Golf - The Distance Between Your Ears

Golf is a game that is played on a five-inch course - the distance between your ears. ~Bobby Jones

I get it. I now get it. I played 18 holes with my husband. The first of many.

Rob and I were invited by some friends to play a tournament. I thought they were insane when they suggested it. I have some clubs and the last time I hit a few balls at the range with my husband was 4+ years ago. I only really have them because I thought someday we might enjoy golfing together. Once I realized how hard the sport was (from my limited experience with the range), I never had the courage to get out on the course. But a tournament? You’re kidding me. “It’s a scramble, Jen. Your score will never really count. Just come for fun.”

It was a beautiful day in Sacramento. If you’ve never golfed before, let me tell you my impressions:

• “Where’s the flag?” I don’t know how many times I asked at the tee box where the stinkin’ flag was. You’ve got to be joking me! The answer was quite often, “it’s someplace that direction so aim over there and we’ll eventually find it.”
• Rob can hit a ball! He’s the king of the long drive. He can hit that ball so far it disappears in the sky and we literally have no idea where it landed. Thankfully quite often it was right there where we wanted it to be – not far from the hole.
• It’s a game! I mean, yes, I know it’s a game. But, it’s a game against yourself. My ball went in all kinds of crazy places and just the shear internal strategy and geometry involved in how I’m going to get us (me and my ball) out of here is fun.
• Balls aren’t cheap, and I lost 4 in creeks and ponds. Now I know why golfers are always buying these things. So, my new goal is to stay out of ponds.
• Golf carts are fun! They go pretty fast on grass, even the parts that say “keep carts off grass”.
• The rough is rough. There’s no icing on the cake for that one.
• I can dig quite a hole when I miss the ball off the tee. We call those, “practice swings”.
• I can hit straight. I know it’s crazy to think, but I can. Sometimes.
• There are bathrooms out on the course. It’s so convenient. Genius!
• Sandtraps aren’t as scary as I thought. A nice added challenge.
• You can hit a whole game with just 3 clubs: 7 iron, 3 woods, and a putter. I can’t imagine why you need all those other clubs, but I keep hearing that I’ll understand someday. I just used the ones I didn’t always stink at.
• I really hope Toby likes to play someday. We’re counting on it…
• Winning isn’t everything. We didn’t even win anything from the tournament raffle, but it was fun trying.

I’m already thinking about my next trip to the golf course. Anyone up for 9 holes?