The month of May is upon us, which means college graduations, high school proms, Mother’s Day, and – my personal favorite – the Indianapolis 500!
It also means it’s time for many of us to dust off our golf clubs. I haven’t looked at or picked up a golf club since last October, and I’m looking forward to hitting the driving range a few times for some practice before I attempt to play a round. This could be brutal.
I started playing golf several years ago and even took some lessons, which were fun and beneficial. Just because I play golf often doesn’t necessarily mean I am any good at it, but I start each season with the goal of getting outside for exercise, having a lot of fun and trying to get a little better than I was the previous year.
My dad tried to teach me a little bit about golf when I was a teenager, but I wasn’t much interested in the game back then. My uncle was a very good golfer, and he helped me some, too, when I first lived in Florida in my 20s. That’s when I started to become interested in golf but didn’t have the time or money to invest in it. One other big reason I didn’t start playing then was a lack of self-confidence when it came to the game. My only friends who golfed were men, and I would hear them bragging about their long drives and low scores and talking smack. It made me think I could never be good enough to play with them because I would surely hold them back or be embarrassed. Now, I know people talk a good game but don’t necessarily play it.
In my mid-40s, I started going to the driving range alone, signed up for some lessons and started playing nine holes by myself once a week. I almost always hit the ball straight but don’t have much distance yet. I played a lot, then took a few more lessons and learned to hit the ball farther than before.
One day, I was playing nine holes alone and two older gentlemen came up behind me and asked if they could play through. I’ve gotten much faster in my golf game in recent years, but back then I thought I was probably holding them up and let them go ahead of me. Turns out, these guys were horrible golfers who took their good old time. They actually wound up holding me back and played worse than me.
My goal when I started golfing was to get good enough to be able to play socially and keep up with friends without being the worst one on the course. I have now proudly achieved that and sometimes even play better than my husband or some friends.
All that matters is that I have fun and keep improving!
Kristin Emery can be reached at kristinemery1@yahoo.com.