(This story was originally posted on June 18, 2013)
LACEY USA – It was a scorecard the likes of which I’d never experienced … all sixes … until No. 9, when I missed a bogey putt for 7.
It meant two of the sixes were bogeys – okay. It meant two of the sixes were triples. It meant I played all the par-4s at double-bogey.
It wasn’t as bad as it might have been – no snowmen – but what happened on the par-3s? Forgot how to hit a golf ball, is what happened, which presupposes I ever knew.
It meant I had a few really good shots. It meant I couldn’t make a goddamn putt.
It was a leisurely nine holes at the Links Course at Hawks Prairie on a lush late-spring evening that never broke all the way out of cloudy … which meant the long sharp shadows never showed, which was okay ’cause the warm light washed us in something like silver.
It was golf, at my favorite time of day, with Mikey, who helped me keep it in perspective when I didn’t want to. It was fun, he said. Okay, okay, goddamn it, it was fun.
Remember, It’s still golf. Went back with Casey last Saturday, and played Riverside again. This time I broke 100. Still playing golf.