In The Legend of Bagger Vance by Steven Pressfield, Rannulph Junah, a golfer, finds his swing. Hardy Greaves, the narrator, retells the match between Rannulph Junah, Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen from his point of view to Michael, who is facing conflicts in his own life. The story begins in Savannah, Georgia with Mr. Invergordon, a wealthy Scotsman. He envisions the grandest golf course the South has ever seen and has it built by Alister Mackenzie. A 500-room hotel is also built. However, when the Crash of 1929 hits, Mr. Invergordon’s empire is lost and he cannot take the financial pressure. After, Mr. Invergordon’s suicide, Adele, his socialite daughter, inherits the course. Krewe Island is finally finished almost a year later. Unfortunately, …show more content…
Junah’s game starts out mediocre, but then worsens as the first day continues. Bagger Vance offers him advice and even points out Bobby’s even-tempoed swing and Walter’s erratic one. As the match progresses over the next three days, Bagger Vance shows Junah more and more of “The Field” in order for him to replicate his “Authentic Swing.” Undoubtedly, Junah’s golf game starts to improve. He is soon knocking strokes off of his score easily. Hagen and Jones quickly see that their third opponent is not to be taken lightly. Not long after, Junah shocks the crowd when he calls a penalty on himself for accidentally moving his ball. Only Hardy witnesses this mistake, but Junah knows he cannot lie. At this point, Bagger Vance realizes Junah has mastered his swing and the battle with his “Inner Self.” Leaving Hardy to caddie for Junah, Bagger walks off the course. Junah ends up with a seventy-six for the third round, but drops down to a sixty-six for the final eighteen holes. Hardy finishes the story and decides to drive to the weathered Krewe Island Golf Course to play the only hole remaining in good condition. Michael and Junah’s granddaughter, Irene, also accompany him, bringing the three golf balls Bagger Vance had during the match and Junah’s driver, Schenectady Slim. Somehow, Bagger Vance mysteriously appears and is there to hit golf balls with the trio on
Adele and a townsman chastise Bagger about his caddy skills, to which Bagger replies that Junuh is not his own self entirely and implies that he is trying to help Junuh realize who he is and overcome adversity. Junuh continues to play badly, but during an intermission he does lecture the young Hardy (whose father is forced to sweep streets after losing his store during the depression) for being embarrassed of his father’s profession. Junuh speaks of duty and character, saying that Hardy’s father overcame adversity and that Hardy should be proud. Hardy then explains that his love for the game of golf is due to the fact that it is fun, hard, solitary, and incorporates morality. When Junuh returns to the field, Bagger says that it is time for Junuh to see “the field”. “There is only one shot that is in perfect harmony with ‘the field’... [one] authentic shot...there’s a perfect shot out there trying to find each and every one of us. All we got to do is get ourselves out of its way, to let it choose us....everything that is becomes one. You’ve got to seek that place with your soul,” says Bagger. Junuh starts to play extraordinarily well after this revelation by Bagger. Junuh’s success, however, goes to his head and he gets cocky four holes before the end of playing for the day, and subsequently ignores Bagger’s advice to play safely, attempting to make a dubious play. After this incident, Junuh’s playing is once again disappointing and
Golf also produced its legend from the era, Bobby Jones. “In the span of 8 years, Jones won 13 national championships, both in Europe and the United States. He was the original hot headed golfer, known to either play brilliantly, or to implode on the course”(Boland par 21). Bobby undoubtedly prevailed in golf and no one could stop him.
Relate topic to audience: As we get older, we get less active and many people cannot play physical sports or don’t have that stamina that we have at our age to run around and do whatever. Learning a proper golf swing is the stepping stool in the golf world and the beginning of getting into a game that can teach you patience, manners, and relieve your stress.
Imagine the sun bursting through the trees for the first time of the new day, the smell of freshly cut grass still potent to your nose as you tee the ball up for a round of golf in the cool mist of a spring morning. "That is what brings you back every time, the smell of the air, the coolness of the whether and the beautiful surroundings that make every shot enjoyable." (Suess, PI) This is the game of golf in its finest and most exquisite time to many people and many people it has touched in its long history. Golf is a lifestyle and not just games to people that are avid in playing. The game of golf has a history that is rich in technological advances and personal accomplishments, which through time has shown to shape
Marsden sat down with his swing coach to set up his objectives for his golf career. He realized he had a lot of work to do to reach that goal of winning a Green Jacket. Marsden’s father Jeff, had bought him a membership at Mattaponi Springs, where he would spend countless hours on the range and around the greens. Dyson had a routine he would do every day; he would hit eight perfect shots with each club in his bag. The young man then would move on to the chipping surface, he hit fifty perfect shots that had to land within three feet of the pin. Whenever he had nothing to do, he would be on the range practicing, if he didn’t answer the phone and you needed him he was at the range working. He would put in dedication into his golf game twenty four seven.
