A longtime friend and classmate came home from Hawaii for our class reunion. We met, both of our heads tinted white. We had a lot of things to say to make up for decades of not seeing each other. I told him about how I had taken care of my wife who was very sick for 12 years, and how, when she passed away, I felt lonely and depressed. Also about how, upon retiring from the university, I tended to my grandchildren abroad, which eventually made me feel homesick and restless.
I’ve always been an on-the-go, do-it-yourself kind of man, which makes me remember the preretirement seminar talk I attended shortly after I bid goodbye to 30 years of service in the university. Retirees like me are encouraged to remain busy with activities good for the body and mind, to stay physically and mentally robust. Maintaining positive social relationships with family and friends is also crucial for aging people.
My friend asked how I’d been keeping myself busy. Ground golf, I said. He thought it was the usual golf played by people who could afford to pay membership fees in golf clubs, purchase expensive golf sets, and hire tagalong caddies. But I didn’t need any of those to be healthy. Ground golf has given me a venue to meet my physical, mental, and social needs.
Ground golf started in 1982 in Tomari, Tohaku-gun, Tottori Prefecture in Japan, and it has gained popularity among both the elderly and the young across that country. It’s an exciting game played indoors or outdoors, in a play area at least 10 meters wide and 30 meters long. It requires really simple equipment. Each player needs a club, a ball, and a start mat. Instead of an actual hole in the ground, “holes” are identified by hole posts in which the players aim to make the ball roll. Both the start mat and the hole posts can be improvised using local materials, as long as the dimensions prescribed by the Japanese Ground Golf Association are followed.
As in the usual golf, the object of the game is to go from one hole to the next with the least number of strokes. The player with the lowest points at the end wins. A hole in one is called a “tomari” and gives the player a 3-point deduction from his/her total score.
In 2006, Japanese ground golfers introduced the game to senior citizens in Marikina City. The city government supported the interested barangays in purchasing the necessary equipment, and many residents eventually formed teams. Interbarangay tournaments are held occasionally.
A very memorable experience for me was when I became part of a group of Filipinos invited to play in Japan in 2011. The Chiba Social, Cultural, and Sports Midorimachi Committee hosted a sports and cultural exchange program for senior citizens. We stayed there for six days, playing against Japanese teams. I was very impressed with the Japanese hospitality and discipline, and how well the programs were organized and conducted.
In 2012, the Japanese delegation came to the Philippines and played with the Marikina Ground Golf Association teams. And in 2013, the second PH-Japan ground golf games were again held in Japan. The purpose of the games is to maintain a continuous relation among ground golf teams in the two countries.
What keeps me playing? It’s an ideal exercise for oldies but goodies like me. It’s both relaxing and exciting, and there is the fringe benefit of meeting people my age, at this age! As our social circles diminish in scope and/or in number, when our loved ones have passed on or flown the nest, we often feel lonely and isolated. My ground golf team provides me with a sense of belonging in an organized and productive unit of society, however small or unrelated we are.
As a result, I have developed a high standard of discipline. I don’t smoke or drink. I’ve cut down my consumption of unhealthy meat. I get enough sleep and rest. I practice my swings at home. I mentally prepare myself before a game. Athletes perform at their maximum capacity when they follow a strict regimen. It takes a firm will to stick to these practices to become a very good player.
In a tournament, a team’s individual players need to keep their scores low. I take it to mean that I should do my best so I can contribute positively to the overall team’s score, and that I need to help my teammates with their difficulties as much as I can, so they can also improve their play. But it’s not all about winning or losing; it’s more about doing the best one can in every game. It is clear to me that I play to enjoy time with friends. If I win, I realize my strengths, and if I lose, I identify the skills I need to work on to play better next time.
Ground golf keeps me grounded. I know that regardless of my age and what I have done in my life, I am still bound by rules that aim to maintain peace and equality in my community. And whether my team wins or loses, I keep in mind that there should always be humility in victory and graciousness in defeat. There’s always teasing, joking, and laughter when we play, which make me feel lighter, more pleasant, and younger at heart.
My team and I have long been conducting exhibition games in nearby towns and cities. We teach newbies the mechanics of the game and a bit of its history. Informally, we share with them the benefits of playing. Through these efforts, we want to encourage the elderly to be physically and socially active. I wouldn’t have met the friends I have now if I chose to stay home and surrendered to being “old.”
There’s still a lot to life even in the 70s. For me, it’s my time to tend to my physical, emotional, and social health, and reward myself for living a full life, raising a family and contributing to society. It’s all in the attitude. We have a choice, and I choose to live an active lifestyle as much as my mind and my body will allow.
Antonio A. Manuel, 77, is a retired faculty member of the University of the Philippines Integrated School in Diliman, Quezon City. He is a founding member of the Philippine Ground Golf Association and is a father to two daughters and two dogs.