My name is at the top of the Spark leaderboard this week in our 9-hole league.
770 points. 18 rounds. First place by 5 points.
I'll be honest – it feels good. But not for the reasons you might think.
The Adventure Mindset
I've always been drawn to new challenges. I was a skydiver videographer for years, living out of a camper van for a time.
Later, I got into competitive bicycle racing.
When I decided to learn futures trading, I went to the CME to learn how to trade futures from traders on the floor.
Each time, I was starting over. Each time, I was the rookie.
My buddy and I also won the Spark Summer league recently – a 2-man team tournament with over 50 teams competing.
The Golf Revelation
Golf is teaching me something different.
You can't muscle a golf ball into submission. You can't intimidate it with aggression or overcome a bad swing with sheer willpower.
Every shot demands patience, precision, and acceptance of what you cannot control.
What the Scorecard Really Shows
That leaderboard tells a story, but not the one you might expect.
Those 770 points represent 18 rounds of learning to trust the process. Learning that trying to crush every drive usually leads to trouble. Realizing that the best shots often come when you're not trying to impress anyone.
The real victory isn't beating the other guys in the league. It's learning to compete against my own expectations and ego.
The Trading Connection
This translates directly to trading.
How many times have you tried to force a trade?
Pushed harder when the market wasn't cooperating?
Attempted to make up for a loss by taking bigger risks on the next position?
I've been there. We all have.
The market, like a golf course, doesn't care about your timeline or your ego. It rewards patience, discipline, and respect for the process.
When I'm standing over a difficult putt or analyzing a complex chart pattern, the same principles apply: trust your preparation, execute with confidence, and accept the outcome.
The Long Game
Every round teaches me something about managing frustration when things don't go as planned. About staying focused when others around me are losing their composure. About finding satisfaction in gradual improvement rather than dramatic victories.
These lessons don't stay on the golf course.
They show up when I'm reviewing a losing trade, when I'm tempted to deviate from my system, when I'm facing uncertainty in the markets.
What's Your Scorecard?
Success in trading, like success in golf, isn't always about being first on the leaderboard.
Sometimes it's about showing up consistently. Sometimes it's about making fewer mistakes than you did last month. Sometimes it's about having the courage to take the shot even when you're not sure it will work out.
The best traders I know – the ones who've survived multiple market cycles and built lasting wealth – they all understand this.
They treat every trade like a shot in a round of golf. Important enough to deserve their full attention and preparation, but not so important that a bad outcome ruins their entire game.
I'm enjoying my week at the top of the golf league standings. But what I'm really celebrating is the mindset that got me there: patience, persistence, and the willingness to start over every time I step up to the tee.
The market opens again on Monday.
Time for another round.
Tony Rago
Creator of the Golden Setup