The round of golf was in celebration of a birthday. A buddy of mine was turning one year older. At some point, we all just start losing count. Age is just a number, right. Playing golf to celebrate his birthday meant an early wake up call. The day was a Tuesday with the hopes of an empty golf course. Though, recent experience told me it’s almost impossible to find a slow golf course, these days. We were scheduled to play early, 7:10 on the early week morning. The drive was going to take me an hour and no matter how I try, I can’t seem to get out of the house in under an hour. Leave some buffer time for the stop to get coffee and something to eat. My brain was calculating an alarm clock time, no sane person wants to consider. But I love playing golf, I love the occasional early morning, and I love a celebration. The twilight in the morning before the day wakes up is something cool to experience. Most of the time, enjoying those moments seems reserved for the ski season. When I wake early in the hopes of skiing on untouched ski slopes, before the masses descend on the hill. It feels rare anymore, to get up early for a golf day. I was excited enough for the day that I awoke fifteen minutes before the alarm sounded. Ready to get the fun going.
Even in the month of June. The weather in the northwest can be a little spotty. We were in the early portion of the final week in June and things looked good. Checking the forecast, the temperatures looked good enough for shorts, and a short sleeve shirt. I pulled out of the garage to find the early morning sky. It was looking clear above me, though felt like it might be a little cool. I tossed in a quarter zip just in case the day was slow to warm. 5:20 in the morning and driving out of the garage, not bad. Being ahead of time always calms my nerves and I felt comfortable with stopping for coffee. Along the Snoqualmie Valley I ventured with light traffic and no fog. The valley could get fogged in on a clear morning, like this. It would take me about an hour to reach my buddy. Hoping traffic on this weekday morning would be helpful. Then, a quick ten-minute drive to the golf course. We were scheduled to play Auburn golf course, a place I had played once before this day. Playing it with my buddy years ago, I was impressed with the track. Arriving at his house an hour after departing Duvall, he was ready for the day. Walking out of his house, we loaded up the clubs, and on our way, we went.
We probably would have played on our own, had I not needed a quick bathroom run. Auburn golf course was quiet when we arrived, about ten-minutes ahead of seven. Giving us enough time as not to feel rushed. We got checked in and drove the golf cart out to car. Loading up the clubs, I could feel my excitement for the day starting to elevate. The morning air felt warm, leading me to leave behind the quarter zip I threw in the car. It wasn’t cold enough to entice me with wearing the sleeves. By the time, we pulled back around the clubhouse, the tenth tee box was clear. The golf course was having players begin of the second nine, for the day. This was when my fateful choice of heading for the restroom, left us joining another golfer. When I made it back, the loudspeaker told us of the gentleman we would be joining for the golf day. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who has a method for these situations. It was obvious who we were playing with, I didn’t hesitate in walking up, and introducing myself. I said hi and almost immediately looked at the golf bag strapped to the back of his golf cart. Trying to gain a feel for the kind of golfer we might be joining. His gear looked legit, and I moved on to my next inquisition. A casual question to gain more information about the type of player would be, where do you play most often? You can probably imagine my surprise when he said, “well, I’m from Paris, so mostly courses around the city.” Wait, what, I thought to myself.
My question didn’t provide the information I might have been looking for. Part of the question was also to spark some conversation, provoke some commonality. His answer provoked some thought and moved our comfort as a group forward. We learned he was flying back to Paris the following day. As I walked onto the tee box, I could hear the conversation continuing behind me, with he and my buddy continuing to chat. The first tee was warming up nicely with getting to know one another interactions. The feeling of a good day ahead came over my thought pattern. For me, I always have concern over meeting someone on the first tee of a golf day. My insecurity about cerebral palsy comes to the surface during those times. Feeling like I have something to prove, as a golfer with a disability. I’m often questioning my ability to play this game I love in a manner of being respected. The emotion might be the reason for my questions of the people I’m just meeting. Hoping to gain a better feeling of comfort by searching for some commonality. To my surprise, my first swing of the golf club was a pretty good one, ending up just to the right of the fairway cut. Playing from the white tees of that first hole, my drive didn’t end up too far behind those of my playing partners.
