Golf Friends are Gold
Golf is a wonderful sport. You can play as s solo, or a group. If you are a beginner golfer, you may feel intimidated to join any type of group.
The question is… why did you take up golf to begin with? Did you play in your younger years? Perhaps a school team? Did you take it up to be able to play with a spouse or significant other? Somewhere, somehow something prompted you to take up golf.
What was your path? Did a friend or relative show you the basics, help you find clubs and bring you out on the course? Did you decide it was best to find a qualified Pro to teach you the game and work with you till you had some basics down? There are many different scenarios when you ask around… What made you take up golf? You will hear many different stories!
Today, I play mostly for the fun of it. I still participate in a women’s 18-hole competitive league, but my most enjoyable golf is the day we just play for the fun. No stress, just golf and fun and we chat about everything… mainly food!
Golf has brought me the most amazing friends, and I am forever thankful for that. We can now laugh about our handicaps… which are much higher than “the old days”. Honestly, lowering the handicap is still a thing, but not the main thing. Having fun with my ‘crew’ is what I look forward to.
Believe me, finding the right fit into a group wasn’t easy. I started playing with my husband and once I was confident enough, I joined a small mixed league with him, playing 9 holes on a Friday evening. There were a few women in the group, but they really didn’t want to play with the ‘newbie'. Eventually, I was able to find a few female friends that played at about the same level, so we’d go out and play 9 after work once a week.
Then I found a women’s group... supposedly for working women who could only play after work. The problem with that was that most of the women didn’t work and would go out and start playing before us working women got to the course, leaving a single (usually me) standing there on the tee with no group. UGH! It was tough trying to find a way to play, so many times I would just make a tee time as a single and play with whomever! It was a roll of the dice!
Along with way, divorce happened and I ended up playing more golf. I got involved with many things related to golf. I enjoyed studying about the game and learning as much as I could, but I never really felt a true part of a group. After years of being single, I joined a singles golf group and that is where I met my husband… a great golfer! That changed my life, in more ways than one. He is almost as obsessed as I am!
Over the years we tried joining different groups. Since we both still worked golf got squeezed into evenings and weekends. It was hard to find ‘regular’ groups. I finally started a 9 hole evening women’s league and that lasted until I no longer had time to run it. No one picked up the baton, and it quickly dispersed. However, what came out of that group of 20 women, was one good friend. And that one good friend eventually brought me to the group of women that I play with now. So, you never know who that one person will be, or event, or game that brings you to a new place.
I still work hard at my swing and getting stronger and eating right and all those things, but the women that I have met along this journey have made all those things secondary to their companionship. My regular 4-some consists of women that are in their 60’s to mid 70’s and we play 2 to 4 times a week, depending on the weather and our doctor’s appointments. We support each other, but we’re not afraid to say “hey… you are stepping in my line” … all in good fun! Somedays one of us is the peacock and some days the feather duster, but every day we have fun. Oh… and get some great recipes along the way!
Golf is great, friends are gold!
Comments