Clubs and balls. These are the basic ingredients of the game
of golf. But playing the game with just the bare essentials is like cooking
a steak without sprinkling some flavor on top. As a fledgling player, this
is something I had to learn. And I had so much to learn: the
mechanics of high and low shots, the science behind soft-cover and hard-cover golf balls, the difference between a PGA and a club pro, why I should
trade in my sneakers for some solid golf shoes and, most important, the
vocabulary of golf.
Although I was overwhelmed by the details of the game, I found
myself a devoted learner. The enthusiasm I so often lacked in college
suddenly kicked into gear. Hell, I even found myself fascinated by the
lawnmowers used to manicure the course greens. I always asked myself, “How
do they get the grass that short?”
I laugh now when I think about how my college buddies and I
would hit the yellow and orange Top Flight balls, thinking our equipment
couldn’t get any better. Of course, our budgets were tight, and we’d always
search the course woods and ponds for balls to stuff in our bags. That
always reminded me of hunting for balls as a boy during my fishing stints at
White Oak Country Club in West Virginia. Of course, we were the broke
college students you’d always see rooting through the clubhouse barrel that
advertised used balls for 25 cents each.
Slowly, however, as I became more of a golf ball connoisseur,
I recognized quality balls, including the MaxFlys, Pinnacles and Titleists
that were so popular then. Whenever I’d come across a good ball, maybe a
Titleist, I definitely didn’t want to lose it, so I’d focus on hitting good
shots and controlling my swing. It made be a better player.
For the first time in
years, I was immersed in something that I truly wanted to understand, and I
couldn’t get enough of it.
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back for the next installment ...
