Golf. It is so much fun for the beginner — and yes, I started at 67.
It is the only sport I know where most of the game is spent driving a cart around looking for a ball, which makes it something like a scavenger hunt. Those open-air interludes provide all kinds of time for socializing, cocktails, cigars (yuck) and enjoying the outdoors — both the manicured parts (fairways) and the wooded parts (rough). I am naturally drawn to the wooded areas, apparently.
An 81-Year-Old Took It as a Sign
I thought I was likely an anomaly. Who takes up golf at 67? My brothers, who are golfers, found it humorous; my father would have found it equally entertaining, so I was skeptical about starting as a senior. Then I met an 81-year-old woman who had just started taking golf lessons and loved it, and I took it as a sign. I bought a set of clubs and shoes.
My father was an amazing golfer who played well into his 90s — age, not score — and made five holes-in-one, two of them after his 90th birthday. Since he is residing in heaven now, I assumed he might provide a little divine intervention for my game. If he is, it is not evident.
The sport can be pricey — anywhere from $35 to $100 a round for greens fees and cart rentals — but it buys two to four hours of outdoor entertainment, depending on how many holes you choose. There are a multitude of courses across Alabama and Florida to choose from. In my first six months, I have played two courses and had an equal amount of fun and an equal amount of bad scores on both. Golf is a sport where more play does not guarantee improvement.
The Honeymoon Phase
I have learned that golf is a strategic game, but I’m still at the level where making contact with the ball on the first swing is cause for celebration. I have been warned that the better I get, the more frustrating the game becomes. I guess I am in the honeymoon phase — still basking in my ignorance, knowing that someday, probably not soon, I will experience golf with a new attitude. And if it is true what golfers say, that you are always competing with yourself, I have to ask the philosophical question: in that competition, who wins?
Golf is also an investment before you are invested. Clubs, bag, shoes, gloves, appropriate outfits and lots and lots of golf balls. The best advice for late starters: find used clubs, since they are the largest initial expense — check with actual golf clubs to find out who might have used sets for sale. (Pun intended.)
One last observation from a golf newbie: there are so many crude puns about balls, swings and strokes that come to mind while learning the game, especially if you are female. Resist the temptation to mention them. Most golfers have long since graduated from the fun stage to a state of exasperation, and they will not think it is funny.
Still — just go play. It’s never too late, and for latecomers to the game, golf will likely never cross the threshold from being fun to being frustrating. That may be the best reason of all to start playing later in life.
Adventures in Retirement is a series exploring retirement through one writer’s experiences in Fairhope and the surrounding area.