Greg Norman: One for the Aged

Greg Norman: One for the Aged

Don’t know if you caught the British Open this month, but it certainly was one for the ages (and aged). The “ancient” Greg Norman (53) battled men twenty and thirty years younger through driving rain, and persistent winds gusting over forty miles per hour. He showed the same grit he did when he was dominating world golf for over half a decade. All of this while he was on his honeymoon!

I am nominating Greg Norman as a guest member of the Varicose Vigilantes.

Sport is one of our nation’s most uplifting and enjoyable passions. We pit ourselves against others, the elements, and ultimately ourselves, stretching ourselves like thoroughbreds to beat everyone else to the pole. If we don’t compete ourselves, we watch others do it for us, and revel in the “thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.” An athlete’s body gives out long before the will to compete is gone. For a runner or a tennis player, this is sometime around the age of 30. Ouch. The “senior” tour for these athletes begins around the age of 35. Golfers can go on into their 40s. Their senior tour doesn’t begin until the age of 50. A top football running back is wasted by the age of 32. But a quarterback can play at a high level until the age of 40, since one of the key ingredients to quarterbacking success is experience and mental acuity.

Greg Norman’s success was due to his extraordinary skill and muscle memory. But a good deal of it was due to his mental toughness. His creativity. His ability to weather the elements. Ultimately, Norman fell short of winning. But that is not unusual for a golfer, or Greg himself.

Older folks can take heart in Norman’s brilliant accomplishment, knowing that we are never too old to compete, particularly where experience is a factor. And who has more experience than seniors? Nobody. Seniors have the experience factor locked up. It just isn’t fair.

So, remember to take all of your experience and bring it to YOUR game, every time you get ready to compete in life.

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