#269 The sound of a golf ball falling into the cup

Neil Pasricha

I was the Mini Golf King.

Yes, back in those blurry late 80s there wasn’t a course that could trip me up. Slippery slopes, puddle patches, shady piles of windswept maple keys were all no match for my well-practiced whacking of that neon pink ball. Smack it off the chewed-up mat, bounce it off the windmill arms, and let it slowly straighten before dropping right into the hole.

That was my game.

The sound of a golf ball falling into the cup is the bounce-a-round sound of hole-finishing satisfaction. Whether you just finished smacking dented balls off tree trunks, chipping through the rough, or twelve-putting your way to the finish line, it really doesn’t matter.

Because that final shot always sounds the same.

It’s the sound of satisfaction going down the drain.

AWESOME!

All pre-orders for The Book of (Even More) Awesome help us try to get on the bestseller list. It’s a 400 page hardcover including favorites from the blog plus lots of brand new awesome things.

One comment from today’s post will be chosen at random to win a free limited-edition galley copy of The Book of (Even More) Awesome. Enter your correct email address in your comment so we can contact you. (Update: You don’t need to put your email in the body of the comment — just the form you fill out to post a comment.)

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“I started a little project in my sorority Delta Zeta at Michigan Tech University where I started giving The Book of Awesome to my roommate to thank her for being such an AWESOME roommate. Her job was to read a couple pages a day and add her own AWESOME things. Then she passed it on to the next woman. The criteria for passing it on is mostly to say “thank you,” “congratulations,” “cheer up,” or whatever! I’ve loved watching how excited all the women have gotten about this! When it’s time to pass it on they get all mischievous and try to figure out where it’s gonna go next. My sorority took its annual group pictures today so we brought along The Book of Awesome! p.s. We all particularly loved ‘taking off your bra at the end of a long day'” – Miriam

Photo from: here

136 thoughts to “#269 The sound of a golf ball falling into the cup”

  1. Wow, what a great idea about passing the book on! I think I’ll do something similar: pass it to a friend who could use some awesome in her life with instructions to pass it on to someone she chooses who needs some awesome and so on, each adding something awesome to it! Hey, wouldn’t it be great if lots of people did that and passed on the awesome?
    Wasn’t great at minigolf, but sure loved playing at the different courses with their cheesy themes.

    1. i am going home after 1 and half years next month. i live in US now and the last time i went back home, i took random gifts for my friends and cousins from here. For this time, i knew what would be a perfect gift to pass on. just pre-ordered a number of copies of the book of (even more) awesome for them. am so excited and eagerly waiting for them to arrive (on time) now. they say pay it forward, i say forward some awesome !!!

    2. HELLO….going to interview NEIL PASRICHA for his new book, BOOK OF EVEN MORE AWESOME….please listen..should be up around the 11th of may..thank you..DAVID

  2. I love this sound! It’s tied with “The sound of the perfect drive” on my list of awesome things. Can’t say I’m a great Golfer, Par 3s are like Par 15s for me. Mini-Golf is my game! (though..My putting is far superb in my mini version than my actual version.)

  4. I can barely consider myself a golfer, but it really is satisfying once it finally gets in that cup. And ESPECIALLY after knocking the ball all around it multiple times.

  6. The project above introduced me to the blog and now I look forward to the next awesome thing. It gives me a peek at what to expect when I finally get the book for myself!

    1. YOU’RE BACK, with a BOON, a BANG and a HOOT!
      Nice to “hear” from you~ no discriminatory oun intended!

    2. of COURSE there’s something negative about this post… There’s always a downside to everything.. -_-

  9. I play “real” golf and putt-putt, and nothing beats the sound of the ball hitting the cup…except I guess the sound of a good drive, which I only sometimes hear. That’s probably part of the reason why the game frustrates me so much…

    However, until I decide to pick up the irons again, I’ll stick to what I do best: mini-golf.

  11. Truly is satisfying, definitely up there in my own list of AWESOME, even better when combined with those elusive hole in ones.

    1. LOL that was my exact thought when I read this post! I’m so awful but sometimes the darn thing falls in on accident and the sound is perfect!

  13. I love mini-golf, but I can barely stand regular golf. I think it is one of the most boring sports… even the announcers sound tired!

