Don't let grumpy golfers get you down

How many times have you played a round of golf with someone you hope you never lay eyes on again?  Not very often I'm sure.  99% of the golfers I meet on the first tee are wonderful people - friendly, supportive and fun. 

So imagine my dismay when I drove up to the first tee last weekend to discover a man (his wife was riding shotgun - not playing) and one other gent sitting there looking thoroughly disappointed that they would be playing with a woman golfer. Sigh...

The husband gave me that "look" and insisted there must be some mistake - he and his golf buddy were just a twosome. 

His wife knew better, however; we had spoken back on the range during warm up where she told me they had the same tee time as we did.

I had asked her if she golfed and she said she loved to play, but that she wasn't very good (How often do we hear that?) and so she was letting the boys play by themselves.  I'm not sure if it was really her decision or her husband's (green fees were quite pricey), but it was a shame to see her having to sit out a round in paradise.  Oh well...she seemed okay and smiled a lot throughout the day.

Anyway, back to the grumpy old man...I wasn't going to let anyone ruin my day.  So I was friendly and shouted "Good shot" as often as I could.  And I was very careful to not antagonize him in any way,  so I made sure I was always ready to hit when it was my turn.  I was playing from the forward tees and I carefully planned to have our cart ahead of the boys so when they finished teeing off, I could quickly get to my tee before their carts scooted by me to their shots.

My golfguy is always supportive of me in these awkward situations.  Throughout the day, he jumped into our cart with club still in hand after he hit his drive so we were not holding up anyone. 

And I fell in love with him all over again when he said to me, "Get revenge Golfgal!  Play better than they do." -  Which we both did. :) 

By the end of the round, the husband was so frustrated with his own game, he went back and forth between two greenside bunkers at least 5 times on the 17th hole.  Seriously, I'm not exaggerating.  I lost count of his score at 8 (on a par 3!).  He would not pick up even though the rest of us had finished the hole long before (and there was a group standing on the tee box with jaws dropping wondering what the heck this idiot was doing).

Oh well...you can't change people, but you can change how you react to them.  I am pretty proud of the fact that I didn't let this jerk ruin my day. My golfguy and I both played well and took time to enjoy the beauty around us and my shot of the day.

Aaah...paradise!

Golfgal

Ka'anapali Golf - Where fun and friendships flourish

I just read this quote from a Facebook friend ...

"The friends you make on the golf course are the friends you make for life."

– Jessica Anderson Valentine, Scottish golfer

and thought how timely it was.  Let me explain...

Last week my golfguy and I played a round of golf at one of our favorite courses -- the Royal Ka'anapali Golf Course on Maui, with one of my favorite people -  Claude Brousseau - a Senior PGA Teaching Professional at the Kapalua Golf Academy on Maui.

I interviewed Claude two years ago for an article I was writing for InsideGolf Magazine.  I discovered after talking to him and spending an hour on the range with him that he is true gentleman and an amazing teacher.  He never uses golf-speak when talking to you. He never says, "I do it this way."

Claude's #1 priority is to make YOU successful and he has all kinds of great props, memorable acronyms and analogies to help you maximize your potential.  It didn't surprise me at all to learn that he's a big fan of Vision54, which is based on the fundamental principle that every individual has unlimited and unique potential. 

It also didn't surprise me that he won the "Aloha Section PGA Teacher of the Year” award in 2008.

Although Claude and I only met once two years ago, when he saw I was coming to Maui this November through Facebook, he reached out to me online and said, "Hey let's play some golf and have dinner!"  How many virtual strangers do that! 

I naturally jumped at the chance to play golf with him.  But when the day arrived, I was shaking in my Footjoys.  I was so nervous to play with an awarding winning professional. 

And so, as I headed out to the first tee with Claude and his buddy Dick from Northern California (an excellent golfer and tennis player), I was sweating bullets.  Then after watching Claude and Dick hit their drives, I was struck again by the famous words said by Bob Jones of Jack Nicklaus, "He plays a game of which I am not familiar".  Oh dear...

