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Playing golf with Bertram was great. I nearly got beat, but I held off the onslaught to claim victory; long-time friend made in the process.
‘White people call me Bertie’
While the victory was slight, the enjoyment superseded expectations.
The colour co-ordination wasn’t planned and neither was the quality (in parts) of golf displayed.
We careered around in a buggy and avoided (for the most part) the thick rough.
Bertram had some mulligans but only in cases where it was massively unfortunate.
He broke 100 and I think he was happy with that.
We’ll get to how Bertram and I know each other soon, but I want to address something he asked me during the round.
‘Did you ever charge people for helping them with golf?’
I have never charged anyone for two reasons:
- I’m not qualified to teach, I just have been playing golf the majority of my life.
- I have the knowledge to help others, golf is already extortionately expensive; if I can help, I will — for free
Bertram posed this question after I repeatedly helped him read the greens.
These greens are masterfully deceptive, but being a member for over ten years allows you to learn how to read them with precision.
Hole after hole, Bertram holed putts from extraordinary distances while learning the low draw and high flop in the process.
I help because it comes natural to help others.
I have so much knowledge about golf that I would rather help than see people struggle.
When I worked at Orpington Golf Centre, I helped people because I was bored.
I liked to see the improvement, smile on their face and them then to realise the help was free.
There is no such thing as a free lunch.
Someone is paying for it. It’s true. My Dad paid for a lot of my learning and development.
So he paid for it, it’s now up to me what I do with the knowledge. Sharing it around is best practice and something that comes natural and I think is right.
Today, we live in an increasingly polarising society where you’re either cooperative or destructive.
Currently, there are few places where a happy medium exists.
I think sharing my knowledge is essential to the enjoyment of the game for all, especially on a golf course like we played today for someone like Bertram who plays infrequently.
Bertram.
How do I know him?
Remember that internship I’ve been harping on about? He works at the same company, we work in the same team.
His story is somewhat interesting, amusing and mind-boggling.
Born in Hong Kong, he moved to the UK (rather abruptly) to do A Levels and has been here ever since.
He claims that his family has replaced him with a dog back home.
He doesn’t like the dog.
He attended Kings College London to study Music. A decision which still haunts him (his words). Afterwards he made a sharp segway to study a Masters at Imperial Business School.
He has half a set of golf clubs which are essentially a set of hand-me-downs.
He bought two dozen lake balls for the game today, in anticipation of a great round of golf of course.
He surprised me. He hit the ball straight off the tee (sometimes) and listened well to instructions about putting. A very difficult opponent to beat when I gave him a shot on every hole.
He enjoys wine and has a Level 3 qualification in the art of wine-tasting.
He also is completing a diploma in Maths.
The golf was great, I got to learn more about Bertram away from an office environment.
I found out that when he’s jamming away at his desk, he’s listening to 80’s Canto-pop (Cantonese Pop).
I believe Bertram will be someone to hang out with in the future.
But, I do admit, as this list of cool people to meet draws longer — it becomes increasingly difficult to fulfil those promises.
I’ve been a big believer in being high energy and high impact when you interact with someone new.
With all this limited time to prioritise, meaningful connections are worth much more than numerous people to know.
Most people I know I have a meaningful connection, developed out of necessity like Lynn on the plane from Chicago to London or from length of time such as with James and Kevin from Orpington Golf Centre.
Bertram adds himself to the list.
Look forward to another day at work tomorrow.
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