Dinner, wedding, golf, and other invitations are an honor to receive and worth celebrating, when you actually want the invite. Being the golf fanatic that I am, anyone that knows me can confirm that I will drop everything to play. Considering such, I receive invitations to play a round of golf, in a tournament, or sometimes I invite myself (future post).
Recently, I accepted an invitation to a golf tournament at Quaker Ridge Country Club in Scarsdale, NY. It was another opportunity for golf to interrupt the monotony of my daily grind. I am grateful for complementary, complimentary moments. At the course, my foursome played with a caddie named Harry, who was originally from DR and transitioned from baseball to golf. I suspect Harry was assigned as our fore-caddie but he figured out my distance with the rentals immediately and transformed into my caddie. Usually, the fore-caddie only helps you find your ball, which maintains the pace of play. For the newbies, pace of play is the expected amount of time it takes a group to finish playing a hole and the overall round. An overall round ranges from 4-5 hours and when playing urban golf after 12pm, 7 hours is painfully possible (been there, done that…another future post). Having Harry helped me navigate the course like a pro, except I am only half good at listening and following directions.
Thankfully we were playing a tournament, and all components of my game (drive, short-game, putting, chipping) did not need to make an appearance. Despite me always hoping for the complete package game, it is often a-la-carte for all 18 holes. Strong start at the 1st tee, with a 90’s era Tiger Woods drive and a gradual transition to Happy Gilmore by the 9th tee. That is golf.
One day I will write about what an invitation to play golf really means and share a few recommendations on how to prepare. A golf invite is the ultimate date, a natural-born skeptic would say I am exaggerating but I think it is a big deal. Just think, somebody thought spending 5+ hours with you would be interesting, enough said.
At this tournament, I proudly contributed a few remarkable, competitive, ESPN worthy shots. Tournament golf is truly a team sport, everyone can contribute something, everyone adds value, your disposition can set the tone but the goal is to enjoy each other’s company and have fun. Life is one big golf outing, sometimes it’s in shambles, it can make you scramble or just play the best ball.
My contribution, hole #5, carry the water baby!
