto the stage with a dramatic demonstration of world class performance and a win at the second round FedEx playoff in Continue Reading

Business is Like Golf Easy to get into trouble and hard to get the results you want. It is the season again to get out and enjoy a round of golf. (Unless you’re one of those people who would rather eat sand than try to hit a golf ball straight for 400 yards and then roll it into a 4-inch Continue Reading

Stories behind the headlines We all pay attention to the golf superstars and the winners of last weekend’s tournament. They get all the headlines. But sometimes better stories are buried deeper in the news. If they make the news at all. Adam Scott is having a great year, in spite of the rule change that required him to give up Continue Reading

Last year Jordan Spieth made history with five PGA wins, including two Majors and the FedEx Cup, for over $20 million in earnings as a 22-year old. Can he repeat that performance this season?  Well, against the other Tour winners in a high profile tournament in Hawaii last month he won by eight strokes. That's pretty convincing. A few more tournaments around the world and he Continue Reading

Jason Day achieved his goals on the weekend, winning the BMW Championship, leading in the FedEx Cup standings and becoming No. 1 in the World Golf Rankings. It was the No. 1 ranking that he was most excited about - a lifelong goal achieved at age 27 after six years as a professional golfer.  And proudly the third Australian after Greg Norman  (before Continue Reading

Friendly Competition Inspires Everybody The PGA Championship on Sunday saw the fans’ new favourite Jordan Spieth against the talented Australian Jason Day in a head-to-head contest that was an impressive display of superb golf and exceptional sportsmanship. Inspiration for us all. Meanwhile Rory McIlroy, the third superstar in this newly anointed trio of golf’s “Big Three” was lurking not far Continue Reading

This year's Honda Classic was a fascinating and dramatic display of old talent coming back and new talent rising fast. In a final round play-off on Monday 43-year old veteran Padraig Harrington prevailed over 21-year old rookie Daniel Berger who had an outstanding final round of 64 to surge into the lead from nine shots back. The other contenders fell behind as they Continue Reading

An old Blog post, that is worth repeating for the lessons it reinforces. My Dad used to say, “Nothing succeeds like success”. I’m sure you’ve heard the expression also. My interpretation is that the more you succeed the more you and others expect to see you succeed. It is true in business and golf. A couple of examples. Out for Continue Reading

And Europe wins again, decisively.  How can all the golf stars from America keep coming up short in the team competition against Europe known as the Ryder Cup? Held every two years, it's now 8 out of the last 10 won by Europe. Somehow the European players from the UK, Germany, Sweden and France have found a way to play Continue Reading

A great perspective by Brad Ziemer at Vancouver Sun Sports the golf industry crisis.  Worth $14.3 billion a year in Canada alone, it is struggling with economic difficulties and changing consumer preferences. Some experts believe golf is in decline - fewer golfers, less interest in a 5-hour sporting commitment and too challenging to be a relaxing break for the constantly connected.  Ziemer Continue Reading

I got a call from my boss today. He said, "Is everything OK  at the office?" I said, "It's a little hectic, but no problem.  Everything is under control." "Great," he said, "but can I ask you a favour?" I said, "Sure, what is it." He said, "Can you speed it up a little, I'm in the foursome behind you." Continue Reading

So the course is over and a dozen enthusiastic young entrepreneurs passed with excellent marks. Will they all succeed as entrepreneurs? Sorry, but taking a course is not enough. In the very first class we agreed that anyone can be an entrepreneur if they are passionate determined, persistent and patient. So why not? It sounds like the same cliches we Continue Reading

Too much time has passed since my last posting. Apologies to any avid subscribers, but I expect my absence was hardly noticed. My feeble excuse was being away for a dynamite golf and family visit in beautiful BC. It was easy to be distracted by the spectacular scenery of BC at it's best in May/June. Lush green hillsides rising to Continue Reading

If you're here on Friday morning May 18th, I've gone golfing. Happy Birthday to me in case you forgot. If you found this Blog through my e-newsletter on "E-Business opportunities with Web 2.0" (see www.directtech.ca/ebusiness_2007.htm), then you'll appreciate the beauty of online applications like Campaigner (www.campaigner.com) which sent the newsletter while I was golfing and directed you to the DirectTech Continue Reading

If you're here on Friday morning May 18th, I've gone golfing. Happy Birthday to me in case you forgot. If you found this Blog through my e-newsletter on "E-Business opportunities with Web 2.0" (see www.directtech.ca/ebusiness_2007.htm) then you'll appreciate the beauty of online applications like Campaigner (www.campaigner.com) which sent the newsletter while I was golfing and directed you to the DirectTech Continue Reading