Bear and Max played a Hurricanes Tour tournament today with a civilized tee time. They were soundly sleeping when we pulled the car out just before 5:30 a.m to drive 1 1/2 hours through the dark and cold. Too early for the first Starbucks we passed to be open yet.
We arrived on the practice green as the dark dissolved in a fragile, weak light. Rob and I ran a short lap along the cart paths, lungs protesting the cold air, to get our blood pumping. He was carefully prepared – wool hat, layered clothing, left and right hand golf gloves, hand warmers ……. I left my jacket at home !
I’m very glad we braved the dark and cold though. We had a happy time even though the scores were not excellent. Rob played solid golf, for the most part, with just one (sometimes two) disappointing shots on each hole. A couple of these were due to poor club selection (needed just a little more club out of the muddy conditions). One my fault. Good tee shots except for twice when he got some sort of ‘bee in his bonnet’ about how the ball should be teed which seemed to take the rhythm out of his approach and his mind off the actual shot. Sometimes you just know instinctively, as a caddy, the shot is going to be a mess and there is nothing you can do …… We were happy though.
The Pastor’s son fired in a blistering 1 over par to win his first tournament and gave a winner’s speech filled with joy and gratitude befitting one of his dad’s sermons. His dad said he had recently started working with a short game coach, and it showed.
Golf is a sport that requires constant attention, constant work, constant growth. Anecdotally it is not a game of perfect, yet it attracts those who seek the sublime and are willing to pay the cost – swing coaches, short game coaches, mental coaches, clubs, accessories …… sanity.
Even though we may seek perfection, surely ‘happy’ is what we all ultimately strive for?