We should not assume that John D. Rockefeller is a permanent resident of Hell. He was, to be sure, consigned there by the historians who were his contemporaries, but theirs was by no means the final voice. In fact, he was a solid tithe paying resident of the Baptist Heaven and they say, counted upon to lift his voice in the celestial choir every Sunday morning.
---Many Rockefeller dimes are treasured to this day by those who played a good game against him. Even his caddies were rewarded with dime bonuses for good work, although they also were penalized a dime if they failed to find a ball. He rarely lost more than three balls a year.---Read More:http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1073428/index.htm
( see link at end) Where did CEOs’ fascination with golf begin? With no less a figure than John D. Rockefeller of Standard Oil. History’s first billionaire, whose company was the subject of a massive government antitrust case at the turn of the 20th century, was consumed with golf, an attitude echoed ever since and embraced by 21st century giants from GE’s Jack Welch to Microsoft’s Bill Gates. The 19th-century mogul had time-and-motion studies done of his swing at a time when motion pictures were cutting-edge technology, and he built golf courses on the grounds of three of his four estates. Read More:http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/nov2001/ls2001116_6993.htm
The Hell of it is, he liked to play golf. And since there are no golf courses in Heaven, the game being, of course, one of the Devil’s most aggravating torments, he has to come down to play it. In consequence, he is still here six days out of seven, and as often out of temper. Today, his wretchedness derives from a slice in his drive that has sent his score for nine holes rocketing up past sixty. Has he been waggling too much on his backswing? Has he been lifting his head? Hard to say…
ADDENDUM:
Rockefeller retired when he was in his 50s. Even though he was a classic workaholic, he walked away from his industrial empire. Then he had a physical, and possibly a nervous, breakdown and moved into semiretirement. Because he was frightened by his breakdown, he established longevity as one of his goals. He developed all kinds of theories about how he would live to the age of 100….
---Read More:Sources: Actual shot of Rockefeller golfing, 1932: http://www.condenaststore.com/GolfDigest/ProdImages/GolfDigest/GD00000791_LARGE.JPG
He had a New Age mind: For example, his favorite theory was that if you chewed every bite 10 times before swallowing, that would help you prolong your life. And as part of this package of health measures he developed, golf was central to the whole thing. He played every day. There was this awkward precision to his life. He did the same thing at the same time every day. You could set your clock by the fact that Rockefeller would arrive at the golf course at 10:15 every day. Read More:http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/nov2001/ls2001116_6993.htm
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Rockefeller’s legendary philanthropy, on a reduced scale, extended to the golf course. Emily Folger’s nephew Edward J. Dimock recalled how as a child he once caught a glimpse of a pile of “Rockefeller dimes” in a top bureau drawer in the Folgers’ bedroom. Dimock recounted, “It was crazy to me, Rockefeller’s way of rewarding someone who did something extraordinary. Every time Uncle Henry would make a 16-foot putt or something, Mr. Rockefeller would reach into his pocket and hand him a bright shiny dime. How ironic, the richest man in the world giving out dimes for presents. It’s a piece of American folklore.” Read More:http://www.stephenhgrant.com/shgarticlespdfs/JDR-HCFgolf.pdf
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