One Swing Philosophy — What Golf Taught Me About Life

There was a time when golf was my goal. Not just something I enjoyed, but something I wanted to improve every single day. If I played 18 holes and wasn't happy with a few shots, I often drove straight to the driving range on my way home. I couldn't wait until tomorrow. I wanted to fix those shots while they were still fresh in my mind. And honestly, I loved it. Every practice session gave me more confidence. Every small improvement made me excited to play again. Looking back, those were some of the happiest years of my golfing life. But life has a quiet way of teaching us new lessons. About a year ago, I developed rheumatoid arthritis in the joints of my fingers. For a while, even everyday tasks became difficult. Holding a golf club was no longer something I could take for granted. That experience changed the way I think about golf. Not because I stopped loving it. I still love the game as much as I always have. What changed was my goal. I no longer want golf t...

Financial stability is important. Mental stability is important too. But I do not believe that having more money automatically makes people happier. I think happiness depends more on how a person manages life internally. In my case, if I have more, I spend a little more. If I have less, I naturally spend less too. Of course, this only works when there is no serious debt and basic financial stability exists first. Balance has always been more important to me  than simply having more and better. Even when I was young, I spent most of my time working because I genuinely liked working. Of course, work brings stress sometimes, but I still enjoyed being productive. Because I stayed busy, I did not spend money carelessly. Instead, I had more opportunities to save naturally. I think diligent people often worry less about the basics of life. Not because life is easy, but because steady habits quietly protect them over time. Golf taught me something similar. I love golf, but I also know how ...

I Dreamed of Becoming Capable Enough to Protect My Own Life and Kind Enough to Help Others Along the Way. When I was younger, I worked hard. Like many people, I wanted to succeed. I wanted to learn, grow, and become better at what I did. Over the years, I worked in different roles, met different people, and experienced different challenges. Looking back, however, I realize something important. I never dreamed of becoming powerful. I was not chasing status for its own sake. I was not trying to become someone important. What I truly wanted was much simpler. I wanted to become capable enough to protect my own life. I wanted the freedom that comes from competence. The ability to solve problems. The confidence to stand on my own feet. The wisdom to make decisions without constantly depending on others. Perhaps that was why I worked so hard during those years. Not because I wanted power. But because I wanted independence. Today, my life looks much quieter. I spend time with my two dogs. I pl...

Sometimes, I ask myself this question.  Why do new ideas keep coming to me?  Why can I continue writing story after story—about golf, English, and life—without feeling empty?  I think I finally understand the answer.  It is not because I am trying to create something new.  It is because I am revisiting something old.  The thoughts I write about today were not formed yesterday.  Many of them have been quietly growing inside me for decades.  Since my twenties, I have spent a great deal of time thinking about life.  When life felt difficult, I often asked myself: What is life really about?   I read many philosophers, hoping to find a clear answer.   But in the end, I realized something simple:  Even philosophers do not have a final answer. Perhaps the best we can do is this: To live fully.  To enjoy the present. To stay curious and grateful.  That may be enough. Looking back, I also realize something else....

Today, I played golf with three gentlemen on a white tee-box. I was the shortest hitter in the group. That wasn't surprising. What surprised all of us was something else. After making one par... Then another... And another... Before I knew it, I had made four pars in a row. That meant I kept earning the honor on the next tee. So there I was... The smallest golfer in the group, walking to the tee box first. I took my swing. Another straight drive. Then I stepped aside. One by one... The three gentlemen hit after me. One sliced. Another hooked. The third one didn't look very happy either. I couldn't help smiling. Not because I was playing better than they were. But because golf is such a funny game. Sometimes a shorter, straighter shot quietly puts more pressure on people than a much longer drive. I laughed and said, "Golf is your own game, so keep your mental game strong! I'm sorry for hitting it well today." 😂 Thankfully, everyone ...

