Beginning with its January/February 2004 issue, TRAVEL + LEISURE GOLF proudly welcomed Greg Norman as a Columnist. Norman could write his own ticket at any golf publication, but he joined TRAVEL + LEISURE GOLF because, as avid Shark.com readers know, he is about far more than hitting golf balls. Sure, he was the sport¹s defining player in his prime ­ winning two British Open Championships, 20 PGA Tour events and another 66 titles worldwide ­but more than any other player, Norman has extended his range. Many a professional golfer has delved into course design, but only Norman has marketed new kinds of grass. Other pros have stuck their name on a wine label, but Norman has taken the industry by storm. Golf, wine, restaurants, real estate, fashion is a perfect fit with TRAVEL + LEISURE GOLF. When you add it all up, Norman might be the ultimate TRAVEL + LEISURE GOLF guy, and his column, Aussie Rules, will reflect his enormous breadth of experience about various subjects relating to the golf lifestyle.

The Tournament of Life

I feel like I shot a respectable three-under for my first fifty years. I'd like to match it on the back nine.

By Greg Norman

I was asked recently about how I thought I was doing in the "tournament of life," a poignant question for a man about to celebrate his fiftieth birthday. I wasn't taken by surprise, because it's a question I have pondered for a long time.

Ultimately what I want to be able to do as I approach the latter stages of my life is to look at all that has happened to me as one eighteen-hole round. The front nine has been devoted to golf. The back nine is reserved for even more focus on my career beyond golf, specifically my family and my business interests.

I'm happy to say it's been pretty good so far. I think I'm making the turn with a respectable three- or four-under-par score. Now I want to see if I can shoot another three- or fourunder on the back and post a nice little sixty-five.

Sure, more major championships would have been great, but I can say unequivocally that they would not have improved my quality of life one bit. As a competitor, hell, yeah, I wanted to win more, but I certainly don't wake up in the morning feeling sorry for myself. It's quite the opposite: I wake up every morning feeling completely fulfilled by what golf has given me and by what I have extracted from the game.

I've always been a big believer in taking adversity and turning it into a strength. The challenge lies in being able to take something from every situation -- every lucky bounce and every heartbreaking defeat -- learn from it and move forward.

I haven't yet made a definitive decision regarding my golf schedule this year, but I plan to play a mix of PGA Tour, Champions Tour and international events. My calendar will probably be very similar to what it has been the last couple of years -- something in the neighborhood of a dozen events, including those in Australia, Europe and Asia.

One thing people have to realize is that even though you may not see me all that much on television -- at least not here in the States -- I'm still playing. I'll always keep an active international schedule, because I think it's imperative for players to support golf around the world. The game knows no boundaries, and I will always take pride in serving as a global ambassador for the sport that we all love.

I already have some of my favorite events penciled in. I'm going to go to Dubai the first week of March for the Desert Classic, and when I come back I'll probably play some regular Tour events, including the MCI Heritage at Harbour Town and the BellSouth Classic. As for the Champions Tour, I'll probably play the U.S. Senior Open and the Senior British Open, but beyond that I'm not really sure. It depends on a number of variables, particularly on how my back holds up.

Nothing would please me more than to be able to practice hard when I want to, get my game ready, then go out there and play a stretch of four tournaments in six weeks pain-free, get on a roll and develop some psychological momentum.

I'm still a competitor, and I always will be. I love to be out there with the guys, and I miss it when I'm not able, especially when it's for physical reasons. It is extremely frustrating when my body doesn't allow my mind to do what it wants to do.

One of the most important words in my vocabulary is "balance," and finding the right balance between my personal life, golf and my business interests is something I work very hard at. The last few years have really been intriguing in terms of scheduling my time, but I am very fortunate to be in this position.

I arranged my career so that I would have avenues to pursue when I stopped playing golf full-time. I've seen too many athletes wind down their sporting careers and then have nowhere to go. They gravitate to television or something else that is a stopgap. I never wanted that. I wanted to get in a position where I had enough going on around me so I could make the transition from the golf course to the boardroom and still be happy.

I wanted my business interests directed toward putting money back into the companies and seeing them grow. You want a dividend return, yes, but the ultimate goal is to build something up to such a level that after a certain period -- whatever it is, fifteen or twenty years -- you can really take advantage of what you've established over time.

When we established Great White Shark Enterprises, we didn't set a course to be in the wine business, for example, but at the same time we didn't become successful there just by being opportunistic. The same can be said for Greg Norman Collection and Medallist Developments.

We are involved in a number of different businesses, and we have a nice balance between companies that are wholly owned and those that are joint ventures. Our success is a direct result of knowing how to market a brand and having the right people to represent that brand.

Sure, I've had some three-putts in the business world, but if you're going to be in the game and have that entrepreneurial philosophy, you have to accept those and move on. It's just like dealing with a bad round -- you have to figure out why it happened and fix it.

I've always had an entrepreneurial spirit, and I think my aggressive nature, coupled with my humanresource and decision-making skills, are what make Great White Shark Enterprises so successful. I don't consider myself different from an industrialist whose fame came from Wall Street; I just happened to leave my mark in the sports section rather than in the business pages.

In order for an entrepreneur to become successful, he or she has to have vision and has to be willing to listen and learn. Like I often say about my golf course design work, you have to begin with the end in mind. I think that statement applies to all aspects of business. If you go into something with no vision for the future, it is destined to fail.

I don't look at business propositions as short-term plays; rather, all of our businesses are set up for the long term. Obviously I would like to see the company grow, and I've put it on a very good path to do just that. However, I will probably end up consolidating a few things and just focusing on about three or four different divisions and building those.

Bottom line, I'm extremely happy right now, both in terms of where I am and where I'm headed. I just have to make sure I can balance it all out.

I was completely consumed by golf on the front nine of my life, but I decided a number of years ago to begin to focus on and get ready for the back nine. That's the way I like to compartmentalize things.

The wonderful thing about this sport is that a golfer never really retires. A soccer player, a football player, cricket and tennis players retire, but golfers carry on, whether competitively or just playing with their mates. I don't think the day will ever come when I turn around and hang up my clubs and say, "I'll never touch them again." How long I'll compete on Tour is totally my call, and that's a great position to be in.