Golf…The Great Escape
By Janie C. Farina, LPGA
mail@floridanewsline.com
Calling all golf widows and golf widowers! Ever wonder why your better half thinks being on the golf course is better than … almost anything?
Well try this for starters:
- All golfers are created equal. By this I mean it doesn’t matter if your salary is $10,000 or $1,000,000 a year, once the golf cap is donned, all come under one domain — golfer. Here it’s the single digit handicapper that rules (he very well may be the $10,000 salary a year guy). The higher handicapper, who envies the heck out of him, could own a Castle on the Hudson.” Mr. Scratch Golfer or single digit handicapper, commands the course — a feat all of us others would probably spend our yearly salary to emulate.
- Spontaneity, Excitement, Thrills. Anything can happen here: a hole in one! Tin-cupping a 12! A ball ricocheting into the woods only to land safely onto the green. A perfect shot to the pin is swept away by a gust of wind. Who could ask for more entertainment in four and a half hours outside of Indiana Jones?
- Total Recall. I know this is going back a decade or two, but did you ever see Arnold Swartzenagger’s movie, “Total Recall?” It’s a story about a computer that controls your mind and sends you on vacations without ever leaving. Well, golfers get the same benefits — four and a half hours worth of total recall without leaving town. Any problems, blessings, or crisis in life get swatted away on the first tee, by the all-controlling factor — the golf ball.
- Being with Nature, Being With Yourself. Here, amidst the busiest metropolises and the most secluded country roads, lies the golf course. This is where we smell the fresh cut grass, see the flora and fauna, and hear the wind rustling and the birds singing through the blowing leaves. Wherever we look it’s fresh, alive and manicured. Just being here feels good.
- Friends-Fun-Family. Sometimes I see a foursome of strangers leave for the first tee, and after 18 holes many become friends for life. Golf is a great way to meet new friends, keep old friends, meet girlfriends and boyfriends, couples and singles, juniors and seniors, businessmen and housewives; out here we are likely to interact with just about anyone. Golf can become downright socially contagious, as it was in my family for generations.
- Golf is what you make it. Golf can be the great equalizer, the place to go on a Saturday afternoon, a place to lose your troubles to the troubles on the golf course, a respite from the hustle and bustle of city life for a walk in the country, a place to socialize or be solitary. It’s a game that can bring out the best and the worst in a person. It’s a game that can produce emotions of tremendous joy or deep despair.
My suggestion to all you golf widows and widowers is to come join the fun.
Janie Farina is an LPGA Teaching Professional of almost 30 years, here in the Jacksonville area. Email her at hitthedirt2@gmail.com for comments or suggestions for future articles.