How a Young Dottie Pepper Learned Patience — and More
In the second of a two-part series, two-time major champion Dottie Pepper shares key points made by mentor George J. Pulver, a PGA professional, in written letters that helped shaped Pepper's career and can serve as a roadmap for other aspiring athletes.
Dottie Pepper and George Pulver share a moment prior to Pepper's second year at Furman University in 1984.
When I began my pen-pal relationship with Mr. Pulver as a 14-year-old, I’m pretty sure I could not spell the word “patience.” As our student/teacher/mentor relationship developed over the next five-plus years, he knew I couldn’t spell “patience.” He also knew I needed some guidance to avoid the potholes and pitfalls that have derailed so many promising golf careers—and in many other sports as well.
I can barely spell that eight-letter word today, but Mr. Pulver’s steady-as-you-go and win-at-every-level standard of learning, competing and succeeding has served me well.
RELATED: Letters That Were About More Than Golf
A few points and quotes from Mr. Pulver in “Letters to a Future Champion” may be of help if you have on your hands a gifted youngster with grandiose dreams of being an LPGA or PGA Tour winner:
1. “Golf is a game of a lifetime” and “one perhaps learns more from defeats than from victories.” Golf is a game where you will lose much more than you win over the course of your lifetime, but how do you take positives from each day and weave that success, that progress into what it will take to appreciate winning? Can you rewrite your internal headline from failure, to step-by-step improvement, to victory? Positive reinforcement of even minute wins and progress is essential.
2. “Unless you can defeat everyone within 300 miles of your home four out of five times, pause and review your thinking and your goals.” This to me is the cornerstone of realistic thinking and a benchmark to be met before throwing tens of thousands of dollars toward national and international events. Learn how to win locally, win big when you have a lead, how to dig deep in mounting a comeback, how to deal with pressure of being a favorite in a tournament you should be able to win while playing nearly blindfolded. Build confidence through experiences at every level, win consistently and then move on.
When I look at my own career from 1981, playing in mostly state and local events (and definitely not winning every time I teed it up), to 1984, being the low amateur in the U.S. Women’s Open, it seemed like the world was crawling at a snail’s pace when in fact it was closer to light speed. Patience young grasshopper.
3. In a letter Mr. Pulver wrote to my parents when I was 15-years-old he warned: “Golf is but a game. Let’s not filch from her the precious moments of her youth. When golf ceases to give her pleasure, she should cast aside her clubs until playing and competition again beckons.”
I live near a city recreation center in Upstate New York and have all too often heard the discussions (OK, sometimes they are shouting matches) between kids and their parents. Unhappy youngsters, their parents living vicariously through them, who aren’t playing sports because they love it.
Let kids be kids. We’ve got one window of time in life called childhood. If that kid is head over heels in love with a sport, they’ll let you know. Let golf and whatever else they love be a lifetime choice, not early, specialized burnout. Let the kids choose to push their boundaries because their own soul is invested, not their parents’.
4. I regard pressure as a privilege, a test of your preparation, which makes pressure manageable and allows goals to be reasonably set. Mr. Pulver said this: “Pressure will always be present at important moments in your golf. Time and experience shall soften this pressure, but never entirely remove it.” I would say this is not true just in golf, but in all sports and in life, too.
The more thoroughly and efficiently we prepare for any test or experience, the more manageable it becomes. With good practice habits, being prepared not only for the competition itself but the arena and atmosphere we’ll be playing in, one should not be surprised, but rather expect to play well. I don’t believe people deserve to play well and win, but they should not be surprised, when after putting in the prep to handle the pressure, they meet success face-to-face.
5. As it comes to college golf and being a student-athlete, I struggle to find players who have not benefitted from their college golf experience. There are so many positives — whether it be committing to work toward a college degree; learning about the person you are becoming; balancing a schedule on and off the course without parental supervision; being responsible to a team; living on a budget; and even learning to live with roommates or teammates you may not always adore.
Mr. Pulver, when learning that some were encouraging me to pass on college and turn professional, said this, “It seems to me a steady test through college golf might be the way to go, then to make a judgement. During college they would be getting a carbon copy of what they might expect on the tour, then could make a prudent judgement and, hopefully a college degree for security, in the meantime.” Maximum flexibility and some sense of security is comforting for what is a full-time job as a professional golfer and one that can be pretty darn, lonely, too. Evergreen advice.
Mr. Pulver believed in balance — not just in a golf swing — but in the long game of life. I was so blessed to have my personal time with him, to have him reign in his young grasshopper with a small sense of patience and order, but even more so to have a reservoir of knowledge that can be passed on to yet another generation.