Getting Back on the Links
When you haven't played golf in almost five months, almost anything can happen when you return to the links. Shanks, hooks, yips, you name it; everything is fair game, and depending on the circumstances, the opening few holes can be quite nerve-wracking.
Being a Buffalo resident and Syracuse student, I hadn't played golf since Election Day, as snow hit a few days later and kept us buried for the season. We even had a snow day a week ago. However, I am on Spring Break this week so I got to fly down to Florida and stay with my grandparents for a few days. Maybe even get a few casual rounds of golf in.
I arrived in Florida yesterday, and my grandpa informed me that I would be playing in the Monday Men's Day outing at his club. Nervous to begin with about my performance on the course this week, my heart jumped. What if my grandpa had made me out to be some scratch golfer (I'm really anywhere from a 10 to a 25, depending on the day)? What if my swing was completely gone and I whiffed eleven times on the first tee (I did once when I was little, and my dad told me that if I whiffed one more time we were leaving the course)?
With that in mind, I showed up on Men's Day and headed for the range. Everyone was friendly, and I could see quickly that the standards weren't too high. I met two members of my foursome, and they were perfectly friendly. I then met the last member of my foursome, a staff member at the club filling in as an alternate.
I asked him where he was from. Guess where? Syracuse.
Of all the places. Go figure.
Regardless of the relaxation I felt, that first tee was still looming, and the crowd that was sure to be looking on. Except it was a shotgun start, and we were to start on the 13th hole. And I then found out that the format was 2 best balls out of 4, which meant that I could screw up a few holes without having a huge negative impact on the team.
And then we show up at the 13th hole, and it's a 100-yard par 3. I grew up playing a par-3 course. This shot is right in my wheelhouse.
I hit the green. It's like the winter never happened, right?
Except I go on to three-putt for bogey from 20 feet and then hook my tee shot into the water on the next hole.
But at least I got that first green in regulation.
Let the season begin.
