Month: September 2011

Exactly 95 years ago to this very day, dear Kiffin gave his life for freedom, a true American hero who was not afraid to die for what he believed in. The following excerpt is taken from a newspaper article announcing his tragic death:

"On Sept. 23, 1916, Kiffin received a hit in the chest by an exploding German cannon shell, fired from an enemy plane, and was killed. Paul said many times later than the shell that killed his brother was an illegal weapon."

Here his colleague James Rogers McConnell pays tribute to Kiffin Rockwell who was a great favorite with his companions:

"No greater blow could have befallen the escadrille. Kiffin was its soul. He was loved and looked up to by not only every man in our flying corps, but by every one who knew him. Kiffin was imbued with the spirit of the cause for which he fought, and gave his heart and soul to the performance of his duty. He said: 'I pay my part for Lafayette and Rochambeau,' and he gave the fullest measure. The old flame of chivalry burned brightly in this boy's fine and sensitive being. With his death France lost one of her most valuable pilots."

I realize very well that this happened a very long time ago, and really who even cares any more about what happened way back during WWI? This will probably all but be forgotten in the near future, but I feel obliged to my namesake and thinks it's very important to keep his memory alive as long as possible.

Kiffin Yates Rockwell,
1892-1916.

Had my father still been living today, he would have been ninety-four years old, believe it or not. Happy birthday dear Dad!

He hasn't been around now for more than ten years, and to think of all those things in life that he has missed out on. I have also missed him very much, as he was a big influence in my life and helped make me the person I am today.

Dad and me (1964).

I was looking through some old pictures of mine and noticed that at my age my father and I looked very much alike. While our personalities might not be a perfect match, we do share many interesting traits and have other idiosyncrasies in common, for better and for worse.

Well, see you around some day Old Champ. We can have a fun round again at the golf course in the sky just like old times. I get to drive the cart this time and you can call me Sweet Swatter as always.

Being able to putt well has nothing to do with the type of putter you are using nor the way you stroke the ball nor how you choose to grip the club nor even whether or not the pendulum movement sways in rhythm to this or that.

The thing that matters is that you are confident that the ball will be stroked correctly according to your mental capabilities, that you visualize the path of the ball and hear beforehand the ball dropping into the cup and making that familiar sound which with evil prediction you hear beforehand in your mind.

Davis Love,
one of the best putters ever.

Whether you are putting for a birdie, trying to make par or desperately hoping to hook in a very long putt for a saved bogie, it doesn't really matter. It could be an easy tap in or an impossibly long putt from one side of the green to the other. The ball is here and the hole is over there, to make ends meet, connecting this point to that.

Before you make the putt you know for sure that it will drop. You are standing there and gazing down the slope, the path that the ball will take is not some pre-calculated mathematical parabola, but an inner gut-feeling that the ball will first go this way and then that way, but at the last moment home in to where it counts. Maybe it is even so simple as a very straight putt, but in your mind really a thousand times more difficult than that.

Ram the ball into the hole, slide the ball in at maximum curvature, or hit the ball straight in, whatever that may mean. Just be a man, stand up to the ball and hit it where it is supposed to be you idiot.

I remember playing an important match coming in as the last group, and it was up to me to make a simple two foot putt for the big win, and very sorry to say that I missed it. There were many moans and groans from all of my team members, and the coach also looked at me and shook his head. For the next week I felt like jumping off of a bridge. But I didn't.

Other times during less dramatic but no less important matches, and without thinking or even caring, I've made the most amazing putts for birdie and have felt really great winning at the last moment.

It doesn't really matter, whatever happens just happens and that's just the way things are, or were always meant to be.

We were an amazing team and played a stellar round of Texas scramble that day. Between the four of us, we ended up at no less than six under par for the day. Unfortunately, not enough to beat out those hacker high-handicappers, but in our minds we were the best team for the day, if not for all of history.

Michael, Danny, Bernhard and Kiffin
Rijnmond Business Trophy

In his book The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, the author Deepak Chopra explains the fourth spiritual law which is called The Law of Least Effort.

In order to put this law into effect, three simple steps are to be completed in a certain order.

First you need to practice acceptance. Then you need to take responsibility for your situation including all of the so-called events you perceive as problems. Finally you need to reach a level of complete defenselessness by relinquishing the need to defend points of view.

So first things first, I will practice Acceptance which is explained as follows:

Today I will accept people, situations, circumstances, and events as the occur. I will know that this moment is as it should be, because the whole universe is as it should be. I will not struggle against the whole universe by struggling against this moment. My acceptance is total and complete, I accept things as they are this moment, not as I wish they were.

Considering the current situation, I do not think it'll be easy, but I'm willing to give it a try.