Summer Fun

I just had a good day.  As simple as that, just a peaceful, joyful day.

It had been two years since I swung my golf clubs. The last time I played eighteen holes was at a scholarship fundraiser back in June 2018. I had carefully chosen my foursome composed of three women who love to have fun and probably considered this outing to be a social function and one man who is a serious golfer. We had it covered with the right balance of fun and seriousness and we were guaranteed a fair showing thanks to this brilliant male player. He was really good at the game and fortunately for him, gifted with a good disposition, for he demonstrated infinite patience on our need to take endless pictures, post on social media, and catch up on the latest news the entire day. To be fair, once the game was over and it was time for dinner and the distribution of awards and scholarships, our brilliant male partner was nowhere to be found. He seized the first opportunity to escape, ran with it and never looked back.

In addition, the outing was for a great cause, raising money for deserving college bound young adults embracing a career in a transportation related field. It is very hard to say no to such a worthy cause. But our male golf partner got really lucky. Before he could decline another gracious invitation for a repeat in June 2019, I was heading to Israel on a business trip with other state business leaders for a conference in Tel Aviv. There was no chance I would be able to participate in the fundraiser. Coupled with the fact that I had hurt my back early in the spring and not yet recovered, the chance at golfing during the season were null and void.

I missed it: I love the game and the setting, especially early in the morning with so much green surrounding me, the birds chirping and the concentration on a little white ball with a focus on eye/hand coordination that forces you to be in the moment. And with my new resolutions on self-care and a joyful life, I had resolved to resume my practice. Thus, I kept saying at the office that I could not wait to hit the golf circuit this summer. A male colleague, upon hearing me, invited me to take advantage of the July 3rd holiday to go for a round. I gladly accepted and joined him on the golf course near my home for a nine-hole game as a start. We made our tee time with great anticipation. They matched us up with two other players and here we went.

Ahead of us was a foursome and as we were getting ready to start, I noticed that I had forgotten my glove at home and needed to head back to the clubhouse to purchase one. I was hesitating, because I did not want to cause a delay but my male colleague calmly said: go ahead, you have time, I do not think the foursome ahead of us will go fast. They are not that good. Curious, I asked why because they had not even started and his response was: Oh, it is a foursome of one man and three women. He might be the only one who knows how to play. The other three are just having fun!

I burst out laughing wondering whether or not we were that transparent two years ago. But I consoled myself thinking that if we were, then he knew exactly what he was getting himself into and there was no need to feel guilty about a plan that worked.

Who knows, he may even have enjoyed it and learned a thing or two about the so-called weaker sex.