My breakfast started to creep back up my throat as game time got closer and closer. I walked across the patch of grass behind home plate and was towered over by the 30 foot backstop with a huge net suspended from it. My bulging bag of equipment was beginning to make my shoulder hang. I walked down the steps into the cement dugout and placed my bag under the bench that spanned the entire length of the dugout. I sat down, laced up my cleats, and put my warm-up jacket on in preparation for batting practice. I stepped onto the grass surrounding the dugout to get the feeling of how wet the grass was. I dug my cleats into the grass and began my usual routine of taking certain practice swings as I gazed upon the press box in the wake of the backstop. Preceding the burn in my forearms, caused from the practice swings, I marched behind the dugout to the rows of batting cages to wait my turn in line. Pacing back and forth I knew I had to keep my nervousness to a minimum. I popped in a wad of Big League Chew and continued to
The pitcher tries to put me out of his mind, but he can’t because I’m 60 feet away. He may have the mound to his advantage, but nothing will stop me from achieving this goal. I assess the field. There are runners on all the bases, the outfielders are playing back to prevent any extra base hits, and we’re down by 2 runs. I smooth out the dirt where my foot land, I make it smooth and the perfect landing spot for my foot, and step into the box. Everything must be perfect. I take a deep breath. I must stay calm. In...out. I sway my bat towards him and back into my pre-pitch position. My hands are relaxed but ready to unleash the violence of a baseball swing.
It is evident that there are still a number of falsehoods that contribute to the adversity many people of color have to overcome in this country. Yale Law School professor, Harlon L. Dalton and Sociologists Naomi Gerstal and Natalia Sarkisian dissect two such falsehoods in their respective essays. In his essay, “Horatio Alger” Dalton takes on the rags-to-riches myth commonly portrayed in Horatio Alger’s works of fiction. Likewise, Gerstal and Sarkisian’s study on Black, White, and Latino families reveals data that debunks the widely held belief that families of color are weaker and more disorganized than their white counterparts. While both essays examine myths that negatively affect Black and Latino people, the authors often use different
Sutton in an article for Explicator explained this significance of the swing moving faster and faster (Sutton).
Even though Vance’s demands tried to imprison him, Vance was fortunate enough to overcome them, and move on with his life. He attended an Ivy League school, Yale University, and he had a beautiful girlfriend named Usha. Attaining this assured Vance that he had beat the odds and proved the statistics wrong. However, Vance soon renounced this belief, immediately after his past demons began to prowl him like a lion ready for an attack. This was evident, in Vance’s and Ushas relationship. One day will Usha was reading an article, she found an analogy that perfectly describes Vance. The analogy stated, “Whenever something bad happens---even a hint of disagreement----you withdraw completely. It’s like you have a shell that you hide in” (Vance 223).
For hundreds of years, golf has been an extremely popular and growing sport all around the world. Looking where golf is now, it is growing rapidly from the young to the elder population. The first round of gold was first played in the 15th century off the coast of Scotland, but it did not start to be played until around 1755. The standard rules of golf were written by a group of Edinburgh golfers. Today, people of the US, Scotland, and England, have been drawn to the game because it is fun, challenging, and hardly any athletic ability at all is required for amateurs. In breaking down the game, geometry plays a major
Fourteen clubs - four wedges, six irons, a rescue, a three wood, a driver, and a putter - this is golf. It is one of the most mentally challenging sports in the world. It can fool beginners who are deceived by its simplicity. Golf is often underestimated by those who have never attempted to play the sport. While it has often been known as a “rich man’s” sport, in recent years this perception has begun to change. There are a number of other generalizations made when talking about golf, yet these are most always from those who have never experienced, played, or followed the game. One should question how a critic with no knowledge of the activity could state whether or not golf should be considered a sport. Golf is a sport, regardless of what any critic has to say. Studies and experimentation, along with the experience itself, reveal all of the athletic aspects that make golf better than most sports.
A player's home course is special. He plays it so many times, he knows it inside and out. The hills, the hazards all become familiar to him. He is able to judge his progress one day against nearly
“Given the year we just experienced in golf, it would be phenomenal if we see anything in 2001 that will even remotely compare. We witnessed an incredible season by the game’s most dominant player-in this era or any other. We saw how fans and players alike could respect the game in an international competition. And, we have seen the game’s visibility skyrocket” (Strange 20).
Since the age of four, when I was barely old enough to swing a putter, I have loved the game of golf. My dad, passing his love of the game down to me, would take me out every Sunday to Woods Edge Golf Course in Edgewood; he taught me the ins and outs and the dos and don’ts of the sport. One of the earliest memories I have of these trips to Woods Edge is being a mere couple of inches from driving the cart into a pond while dad was teeing off; this would definitely be considered a don’t in the world of golf. I received my first set of clubs for Christmas when I was eight and a year later, a pass to Pin Oak. Boy was I thrilled. I began to golf by myself and learn my own lessons through my experiences on the course. But as I grew as a golfer on my own, my dad was still there tweaking my swing in the back yard and taking trips to Edgewood with me. My dad is a big reason why I have a passion for the game of golf.