I was so dedicated to generating income to keep my family housed and clothed and schooled. That mattered to me. And playing good golf mattered to me. The rest of the things, like how my record stacked up against others, never made that much difference.

Billy Casper

Categorized in : Me Good Rest Family

Golfers are the greatest worriers in the world of sport.

Billy Casper

golfers sports world

Golf puts a man's character on the anvil and his richest qualities - patience, poise, restraint - to the flame.

Billy Casper

golf character men

Play every shot so that the next one will be the easiest that you can give yourself.

Billy Casper

next play giving

Like a lot of fellows around here, I have a furniture problem. My chest has fallen into my drawers.

Billy Casper

aging furniture age

Recently I gave a lecture and a gentleman came to me and asked how I'd like to be remembered, i'd never been asked that before, so I thought for a few seconds. And I said I want to be remembered that I had a great love for my fellow man.

Billy Casper

gentleman love men

Try to think where you want to put the ball, not where you don't want it to go.

Billy Casper

golf trying thinking

Think ahead. Golf is a next-shot game.

Billy Casper

games golf thinking

I don't care about that. The Green Coat is enough for me.

Billy Casper

green care golf

I want to be remembered for having a great love for my fellow man. Because, you know, I do.

Billy Casper

great you man love

I never got caught up in playing for history, seeing how many majors I could win, or rewriting the record books. Those are selfish objectives, and the guy who chokes usually does so because he dwells on what it all means to him. I was only worried about my family. And although I had my share of failures, it was never because I choked.

Billy Casper

win selfish family history

I played golf for 25 years before I made a hole-in-one of any kind. I was on the tour for years before it finally happened. Eventually I made 23, but boy, that first one was a long time coming. It was the price I paid for not shooting at every flag.

Billy Casper

boy long-time time long

I had all kinds of allergy problems with certain meats, and with fruits and vegetables with pesticides. So I turned to bear, caribou, venison, hippopotamus, buffalo, elk and moose. Taste-wise, buffalo and elk are tied for first. Not gamy, and loaded with protein. And very expensive, I might add.

Billy Casper

problems protein vegetables expensive

I learned something very important early on: You accept what happens and move on. In other words, if I hit a bad shot, I can't change it. There is only the next shot. That was a big lesson.

Billy Casper

words bad you change

I had such a tie with my eyes and my hands. I could look at a telephone pole 40 yards away, take out a 7-iron, and hit it 10 times in a row. I had something special. And somehow, I really understood the game, all without having a lot of guidance.

Billy Casper

eyes game look hands

When I was in first grade, the kids called me 'fatso.' It hurt, but the way I overcame it was to outrun every kid in the class. So I developed a thick skin, and athletics became my way of performing and being accepted.

Billy Casper

skin me hurt way

My parents were strict and taught me the proper fundamentals that I would use in my life. They taught me commitment to work hard.

Billy Casper

my-life me work life

It's hard to believe a kid hitting golf balls in the cow pastures of New Mexico could have accomplished what I have accomplished.

Billy Casper

cow new golf believe

I grew up on black sand greens. The best tees were old, dry cowpies, believe it or not.

Billy Casper

best sand black believe

When I drive into Augusta and down Magnolia Lane, there's just a spirit and nostalgia about it that you experience nowhere else. Why? Because it's the same place every year.

Billy Casper

drive place you experience

I was in the Navy and saw, first-hand, the effects of front-line combat.

Billy Casper

saw navy effects combat