My dad took me golfing for the first time, and I’m 20 years old.
How I have never been golfing before, I don’t know, but I was determined to learn to swing a golf club even if it killed me. I can’t say that the whole experience was positive; there were definitely curse words thrown around and chunks of grass that went further than the ball.
And, if I were to name my golf game after a TV show, it would be “The Dukes of Hazard” because that’s where I spent most of my time.
But I learned a lot from the day, beyond what it meant to be "Seven over par" and to "take a drop," and even what the different colored tee boxes were for. I learned not to take myself so seriously and to be okay with not being good. I may be awful at golf, but at least I am somewhat competent.
I guess that’s a necessity when you’re going into the business world. It is going to take a lot of practice before I will actually be willing to keep a scorecard, but I will get there eventually. So, for everyone who knows what it is like to want to throw your golf club onto the adjacent fairway because you just shanked another drive into the woods, here are 10 things I learned from my first time golfing.
1. The harder you swing, the more likely you are to miss the ball completely
2. Driving the golf cart is the most fun part
3. No one actually yells "Fore!" (especially me, because I never actually hit the ball that far)
4. Swamps suck and weeds are greedy
5. I no longer think "Happy Gilmore" is irrational
6. I will never get a hole-in-one…ever
7. Keeping a scorecard is useless
9. If you take it too seriously, you will go crazy. You have to laugh at yourself (and your inability to hit a small, stationary ball)
10. I now understand why golfers drink
