On July 1st, 2025 (Canada Day), I shot a 74 at Golden Eagle South course for a total round of +4 (par 70). I can now officially say I ‘broke 80’ in golf. Now what? That’s the first thing I felt after sinking my last putt. No surreal feeling of excitement or joy, just the feeling of tackling the next obstacle.

“What’s there to be happy about? Job’s not finished. Job finished? I don’t think so.” – the late Kobe Bryant

Breaking 80 felt different from when I broke 100 and 90 for the first time. When I broke 100, I knew I was just getting started, and that breaking 90 wasn’t too far away. Breaking 90 felt similar, although I knew that breaking 80 would be much more of a challenge, but still very possible for someone of my caliber. Now, after breaking 80, the next logical goal is to break 70, well at least shoot par first.

The gap between shooting in the 70s and shooting in the 60s is bigger than the gap between shooting 130 and shooting 80. Every marginal stroke is exponentially harder to achieve. It’s a funny thing to think about, all I need to do is shoot 5 strokes less than my best round, and it feels impossible. Yet just 2 years ago, I started my golf journey with a score of 142, and I’ve now beaten that score by 68 strokes. I’ve gotten 68 strokes better in 2 years, and now these next 5 strokes feel insurmountable.

The insurmountable mountain…

This insurmountable feeling reminds me that it’s not about the destination, but the journey. If achieving my goals felt possible and I could see the results in front of my face already, what would be the point of trying? Nothing in life is worth doing if it doesn’t feel a little bit impossible. 130 years ago, humans were bound to the earth, then in December of 1903, we took flight for a mere 12 seconds. I can promise you that humans from 1000 years ago felt it was impossible to fly like the birds of the sky. All I can say, regarding this and regarding golf, is look where we are now. Breaking 70, here I come.