Beyond the green: Living lessons learned on the course

Beyond the Green

THOMAS STORBECK:  In golf, nobody else is hitting the shot. There’s nobody else to blame. 

Bang, nice. 

JACK RUSSELL:  It was the putter.

JULIE GREEN:  It was all the putter.

I think golf prepares you mentally to take on challenges off the course by presenting itself as a challenge. 

JACK RUSSELL:  It is indescribable what it’s like to hit a great shot in golf, very similar to like how it feels to when you deliver something for a client. 

THOMAS:  Prior to Schwab, I was a professional golfer. I turned pro in 2023. 

Ability to be consistent in golf is what everybody chases. It’s… everybody can have a good round here and there, but being consistent is what makes players great, and I think that’s very transparent and should transfer to the work environment as well. 

JACK:  Oh, that’s not going to get anywhere close. Cut that. Cut that from the film.

THOMAS:  Golf can be bigger than just hitting a ball in the hole. It’s a game where the clubs don’t discriminate, the ball doesn’t discriminate. 

JACK:  Something that you’ll hear golf people say a lot is it’s time to go back to fundamentals When you hit a shot that you don’t necessarily like or weren’t necessarily expecting, being able to emotionally find ground zero again and get back to even ensures that your next shot is also going to be your best effort. 

JULIE:  Solid. 

JACK:  It’s still in the air, by the way. 

JULIE:  It’s too bad. That’s not a fair way down there. Learning to embrace risk is a really unique skill that I have to do both on the golf course and at work. There are some very clear parallels between managing risk on the course and managing risk at work. Are there hazards up ahead? Is there sand on the left, water on the right, and how does that inform your next move? 

JACK:  I’m not a perfect engineer. I make mistakes. Being able to get that feedback from managers about the mistake, being able to learn those lessons, and then go to my next project or next task with an even emotional state is something that I pride myself on, and something that I’ve actually learned from golf and apply in software engineering. If I get within five feet, it’s a win for me, Thomas, you have to get within three inches for it to count for you. 

THOMAS:  Transitioning from a career where it’s solely individual to having a team supporting you, it’s been great. I love the team environment. When you go to a team where I’m at now, I have my managers, my team leads, my seniors, they all support me, and they’ll tell me where I need to grow, and it’s great to have that reality to keep you in check. 

JACK:  People say you can hit 50 bad shots and you’re ready to retire from the sport, and then you hit one good one, and that’s why you keep playing. 

But hitting a great golf shot, there’s no better feeling.

THOMAS:  It’s all about what you put in is what you get out. 

JULIE:  When I think about golf, being out on the course, I think about understanding your environment, knowing the risks that are out there, and then using all of your tools in your toolkit to mitigate that risk. 

JACK:  Wow. 

JULIE:  What you don’t want to do is be so paralyzed by the fear that you never step up to the tee box and take the shot. 

JACK:  That’s nice. Gosh, you’re crushing them. 

JULIE:  Thanks.