I loved growing up around the game of golf. The sport has always been a cornerstone of the entire family. Many of the members of our family have been playing the sport most of their lives. Almost all of us could have been said to have been born holding a golf club. My first job was working at a golf course, where I continued working through high school and college. I would think most golfers have their ideal time to play. Many would probably give you the first thing in the morning, believing the course would be at its best. The mornings most likely to have the smooth putting surfaces. Untouched, freshly mowed greens, are best for putting. They get bumpy as foot traffic moves over them throughout the day. The downside to playing in the morning would be speed. The concept during a morning round is to play quickly. You are the first out and responsible for setting the pace of play for the day. Many people like this because it saves them from waiting on groups in front of them, which is more likely when playing later in the day. I like to go in the opposite direction, which places my preference in the afternoon. I most enjoy playing golf in the evening hours. Sacrificing the idea of smooth putting surfaces for the relaxation of the evening. When the traffic on the golf course has slowed. Sometimes there can be more waiting. But the relaxed atmosphere makes it worth the slow play that can occur at times.
While I was growing up golf was a big part of my life. I was lucky to have grown up around a public golf course. Tall Chief was located out in a farming community not too far from my hometown. I found myself becoming friends with the son of the head professional. Leading to summer days of being dropped off at the golf course in the morning and picked up in the evening. Many times, not being picked up in the evenings, at all. Friends would play until it was too dark to see outside. We would spend the night on the golf course property and wake up the next morning, ready to play again. During my early years of playing golf, I played a lot of rounds during different times of the day. Playing as one on the first groups on the golf course with my friends. When we woke up at first light, excited to take on another day of golf. As we aged, we started driving, and instead of hanging around the golf course, we started working at the course. Our morning rounds of golf started taking place in the afternoon, more consistently. Whomever wasn’t working on a particular afternoon, would load up a golf cart and go play. Playing until we couldn’t see the golf ball anymore because of the darkness. Sometimes we would go hang out after the golf was done. Sometimes we would all part ways and head home for the night. Either way, we would do it all over again within a couple days.
These evenings growing up at the golf course are some of my favorite memories. We were lucky to have a quiet golf course most evenings. Many of the golfers playing in the afternoon were interested in playing a quick nine holes. Usually, they tended to play the front nine holes, before heading home for the evening. The first nine holes were set down in a valley of farmland. Thought of as the easier side of the golf course. The second nine holes at Tall Chief were up in the hills and considered more difficult. The challenge of the second nine kept most afternoon players on the front side of the golf course. When moving from the twelfth to the thirteen holes on the second nine, you disappeared up into the woods. Another reason many golfers didn’t head back there in the evenings. I found going back there for the six-hole stretch to be an escape. The holes were built into the side of a hill, making many shots awkward, and difficult. I found it important to spend time learning how to play these holes. Then, trying to stay discipline to hitting the golf ball where you should. I remember many summer evenings playing those back six holes. Feeling the peacefulness of detached from the world. Moments I wanted to hang out inside for just a bit longer.
Playing so much afternoon and evening golf growing up, made it become the preferred time to play. Because my memories of playing the course as a kid all happened in the evenings. I would prefer to experience all courses I play in the afternoon. Playing them all at similar times of the day helps compare them in my mind. The plan when going on vacation has been to do the same. Trying to play in the early afternoon, taking us into the dinner hour. Probably from growing up, I love seeing golf courses in the light of the evening. There can be something magical about the sun going down in the sky over the course. Casting different shades of sunlight across the grass as evening descends. Seeing this happen at different courses seems to put them in their best light. The moments take me back to one of the most favorite times of my life. These moments happened a couple times this spring. Giving me similar feelings of being back in my youth. I played at a golf course near me called Echo Falls. Playing in the evening didn’t involve the 90-minute drive to Suncadia. There were a few more people around, but the time on the course didn’t suffer. The moments were most like the peaceful evenings of playing Tall Chief.
