Ian Roth, KTSM 9 News morning anchor, starts his new series “Lets Play Nine” to give viewers an insight into his golfing thoughts and experiences.
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The prevailing knowledge of living a fulfilled life usually suggests finding something you’re passionate about. Life coaches and self-help gurus seemingly preach the wonders of having something in your life you can work at over time and slowly master.
What they usually leave out of that conversation is that depending on what you choose that hobby to be, you could spend equal amounts of time banging your head against a wall in frustration as you do being satisfied.
Such is what my free hours and weekends have come to out on the golf course.
So, when I was approached in the newsroom with the idea of starting a running journal of golf thoughts on KTSM.com, you can certainly imagine why I was apprehensive. The thought of sharing my golf journey, with all its ups and downs, was daunting and exciting.
Would people care about what a 12 handicap has to say?
What kind of swing theories or golf course breakdowns would anyone take seriously from a guy who struggles to hit his four-iron in the middle of the face?
Amid other inner personal contempt, I realized I might not be the only one with these self-loathing thoughts. I also might not be the only former athlete looking for ways to scratch the itch of competition after exiting organized sports.
After stepping away from baseball in my junior year of college, I decided to take up the sport all retired ball players do – golf. I had never played seriously, but I was familiar with the game’s ins and outs, its biggest stars, and some great moments.
I vividly remember watching a young, healthy Tiger Woods chip in for a birdie on Augusta National’s 16th hole en route to another Master’s victory. I remember Bubba Watson clad entirely in white, hooking a wedge from the middle of the forest to the middle of the 10th green for his first green jacket. I remember another young man clad entirely in orange taking the sporting world by storm, going straight at flags and doing it with the most packed head of hair in the field. Of course, Rickie Fowler shot straight to the top of my “Favorite Athletes” list.
While completing my degree at Millersville University, the dusty set of clubs I picked up from the second-hand Play It Again Sports store got plenty of use. I spent hours at the area driving range, beating balls until I had blisters on my hands. I can’t recall what I must’ve shot in the few rounds I did play in those days. Indeed, those scores would make even the most seasoned golfing professionals wince.
My real obsession with the game started during the COVID-19 pandemic. While businesses closed shop and golf courses tried to figure out how they would let the public back on their properties, I bought 100 shaggy golf balls off eBay and went to an open field near the local middle school. I spent three or four hours feeling out my swing, walking 150 yards to collect the balls, and then feeling out some more.
That’s how I spent most of that spring of quarantining.
“I’m going up to the school to hit balls,” I would tell my parents on my way out of the house.
“Please don’t be out too late this time,” one of them would begrudgingly beg.
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