I am an avid golfer, and I have been so since the age of six years. My fondest memories of my youth are the late afternoons and early evenings I spent walking around the golf course with my dad, who taught me how to play, and how to behave on a golf course. As I developed a career as an attorney specializing in real estate law in Massachusetts, I have continued playing golf and using golf as an opportunity to network with current, and hopefully future, clients. These are some of my observations about golf as a marketing tool which I want to share with you:

     1. I never, ever talk real business matters on a golf course. If I am playing with you, I have committed to giving you a rest from the hectic business life you lead. I may speak about your family, or your job, but I do not discuss mortgage, or purchase and sale agreements, or anything that can be viewed as self promotion.

     2. Four hours on a golf course with a group of people you do not know well can tell you a lot of things about these people. Do they count all their strokes? What kind of losers are they? Can they make a bad shot and put it aside? Do they realize that other people are on the course to have fun, too, and not just themselves? I also find out what kind of winners they are. Do they gloat? Do they try to teach others when they really are not equipped to do so? I can learn a lot about them, and they won’t really know why I have chosen to pursue them as clients or associates after the round.

     3. Most important of all, I have found out a lot about myself on the golf course. My golf game, when I was a six handicap, used to be all about me. Now, especially, as my skills have diminished, my golf game is about the others in my group enjoing themselves and enjoying my company. This has been a profound lesson, and has helped to shape me as a person.

I am sure many of you have differing golf experiences,  which i would be interested in hearing about. Suffice it to say, I have been able to use my love of golf as a way to advance my life goals, and that is a bonus that I never anticipated.