It fell to me to make the tee time for our foursome. We usually play Lakeview which is an easy course in Mound, MN on the west edge of Lake Minnetonka. We'd hoped to play the Links at Northfork which is a bit like a Scottish course with huge barren sand spots and tall tough grass in the rough. But the Links was having a tournament so tee times were not available.
A coupon in the paper offered 18 holes plus cart for $26.95 at the Elk River Country Club. It had been at least two years since we'd last played it so I made a reservation. We met at the Target parking lot and car pooled to Elk River about twenty miles north. It was a picture perfect day, seventy eight degrees, no wind and full sun. The course is pretty, set in rolling hills and woods.
We disembarked from the car, paid our green fees, took a few puts on the putting green and teed off. We were full of hope and expectation. It wasn't long until my hope was gone and I realized that, once again, my expectations would be unmet. My score was the worst in...who knows how long.
Golf is a difficult game for which I don't seem to possess the concentration necessary to excel. Add to that, an aging body that just cannot hit a ball as far as it could last year and most of the time my expectations are unmet. I don't get angry, I'm not good enough to do that. I just get disappointed.
So what is it about? Golf is an exceedingly difficult game and I celebrate every good shot. Yet, I admit it is more fun when the percentage of good shots is higher. Camaraderie is a huge part of it. Playing regularly with the same group is deeply meaningful. We keep our handicaps, which I will not print here, and the two worst scores buys lunch for the two best scores. Usually we eat at McDonald's unless there happens to be a Culver's on our route.
Golf is a bit like life. We emerge from childhood into adulthood full of hope and expectation. Many of the hopes are dashed and the expectations unmet. Now by seventieth decade I've often found myself surprised. Peers who I judged to be gifted and expected to excel fell flat. Others, of whom I expected little, have excelled.
Personally I'm filled with a sense of gratitude for the blessings that have come my way. I grieve for others for whom the breaks have not come or who's lives have been much to short.
Now, if I could only just learn to keep my head down.....
1 comment:
And you tell me to "swing hard and look up".
You are a great friend! As long as we can continue to hit some good shots, We can and will have fun!
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