Our first hole of the day was the tenth hole of the golf course. They had flipped the nines for some reason. Without much experience with playing the golf course, I had no way of understanding how often they flipped the sides. On our second hole of the day, I did something that surprised myself. Instead of continuing to hit from the white teeing area with my playing partners. Which would have left me overmatched by the golf course but helped me feel included with the other men. I decided to move up to the forward teeing area, like I would do when playing golf in a comfortable environment. I was proud of the courage I had to make that kind of move. Admitting to myself that I was a shorter hitter than these two men and my round would be more productive from the forward tee markers. During that first hole of my move forward I could feel a better warmth from the Frenchman who had joined us for the day. Making me feel as though displaying the decisiveness might have brought more comfort to the group. The move also gave us the ability to play a little faster. On some of the holes, the difference in distance between the white tees and forward tees, couldn’t have been more than ten yards. There was a hole later in our round, maybe our fifteenth hole. The white and forward tee markers were about ten yards apart, again. Keeping in mind, my playing partners spent much of their day looking for tee shots under trees and behind fences. On this particular hole, our Frenchman playing partner teed up from the forward tees. I couldn’t tell you if he did it on purpose, or by mistake. Anyway, it was one of the only tee shots I saw him hit that bounced right in the center of the fairway. I couldn’t help a little chuckle to myself.
It was a fun day of golf. On a course I enjoyed from the first time I played. The thought of playing at Auburn golf course drew excitement from me immediately following the invite. Jogging my memory after his call, I couldn’t remember many of the holes. The golf course was cataloged in my mind as a whole. Rather than remembering individual holes, I had played. The clearest memory of the course was one hole. Hitting from an elevated tee box that felt like I was standing on a small cliff. The fairway ran out some hundred feet below. Where the hole was located on the golf course, I couldn’t answer until playing it again, a couple weeks ago. It turned out to be on the second nine, which was our first nine. The hole usually plays as the fifteenth hole on normal days. On this day, it was our sixth hole of the day. Completing one of the more unique stretches of the golf course. Most of the Auburn golf course plays flat, not much undulation, at all. Except for a group of holes in the first section of the second nine. The eleventh is a par-4 taking the golfer dramatically up into the hills. Once, above the golf course, a couple par-4s and a par-3 traverse the hill, bringing you slightly back down the incline. Then, the fifteenth tee has the golfer hit out over a steep drop, back to join much of the course, below. Those few holes up it the hill add a unique quality to Auburn and show my part of the reason I so enjoy playing it.
Besides the cool feel of those holes up in the hill. The remainder of the golf course has some old school charm. Nothing feels overly complicated or ticked out, in an attempt at playing games with the golfer. Most holes are tree lined, but with many of them running side by side, the trees don’t indicate lost golf balls. I like a course that simply runs out in front of the golfer. Nothing is hidden out of sight to jump up and derail the round of golf. In hitting an incorrect shot, it wasn’t going to land in trouble you couldn’t see, before taking the swing. The day of golf was really enjoyable. Under a warming sun in the early days of summer. On one of our first few holes the Olympics in Paris came to mind. Wondering why it took me so long to put it together. I asked our playing partner if he was planning to attend the games. He thought possibly, though when tickets first came up for sale, they were mighty pricy. He talked about the price tag dropping as we get closer to the Olympics and was hoping to catch some in person. We shook hands walking off our final green. Wondering how long his flight home would be the following day. He said it would be nine hours flying directly to Paris, out of Seattle. Long flights have always been fascinating to think about. Though, I’m guessing not so exciting to experience. I wished him a safe flight home, as we parted ways with the kind man, forever. My buddy and I went into the clubhouse for a birthday burger.
A Journey With Cerebral Palsy 