Years ago, I was the golf professional at the old Jewish country club in Central Ohio called Winding Hollow (now called Champion’s of Columbus). The membership there was a lively bunch who patronized the golf operation by haggling over merchandise in my shop, pounding plenty of balls on the driving range and taking oodles of golf lessons. One member, in particular, a funny guy named Bob Gillery, was a regular entry in my lesson book.

As a golfer, Mr. Gillery was just an average shooter, though, he did try hard. As a person, I found him to be rather amusing. In a good- natured way, he would basically take you to task for your failings. He mocked and jabbed at you subtly but, the majority of his humor was self-deprecating.

Well anyway, one day Mr. Gillery and I were out on the practice tee together when he couldn’t seem to hit himself in the butt with either hand. I wanted him to keep trying whatever we were working on and offered these words of encouragement; “Jack Nicklaus said, confidence is the most important single factor in this game.” Upon hearing this, Mr. Gillery stopped hitting balls. Then, he calmly turned toward me and said, “Pro, I had confidence in a fart, once, and shit myself.”