Playing golf at Echo Falls this spring was most like playing at Tall Chief during my youth. Starting in the evening without the purpose of finishing an entire round of golf. Maybe, not even finishing the first nine holes of the course. The element of not being concerned with finishing was the biggest factor in making the evenings unique. I felt as though I was playing golf for the ultimate in pure enjoyments. Removing the desire of shooting a good score or the worry of completing a certain number of holes. Which provides the main difference with playing afternoon golf on vacation or traveling to Suncadia. This spring, like so many summers from the past, we loaded up the golf cart at six in the evening at Echo Falls. Knowing we might not even be able to finish nine holes, but that part didn’t matter. Especially playing early in the golfing year, just playing was important. For me, with cerebral palsy a movement I haven’t performed for a while can take some time in returning. Playing without the expectation or pressure of trying to play well makes it easier to get back into playing, again. I felt the positivity of the quiet on the first tee when I toped my first shot. The ball dribbled off the tee about twenty yards.
The first time I played at Echo this year in the early spring, the weather was ideal. Temperatures even later in the evening hung in the sixties. The warmth was comfortable for playing some golf. Because the evening was during the weekend, the course wasn’t empty. When starting, the first tee was empty, with a group of two in the fairway. They didn’t take long to finish the hole in front. However, the first three holes played slowly. There turned out to be a few groups enjoying the nice evening. At one point, I saw a dog hanging out with one of the groups up ahead. The sight of the dog making me smile. It seemed obvious, the dog wasn’t distracting anything happening on the course. The relaxed feeling I had of playing Echo Falls became amplified in the moment. The scene took me back for a moment to the family environment around the course of my youth at Tall Chief. The traffic in front of us on this evening cleared following the thirds hole and the course opened into a comfortable pace. The sun continued fading behind the trees. Causing the golf course to cover in longer shadows with the passing of each golf hole. As the sun faded into the night my golf swing got stronger. The darkness finally caused the golfing evening at Echo to conclude after seven holes. On the positive side, the winter rust on my swing had peeled away. By the time the golf had concluded, I felt good about my swing.
A week later the same opportunity arose to play Echo Falls in the evening. Loading up the golf cart and heading to the first tee around six that evening. With the week between playing, the sun was going to be up a little longer. It was the time of the year when light was lasting longer and longer into the night, with each passing day. The other positive happening a week later was a quieter golf course. Allowing us to play a little faster than we had the previous week. I stood on the first hole and saw no other group along the hole. The weather was no less sunny and warm, as compared with the week before. I felt less out of water with my golf swing, having played seven holes the previous week. The second evening of playing golf in May gave me more feelings of nostalgia. The first nine holes were empty, and the evening sun was warm. Moments taking me right back to playing the second nine at Tall Chief in years gone by. I found myself standing on tee boxes at Echo with the sun sliding in the sky, as I looked around, taking in the warm quiet. With the quietness of the golf course, we made it all the way through the first nine. The sun had almost faded away walking off the ninth green. We opted for dinner, instead of a couple more holes. Leading to pulling out of the golf course parking lot just as the lights on the clubhouse took over the night.
These are the nights that find me reconnecting with the game of golf. Any thought of giving up on playing the game simply disappears. The warmth of the evening with the sun fading. The atmosphere lends itself to the feeling of calm. The experience of being in my own little world. When cell phones were introduced to the world, etiquette dictated that they be turned off when on the golf course. These first rules being most likely set up to protect the sanctuary that was being on the golf course. As the years have passed those traditions have changed. Moving into groups playing music during their round of golf. People now just set the cell phone to silent, as to not disturb the other players in the group. I miss the tradition of leaving the cell phone off or leaving it in the car. I would think of moving onto the golf course as moving away from the world. Leaving whatever troubles I was experiencing in the parking lot. These two evenings playing golf at Echo took me back into that time of life. A few hours of escaping onto the golf course and leaving the world behind. I would get back to the world in a few hours.