  14. ah wii…taking away the satisfaction of reality one piece at a time. case in point–the awesomeness of that sound

  15. i’ve learned about this blog thru reader’s digest and i got so inspired that the next day i started writing awesome things happening to me.. i started with #001 to wake up 30 minutes past the assembly time. =) it was january 30, 2011 and i was on my way to an international seminar. i stayed up late the night before digesting the magazine so i woke up real late.. i got to my feet, still dizzy from lack of sleep, cursing steadily under my breath. i was sure everyone has already left. i hurriedly dressed and opened the front door only to find my friends at my doorsteps patiently waiting for me. you cant imagine how i was feeling at that moment. sure, i got teased mercilessly, “sinasabi ko na nga ba at late ka na naman” (i knew you will be late again), they say. but see, i think having friends like them is awesome in and by itself.

    1. Friends are most definately one of the most awesome things in the world, but to have GREAT friends….. that’s just……priceless.

  16. Mini-golf brings back so many memories of birthday parties and long summer days! The best part is most definitely that sound! Awesome :)

  17. Ok, I don’t golf and I’ve only done mini golf once. I do know the sound though and the ‘plunk’ of the ball is pretty awesome.

  18. this site has inspired me. for my fiancées wedding gift i am going to write one awesome thing about him a day for a year and give it to him as a gift! thanks!

  19. I’m sure someone has said this, and that it’s in the book already, but winning things is also awesome! :-) I love reading the posts on Facebook. Thanks for the smiles.

  21. I have to agree that mini golf is AWESOME :) Whether you are 8 or 80….mini golf rocks!

  22. I have never played real golf in my entire life… but mini golf? That’s a different story. It brings back high school memories: My classmates and I used to frequent this mini golf course every near the school premises every after the major quarterly exams. And boy, that sound of the final shot you were describing still surprisingly brings a vivid recollection of those moments.

  27. Ah, what a sound!
    not only is it pleasing to the eardrums, the joyous feeling of success follows it :D

    Awesome

  28. Hmmmmm the sound of the ball in the cup is awesome but the sound of your great friends laughter as you play supa golf (kind of like mini golf but with big plastic balls and big plastic cups) and hit the ball all over the place (and cheat hahaha) is fantastic and awesome. Gotta go again. :)

  29. I just love this idea and book. I stumbled upon it around Christmas time and fell in love with the idea that someone had put into print all the wonderful “little things about life” or at least some of them. I gave the books as prizes and gifts all throughout the Christmas season to share my belief that one should carry an attitude of gratitude and it doesn’t have to be a “BIG” thing… it can be a simple as the last squeeze of toothpaste from the tube… you guys are AWESOME!! Thank you for this brilliant idea.

  30. Last time I played golf, a friend accidentally whacked me in the head with the golf club and I passed out. Let’s just say I haven’t had the desire to play golf since… but my entire family loves it!

  31. LOVE that sound (I find it particularly satisfying during mini golf ;)).

    Loved book 1 and have gotten so many of my friends and family hooked on it too (I buy it often as a gift for people). Would love a galley of the new edition!!!

  34. Awesome! Just yesterday my boyfriend and I were trying to think of something to do, and I was lamenting that the weather was too cool for mini-golf. I do love that sound, especially because it usually takes a lot of misses before I actually get to hear it. ;)

  36. I’ve lived on a golf course all my life. When I was little I used to collect golf balls that I found in my yard and sell them back to the golfers for 25 cents a piece. My little “business” reminds me of #940 Terrible businesses run by children!

  37. I’ve only played mini-golf, but I’m always happy to hear that sound!
    I would love to win a book-great giveaway :)

  38. I’m definitely not a golfer, so it’s even better when the ball finally falls into the hole! The sound of success.

  41. The ultimate in awesome mini golf sounds:

    When there are two holes – the first hole is really a tube that winds down onto the second piece of the course and the second is the cup – and you hear the ball go into the tube, rolling and winding all the way until it falls (plop!) onto the other part of the course and then, without you doing anything, it rolls slower and slower until it goes right into that magical cup.

    AWESOME!!!

  43. I was always horrible at mini golf, but still loved it because my older siblings did.

  44. “…shady piles of windswept maple keys” I never knew the name for maple keys – we always just called them helicopters!

    This golf sound is so distinct. Nothing else like it…

  45. Putt putt golf will always be great, but nothin beats the sound of the cup after a hole in one!

  46. I don’t play golf, but I run a golf tournament. One awesome thing that I love is racing up and down the hills on the golf course…trying not to get hit by incoming balls!

  47. Perfect post, right in time for the ending of the masters. I think this sound goes along with the swoosh of a basketball in the net or a soccer ball in the goal. It’s the sweet sound of victory…when does that ever sound bad??

  50. I love it. The sound never gets old. When you are slowing down the group and taking 10 shots a hole, there is no sound more relieving then the ball falling in the cup.

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