Golf is sometimes funny. The best memories are not always made by perfect shots. Sometimes, they come from a small joke between friends. One day, during a round of golf, PD hit his driver shot and his tee disappeared into the bushes. He looked at the bushes and said with a serious face, “Ah… next time, I should bring a 5 million won pure gold tee.” I couldn't miss that opportunity. I smiled and said, “Then that tee will disappear after just one shot.” PD looked at me. “Why?” I answered, “Because I will take it. ㅎㅎ” For a moment, there was silence. Then PD laughed and said, “It's okay if Teacher Angie takes it. ㅎㅎ” We both laughed out loud. Of course, nobody was thinking about a 5 million won tee. It was never about the tee. It was about the joy of sharing a silly joke on a beautiful golf course. As we get older, I think we realize something. A good friend is not someone who only talks about serious things. A good friend is someone who can laugh with you about something complete...

Recently, I noticed something that surprised me. Just a few months ago, whenever something felt wrong in my golf swing, I would immediately look outside for answers. I asked other golfers for advice. I searched YouTube videos. I tried to fix every problem by following someone else’s explanation. But lately, something has changed. Now, when something feels off, I often pause, observe, and quietly adjust on my own. Sometimes, I can recognize the problem almost immediately—and correct it. It may sound like a small thing, but to me, it feels quite meaningful. It has taken me nearly 20 years of playing golf to arrive at this point. Not because I became especially talented, but because something inside me has slowly developed over time—through repetition, mistakes, frustration, and patience. Perhaps experience, after enough years, becomes a kind of quiet intuition. And I realized… this is not only true in golf. In life, too, I used to look outside for answers. Advice from others. Bo...

There was a time when I believed progress meant never getting lost. In golf, I thought improvement meant building a swing that would never break down. If my shots started going offline, I felt frustrated. I would search for the problem, analyze every movement, and wonder why something that felt so natural yesterday suddenly felt unfamiliar today. Life wasn't much different. Whenever I faced uncertainty, I felt pressure to find the answer quickly. I thought confidence came from always knowing what to do next. But years of golf taught me something different. The goal is not to avoid getting lost. The goal is learning how to find your way back. Every golfer eventually experiences it. One day the swing feels effortless. The next day, something seems off. The rhythm disappears. The timing changes. Confidence fades. The same thing happens in life. We lose our balance. We lose motivation. We lose clarity. Sometimes we even lose sight of ourselves. For a long time, I treated thes...

2026 Jeju Samdasoo Masters — A Day at Teddy Valley Yesterday, I went to the 2026 Jeju Samdasoo Masters at Teddy Valley Golf & Resort. I knew I was going to watch professional golfers. I just didn't know I was going to learn so much. Fortunately, the weather was much kinder than I expected. Because of the typhoon's influence, the sky was mostly cloudy, and there was a gentle breeze. It was still over 30°C around midday, but the conditions were actually quite comfortable in the morning. And Samdasoo was everywhere. Free ice-cold bottled water was available, so I happily kept drinking it throughout the morning. 😂 My friends from my golf group had also told me about a roulette event before entering the course. I gave it a try… And I won a blue Samdasoo umbrella! ☂️ Not bad at all. But the funniest part of the day happened before we even reached the course. I parked my car, and literally about a minute later, our golf group's leader parked right in front of me. We hadn...

Golf may be one of the most honest games in the world. It constantly reveals what is still missing. No matter how many years we play, no matter how good we become, golf never lets us feel completely finished. At the driving range, everything can feel easy. The swing feels smooth. The contact sounds perfect. The ball flies exactly where we want it to go. For a brief moment, we think: Maybe I’ve finally figured it out. And then we step onto the course. Suddenly, the same swing feels unfamiliar. The lie of the ball is different. The slope beneath our feet changes. The wind shifts. Our tempo disappears. One day, we play a single-digit round. Another day, we struggle and finish in the 90s. Golf constantly reminds us of our lack. A small flaw in rhythm. A tiny loss of balance. A moment of doubt. Even one missing piece can change everything. But perhaps that is why golf teaches us something deeper. Recently, I watched the final round of a singing competition. As each...