Anyway, I headed off to hit my first shot of the day, and although it wasn't my best effort, it made the fairway and I was on my way to playing one of the most enjoyable rounds of golf I can remember.

I thought playing with a pro would make for a "serious" round, but Claude was laughing and joking (and giving strokes to Dick) with all the jocularity of a weekend warrior.  But when he stood up to hit a shot, he went into another world - the infamous "zone".  From fun to focus - the transition was truly amazing.
And it didn't cost me a dime to get some wonderful advice from Claude along the way...like how to read putts on very tricky, grainy greens.  I also learned the real reason I skulled a 7 iron (I thought I peeked, but he explained it was my ball position that was off). 

Ah ha!  I had forgotten some of the basic fundamentals he had taught me two years ago -  the 4 elements he calls the pre-swing: B, P, G, A - Ball Position,  Posture, Grip and Aim.

After the round, we headed over to Hula Grill (a wonderful restaurant right on the water at Whalers Village in Ka'anapali) to have dinner with his lovely wife, Anne-Marie.  We'd never met Anne-Marie before, but it wasn't long before we discovered how much we had in common.  Time flew by as we chatted about our love for golf, wine, food, and, of course, Maui.  I didn't think I'd ever find someone who loves this island as much as I do. I was wrong - Anne-Marie has adopted it - she calls it "my island".  :)

It was a magical day from the first tee to the last bite that I will remember fondly for a very long time and hope to repeat again soon.

It really is true that the friends you make on a golf course are friends for life.  I have 6 more golf games planned for this week.  I am looking forward every one of them.  Who wouldn't be when you know that your next best friend may just one tee-time away.

Golfgal

Playing Golf Vegas Style in Maui

Every year I can't wait for November to arrive - it's the month of my great escape to paradise where I can golf golf golf.  Each time it's more wonderful than the one before and this year was no exception, because it started off with one of the most fun-filled scrambles I've ever played.
 
The day after I arrived on Maui, I was delighted to join 3 fun-lovin, golf crazy gals at the Maui Women's Annual Classic at the Dunes of Maui Lani.

It was the 4th year that Golf Fore Gals has hosted this tournament and it's now on my calendar for every November going forward (until I'm under the fairways instead of over them). 

A local trio of BFFs welcomed me to their team and it wasn't very long before we were laughing our way around 18, playing a crazy variant on a Texas Scramble.  I've played a lot of scrambles, but this one had a twist.  Instead of having to ensure every player contributed a minimum number of drives off the tee, we had to roll a die to see who's ball we had to play on each hole.

  

• Des, who had the hottest putter of the group was #1
• Anna, who drove the ball 230+ yards was #2
• Andra, who outplayed us all, consistently long and straight was #4
• Leaving me as numero trois, hoping to be a lucky charm for my new friends.

If we rolled a 5, we got to choose the best ball of the four and a 6 required a re-roll.  We prayed for a lot of 5s :)

It was more Vegas Scramble than Texan.  And although we were lucky on our first hole with the roll of a 5, there were times when it was like shooting craps.  More than once, one of us invariably yelled "Crap!" after a roll (or another more colorful expletive ;)).  Like the 13th hole where my errant tee shot ended up lost in space and we rolled my unlucky number.  Everyone else was sitting pretty and I was fuddled in fescue! Arg!!!

But the lovely ladies held no grudges.  In fact, I believe Andra offered me a cold beer right after that ;) 

Next year the tournament will be early in November at Kahili - another great course on the island - although the winds can howl at times (yesterday I swear they were 40+ mph).  It's worth a trip to this little piece of heaven for any gal who loves to golf.

And as was the case this year, I'm sure there will be a FUNdraising component to next year's event (Golfers always give back!) The Maui Economic Opportunity, Inc. (MEO) who do excellent work within the community, were the recipients this year.

I wouldn't change a thing to this annual Golf Fore Gals competition.  Okay, maybe one little thing to help the charity of course ;)  I hope next year we can buy mulligans - lots and lots of mulligans!  I sure could have used one on that blasted unlucky 13th!

Aloha and see you next year ladies!

Golfgal
ps:  Just received this wonderful video of the day.  Now...doesn't this make you want to play?