easy or glamorous path. I chose to make it more glamorous be-
cause my tastes went toward that aesthetic. I consider myself very
fortunate to have had this education from my father from an early
age. I believe it gave me a great advantage, and I often say that I’m
a member of the lucky sperm club.
But did it give me a natural talent? I don’t think so. It gave me
an advantage that I deliberately chose to develop into an advan-
tage. You can be around something and either have no interest or
aptitude for it, so it wouldn’t be of any help to you. My elder
brother had no interest in real estate and decided to do something
else. I had a friend who worked on Wall Street because everyone
in his family did, but he was a disaster. All the familiar indications
were there for his success, but he wasn’t suited for it, and not until
he left and did something else did he become successful.
When I started to develop golf courses, I had a lot to learn. I
loved the game and knew golf courses as a player, but developing
a golf course is another story. I consulted with the world’s experts
before I started out. My golf courses have won awards for their
beauty, but it wasn’t a natural talent I had as a developer. My ad-
vantage is that I had a passion for the game and wanted the most
beautiful courses possible to be realized.
There has been research done on cross training your brain, and
they mention how you can transfer the skills developed to enhance
your performance in other areas. That’s one reason I have always
encouraged people to golf—it’s a brain game and it works on sev-
eral levels. I’ve gotten a lot of great ideas and solutions to problems
during a golf game, so I readily endorse this theory. It works. It might
be painting or playing the piano that works for you, but it gives
credibility to the developing of a hobby or outside interest that
will complement your business bent.
I’ve also come to believe in luck. I’ve known people who have
worked hard and done everything to succeed, and yet it just
THINK LIKE A CHAMPION