I will start out back in the early 1970s in Brazil where I grew up in Guanabara Bay ![guanabara.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmUQeDHHLg7xdEYh3LvH6itDDRUzFbXHQMNiXroJqp98zd/guanabara.jpg)and my father's hobby was sailing.  So naturally I was encouraged to sail and I did. One thing my father always told  me though was to give it my best and that it did not matter if it was as a yachtsman, tennis player or participating in any other sport. ![star.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmcEmSsyXkNjk22XEg4uWQwE6qzryrbrCLmD7fJojreUrW/star.jpg) My father and I on his star boat circa 1968.

To cut a long story short after sailing my optimist dinghy for a few years and playing some tennis I caught the golf bug in 1980 when my family and I moved right next to a golf course in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  My father asked me if I would like to have some golf lessons and I said I did and after a few months he joined the golf club and I kept going for my lessons after school. Apart from the lessons I used to spend hours on the driving range practicing and wearing out the grooves on my pitching wedge![golf.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmUCWwC3KgrPuQZVMY4qWidbkNW1Hnt58Ac9xG4FFfTeFC/golf.jpg)

In golf I found myself and aside from just playing the game I made a great of deal of friends wherever I went to play the game. Somehow golf was more than just a game but it also meant friendships which I have maintained over the many decades since I started playing the game. The other aspect of the game that has shaped my character is the rules of the game. I know golf clubs and their etiquette rules can seem outdated but the rules of the game are the same for everyone irrespective of your standing in society. You play the ball as it lies, if your shot goes out of bounds you have to reload and take a stroke penalty and if you shoot the lowest score you win regardless of who you are.  There are no bailouts in golf so if you have a horrible score on a hole you cannot undo it and you just have to keep going until you finish the round.

The other lesson I got from playing golf is that obsession can be a hindrance to better performance as prior to graduating from high school and university I felt like if I didn't play golf seven days a week I was not doing enough to improve my game. As I grew up and got my first job out of university I had to balance work and golf and I actually played my best golf when I was able to balance my work and the game.![ascona1.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmdopCWkskDT9utnvkHCEgBTw25DWWWcmJuAhWyBkcP9gB/ascona1.jpg)
So after playing almost everyday as a teenager I got down to my lowest handicap of 3 when I was working full time and playing once or twice a week!

The competition has always been a great uplifting aspect for me as far as golf is concerned but I would like to add that the friendships I have made from playing the game over the years is something I will treasure for ever. So now at the age of 53 and after almost a quarter of a century of being a married man I am still fortunate to play the game that I love and be fortunate to make new friends as I go along. 

Aside from the fact that the game of golf keeps all participants honest and that the rules are the same for everyone, it doesn't matter if you are Tiger Woods or Jack Nicklaus, the one aspect of the game that I have learned to revere as I have grown oder is the friendships and memories that you get out of the game, win or lose.