I had a different experience yesterday. I went out as a single. There was a dad and a 10 year old boy waiting at the tee box. The dad told me that it would be the first time out for the boy (selfishly, I cringed inside, thinking it would be a frustrating round). We kept waiting for the 4th player to show up. Finally, two women drove up in a cart with only one bag of clubs. The younger woman apologized and said that she was the 4th. By then the three of us already there had teed off. She asked what tees we had used. I told her that the two of us had teed off from the back tees and that the boy had teed off from her tees (what a stupid thing to say, lol). She politely said, “No, I am playing these tees,” meaning the back tees. She hit her tee ball, missed it ever so slightly, but her swing was gorgeous. She did not miss another one the rest of the round.
By the second hole, I could tell that she was a player. Her swing was as technically sound and athletic as any swing I have seen in person. If I am honest, she and I were neck and neck distance-wise with driver, but she was more consistent, the same old, boring baby draw. It was really fun to watch. When we pulled up to the third hole tee box, I said to her, “What causes you to abandon the LPGA tour stop to come and play Davis Park (my home course) on a Friday afternoon?” I was saying it tongue in cheek, but her response was, “I got tired of the tour life and have decided to get back to normality.”
I won’t disclose her name here, but I Googled it when I got home and sure enough, she was a fringe ladies’ tour player. It looked like she probably was struggling to stay on the LPGA tour, so she would not have been making any money. I could see how she would have decided to hang it up after making golf her life for 20 years (she started playing at 10 years old and is now 30).
I asked her how she compared to other women players on tour in terms of length. She said that she was on the shorter side. That amazed me, to be honest.
Anyway, it was a fun, frustrating round. The little boy should not have been on a course yet. He would often take three or four swings before he would even make contact with the ball and then would hit driver again up the fairway, without teeing it up. His dad was giving him no guidance. I was also thinking that he was the same age as the young woman when she started. The other woman in the cart happened to be her mom. The mom said that there are two children, this young woman and a son. The son also started playing golf at the same time, but gave it up when the young woman, his sister started kicking his rear end and the coach said that he should watch and try to mirror his sister’s swing. Like we read all the time and realize from observation, some of the players out there simply have a gift that the rest of us don’t have. This young woman would kick my rear end every day of the week. It is not even close.
By the second hole, I could tell that she was a player. Her swing was as technically sound and athletic as any swing I have seen in person. If I am honest, she and I were neck and neck distance-wise with driver, but she was more consistent, the same old, boring baby draw. It was really fun to watch. When we pulled up to the third hole tee box, I said to her, “What causes you to abandon the LPGA tour stop to come and play Davis Park (my home course) on a Friday afternoon?” I was saying it tongue in cheek, but her response was, “I got tired of the tour life and have decided to get back to normality.”
I won’t disclose her name here, but I Googled it when I got home and sure enough, she was a fringe ladies’ tour player. It looked like she probably was struggling to stay on the LPGA tour, so she would not have been making any money. I could see how she would have decided to hang it up after making golf her life for 20 years (she started playing at 10 years old and is now 30).
I asked her how she compared to other women players on tour in terms of length. She said that she was on the shorter side. That amazed me, to be honest.
Anyway, it was a fun, frustrating round. The little boy should not have been on a course yet. He would often take three or four swings before he would even make contact with the ball and then would hit driver again up the fairway, without teeing it up. His dad was giving him no guidance. I was also thinking that he was the same age as the young woman when she started. The other woman in the cart happened to be her mom. The mom said that there are two children, this young woman and a son. The son also started playing golf at the same time, but gave it up when the young woman, his sister started kicking his rear end and the coach said that he should watch and try to mirror his sister’s swing. Like we read all the time and realize from observation, some of the players out there simply have a gift that the rest of us don’t have. This young woman would kick my rear end every day of the week. It is not even close.
