Monday, April 27, 1998

The Golf Fribble
By JSM VMD ([email protected])

For those of us bitten by the golf bug, there is nothing quite so nice as a crisply hit ball that soars out of site and lands safely in the middle of the fairway. As Sir John Betjeman, the Poet Laureate of Great Britain wrote in Seaside Golf:

"How long if flew.
How straight if flew.
It cleared the rutty track.
And soaring disappeared from view beyond the bunker's back.
A glorious sailing bounding drive that made me glad I was alive."

Six and one-half years ago my wife and I started our own small animal veterinary clinic with a proverbial smile and a shoeshine. Not much time for the links. But time to build a business well into the six figures and to add two budding caddies to our little shack. I also started listening to a radio gooroo and put my greens fees into aggressive growth mutual funds. The results were pretty nice for a first-time investor. Sort of like playing bogey golf. You shoot in the nineties and feel okay. But you can do better, much better if you are willing to take some calculated chances.

Then I hooked one into the Motley Fooldom. It was "rough" reading at first but was ultimately a "fairway" to go. I took a chance and hit a punch shot and sold my mutual funds. With that fat bonus check I entered my next "tournament," that is I bought some stocks in the Dow Dividend Approach. With those winnings I got a new caddy, Robert Sheard, and entered the Foolish Four, my first major win. It is also a "major" on the Fool tour.

I use the same Top Flight blades my daddy gave me thirty years ago. They are old but have a lot of class. I have his putter, too, a 1930 vintage Kroyden that has a dreamy touch. I prefer to walk the course, thank you. I play the ball where it lies. I don't take a mulligan and don't play with those who do. Golf is to be played by the rules. It elevates one's spirit and character. In his Little Red Book, Harvey Penick said you have to take "dead aim" if you want to play your best. You have to focus on your goal and blot out the distractions around you.

Foolish investing is a lot like golf played the right way. There are traps and hazards to avoid. It rains sometimes and the wind blows. There are a lot of distractions if you let them get to you. However, if you keep the ball in play and use your head, you can score in a big way. Thanks, Gardners, and other fine Fools. Senior Tour, here I come.

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