As I was walking down the 11th fairway the other day, I thought to myself why in God’s name am I out here?? It was raining. Not the normal rain that will lull you to sleep on a nice summer night, but a hard wind driven rain. When I say wind, I am talking about a steady 25-30mph with gusts up to 45mph. The wind made those very large raindrops sting as they hit your face. To make everything even better or at least to help the narrative that I am constructing, the temperature was hovering just at 50 degrees. All in all, it was what could have been classified as a miserable day.
But I am a golfer, and I was loving every minute of that wet, windy, cold day, even though the conditions were basically unplayable. The course had been “tipped out”, the greens had been dialed up somewhere in the neighborhood of 14 or 15 on the stimp meter. The holes had been cut in the worst places the greenskeeper could find. Maybe 4 or 5 were actually playable, let alone legal. In some places the ball would continue to roll until it found a bunker, tidal area, or other hazard.
As I flexed my hands to help keep them warm, I started thinking about if I was having fun, and the resounding interior response was yes, this was absolutely fucking awesome. I would have gladly played again the next day. I wonder what sets us golfers apart from other recreational “athletes”. I would doubt many who participate in other leisure activities would have found the conditions amusing. I have always wondered what makes the golfer so unique in their passion for a sport that is at best of times annoying.
I am very confused as to what I am writing. I seemed to have some great point I wanted to make when I started this, but for some reason, I have no idea where to go from here. It was probably unwise to start this and then stop it twentyish times. I am sure there is some great wisdom in a book by Dr. Allister or Mr. Darwin, but unfortunately my time to read is much shorter now. The second child is where things have gone awry. One is easy, my wife and I can split the duties. Two on the other hand means all hands-on deck. So, I recommend that if somebody besides myself reads this that they read one of the many books by Bernard Darwin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Darwin.
I wish everyone a Happy New Year