Playing a Full Round of Golf
Sometimes you just have to be bad at something and not care about it at all. Golfing was that for me. I knew I wasn’t going to be good. In fact, I knew I was going to be pretty awful at it, but that wasn’t the point of it all. It was to have fun and do something I’ve never done before.
While visiting my sister, I had two goals: go to afternoon tea and play golf. My brother-in-law Jake and nephew Brady are very much into golf, so naturally it would be best to play with people that knew what they were doing, knew golf etiquette, and would be supportive. They gifted me with some gorgeous purple balls and a glove.
Rather than trying to teach me the basics on the course itself, Jake rented a couple hours at a golf simulation place called Bad Caddy. It was there that I learned that I was just bad, but that I was horrible at golf. A third of the time I missed the ball entirely on my swing, one third was hitting the living hell out of the turf and barely connecting with the ball, and the last third was hitting it while having one or two successful hits the entire time. We were even treated to something that Jake didn’t know could even happen – hitting the shot limit and having to pick up my virtual ball to go to the next hole.
Being firmly prepared to suck at something and have fun anyway, we got up the next morning and headed to Oquirrh Hills Golf Course in nearby Tooele. Jake rented two golf carts, one for me and Kandi and the other for him and Brady. We started out at the driving range where I actually had a couple of good hits and plenty where I missed the ball and tore up the ground. This would not change much throughout the day.
Due to the speed in which we (and by we, I mean me) worked through the virtual course, we set a realistic goal of getting through as much as we could because it was unlikely we would make it through all 18 holes. Our tee time was called and we started our adventure. Again, I was bad. BUT I had so much fun! Kandi and I played super loosey goosey. If I was super behind on the swings, my ball was going to mysteriously end up where hers did. I had several good drives and hits that I was super proud of.
I think it was the 7th hole that we saw a deer. Kandi and I agreed that it wasn’t moving, so it was definitely fake. We’d seen several deer that morning, but this one was way too close to the hole and didn’t seem to be moving. Then it turned its head. It was alive! It was completely unphased as we hit the balls towards and near it.
At the halfway point, we stopped for some lunch at the clubhouse and realized that we actually would be able to make it through an entire game before 2pm (it ended up being about 6 hours overall including our lunch break). I continued to do pretty poorly with some good shots here and there. AND I am happy to report I didn’t lose a single ball!!
Overall, it was a super fun experience with Kandi, Jake, and Brady. I’m so glad I waited to golf with them rather than go to one of the local courses (I have 3 within 5 miles of my house as you would expect, and tons more outside of that radius). I would not have had much fun and probably would have given up in frustration. In the end our scores were all tied Fun to Fun!
I’ve actually looked up the rates and times of the courses here and am going to make time to play again. It was silly and fun and I think that’s the way to play! I respect professional golfers so much more now than I ever did before. It’s definitely work to get that good!!
