Golfing With a Friend

Doug and I have been friends from 1966 until this day. We have shared many experiences during these many years. Probably we shared a dozen games of golf back when we thought that we were really golfers. As time goes by our thoughts of being good at this activity change until we now realize that this game is meant to get old folks out for some meaningful exercise.

I made arrangements to play a game with Doug last week and we made many excuses as to the reason we might not be too great when we played. I arrived a little early and Doug announced that we would play at a course that he had not seen for nearly twenty years. I think that he chose this course because no one would recognize him there. Doug still has a feeling of pride and as we began the game I could realize why. He managed to hit the first drive right down the middle but he wished it to be a little longer so he hit another. It too was right down the middle but twenty yards longer.

Doug and I then played eighteen holes of golf and never kept the score but reasonable praise was given for every shot that landed on the fairway or green and we sort of forgot the game and entered into a serious discussion about politics, life and the state of our health. It was a five hour game interrupted by a short break while we ate Doug's sandwiches.

At our age this is the way golf should be played. Hit a ball and have a time for talk and hit another and have a laugh about the past. It was a couple of years since Doug and I played golf but it will not be the last as we are aging and cherish the time shared while the game is secondary to the fun of just communicating.