 “I did less… and hit it better.” There was something different about today. I didn’t try to swing harder. I didn’t chase distance. I didn’t force anything. Instead, I slowed down. On the backswing, I paused—just for a moment. Not intentionally dramatic, just enough to feel the rhythm. And then… I let the swing happen. Surprisingly, the ball went farther. But more importantly, it went straighter. My driver became more stable, with a soft draw. My irons were precise—my 6 iron consistently carried around 132 meters. Even my 4 utility reached 145 meters with accuracy. No extra effort. No tension. Just timing. For the first time, I truly understood something: Distance doesn’t come from force. It comes from clean contact. When the direction is right, there is no loss. Today wasn’t about trying harder. It was about trusting less effort. And maybe that’s the beginning of real golf. KR Summary 힘을 빼고 리듬을 기다리니, 오히려 거리와 방향이 모두 좋아졌다. 정확한 임팩트는 힘이 아니라 타이밍에서 나온다는 것을 몸으로 ...

People often assume that if someone becomes good at something, they must have had natural talent. That wasn't my story. Frankly speaking, I was never good with numbers. Even today, I sometimes can't remember my own car's license plate after driving the same car for a year. It still makes me laugh. Yet I earned two MBAs and eventually became a Treasury Manager at a global company. When I was offered that position, I was honestly nervous. One of my friends smiled and said, "If you know how to add and subtract, you'll be just fine." At the time, I wasn't sure whether to believe those words. Now I know my friend wasn't talking about mathematics. He was talking about courage. Around the same time, another challenge appeared in my life. Our company decided to launch its golf business, and every manager was expected to learn golf. There was only one problem. I had neither the time nor the money. In Korea, golf was an expensive sport, especially for someone in...

Every golfer, at some point, experiences a painful question: What happened to my swing? One day, everything feels natural. The ball flies beautifully. The rhythm feels effortless. And then, suddenly— Nothing works. The driver feels unfamiliar. The iron shots lose direction. Even simple shots begin to feel difficult. For professional golfers, this can feel terrifying. For amateur golfers, it can feel deeply frustrating. But perhaps both need the same reminder: This difficult season may not be failure. It may be part of your growth. Even the best players in the world go through slumps. Their swings disappear. Their confidence fades. Their results become disappointing. But they keep showing up. They practice. They struggle. They doubt themselves. And somehow, through that painful process, they often come back stronger. Why? Because sometimes, losing your swing forces you to understand your game more deeply. And perhaps life works the same way. Sometimes, things ...

Golf is an honest game. Not just because of the score, but because of what it reveals. You can learn a lot about a person in just one round. More than long conversations, more than formal meetings. Because on the course… there’s no place to hide. 어떤 사람은 실수를 하면 바로 웃어버린다. “괜찮아, 다음 샷 있지 뭐.” 그 가벼운 한마디 속에 그 사람의 여유가 보인다. 어떤 사람은 작은 실수에도 크게 반응한다. 클럽을 내려놓으며, 고개를 흔들며, 계속 그 장면을 반복한다. 그건 단순한 짜증이 아니라, 자기 기준이 높다는 신호일지도 모른다. And then there’s the steady type. No big reactions. No emotional swings. Good shot or bad shot… same pace, same face. They don’t ride the highs. They don’t fall into the lows. 이런 사람들은 같이 있으면 참 편하다. 라운드의 흐름이 안정된다. There are also observers. They don’t talk much. But they see everything. Your swing. Your mood. Even the small changes you didn’t notice. 그리고 또 있다. 분위기를 만드는 사람. 한마디 농담, 가벼운 리액션, 적절한 타이밍의 웃음. 그 사람 하나로 라운드 전체의 온도가 바뀐다. So I realized something. Golf doesn’t create personality. It reveals it. Pressure shows patience. Mistakes show character. Silence shows depth. Words show e...

These days, summer in Jeju is incredibly hot. Still, staying home all morning feels like wasting a beautiful day, so I joined our regular 9-hole golf group at 6:30 a.m. Thankfully, the clouds stayed with us until the end of the round. By the time the sun finally took over, we were already walking off the 9th green. The happiest moment came on a par-3. PD hit a beautiful tee shot that stopped about 30 centimeters (one foot) from the hole. We all laughed. "That's it! Today's golf is complete. You can go home now!" Just before he tapped in his birdie, I stopped him. "Wait! Don't tap it in yet. I have to take a picture first!" I wasn't thinking about my blog. I simply wanted to capture a happy moment for a friend. After taking the picture, I played my own shot, chipped onto the green, and made my par putt. It turned into a happy hole for both of us. Later that morning, I shared PD's photo in our golf group. The comments were almost as much fun as th...