I only started playing golf in my late 20s when I already finished my MBA but before I had gotten married. My career in banking introduced me to many people in the industry who enjoyed the game and they certainly were able to put it to good use in doing business, in that order. This got me interested in the wonderful world of golf and having started somewhat late, it took me a while to play a decent game and even 35 years later, my ability to play golf properly is still debatable.
My late Father who was in his early 60s when I started playing golf, did not think too kindly of golf then. He thought it was a ridiculous sport and only for the rich who had the luxury of time and money to burn. That was, until my persistence in explaining the merits of golf, convinced him to try playing golf and he finally got hooked! My father finally started buying his own shares in the golf clubs I was a member of and people found it odd that I was the one proposing or endorsing my father, when normally it would be the other way around.
Our relationship flourished with our regular weekend rounds of golf and I remember one of the first dates I had with my future wife, who is a much better golfer than me, was in the golf course playing golf with my father of course. My father was totally convinced that she would be the perfect wife for me and he was quite vocal about that. It certainly turned out my father was right and we would all play golf together quite often. He enjoyed playing the game so much that he confessed to me that he would already be thinking about playing his next golf game even before finishing the round he was currently playing.
From a business perspective, what has golf done for me? Golf allowed me to socialize more actively with many clients and secure more business. It has also allowed me to have a better working relationship with my superiors, peers and subordinates in the companies I worked in. Without a doubt, playing golf with them has helped me fast track my career and improve my productivity. Even to this day, I enjoy playing golf with my business partners and friends resulting in heightened rapport.
Aside from the career advancement, business development, network expansion and lifelong friendships, golf has also made a lot of money for me as an investment. While it is true that you had to spend for buying the share, clubs, cart and other golf stuff, paying for the monthly dues, spending each time you play golf to pay for your caddie, food, drinks and lost bets, many golfers will attest that they have made money on their golf shares due to increasing share prices. In some cases, the price of some golf shares has gone up much more than 100 times! However, this gain may never be realized since that would mean having to sell your golf share. To many golfers, including me, they love golf more than the money.
(The views and comments of the author are his own and not of the newspaper or FINEX. Dr. George S. Chua was 2016 FINEX President, currently an entrepreneur and also a professorial lecturer at the University of the Philippines, Diliman. Comments may be sent to [email protected])