|
|
I love Rob Perez’ writing. He is creative and funny. Likely, if we ever meet in person, I will like him, too. His recent column, “Man versus Golf,” prompted me to want to address the reasons why he might like golf at our local course, Gunflint Hills. My persuasion starts with the very values he revealed in that column.
First, the PGA will not inconvenience him at Gunflint Hills. Second, if he plays golf, he is guaranteed to beat his wife in step counts. Third, he can park as close to or as far from the clubhouse and first tee as he likes. Fourth, he won’t have to lie–no one will ever know his score. Fifth, he appreciates a challenge.
So, I challenge Rob to be my guest at Gunflint Hills after May 31st. We could, perhaps, have fellow writer, Dave Saari, join us. (Note to Rob: I am a hacker, i.e. I love seeing my good shots. Dave is younger and better than I, but not judgmental, and may be a Finnish extrovert. [He looks at our shoes.])
As part of being “media” to get a better parking place at the resort where his family was staying, Rob interviewed several folks about why they play. The answers were less than profound— “not strenuous,”“gets me out of the house,” and “can play with friends.” I join Rob in decrying as silly that playing golf helps with a fantasy golf league.
Rob’s column came along as I was reading Tom Coyne’s A Course Called America. Coyne is fine writer and writing teacher who also wrote A Course Called Scotland and A Course Called Ireland. His trips were varied and much more interesting and not fantasies. Here are a few things he wrote in the America book that might move Rob to accept the challenge:
“The ingredients of a really great golf course: “Fun and memorability.”
“… [W]e play a sport out in the middle of nature, in the most beautiful places on earth. I look around, and I think, Man, I get to play golf today. And I’m relaxed.”
Quoting the poet, Billy Collins: “Golf is the union of the social and the solitary.” It seamlessly blended time with friends, conversations, cocktails—group time—with moments when it was just you, your mind, your ball.
“Golf should feel more like a novel, with chapters that unfold. You hit a shot, then have to watch and wonder and pay attention, and see how it turns out.”
“As Maimonides (may have) professed: Give a man a tee time, and he golfs for one day; teach a man to trespass, and he golfs for a lifetime.” (If it makes it a more fun challenge, Rob, we can sneak on the course while you use my other set of clubs—after the staff goes home or really early, with the Junior Dew Boys.)
Coyne also wrote, “Truth was, the writing life was rather lonely and insecure. It beat digging ditches, but it wasn’t so much a party of pages as it was a daily scuffle with selfdoubt.” That is much like golf, but golf is better for the heart. Like writing or being a preacher, Coyne says, “…what they don’t understand is that we don’t keep playing because we can; we play because we don’t know how to stop.”
Rob, you do not have to play a second golf game in order to meet the challenge. E-mail me at the address below. And if you are almost persuaded, you are likely eligible to join our Senior Men’s Golf League on Wednesday mornings.
Although the challenge to you is serious, Rob, it masks a higher goal—encouraging all those golfers with club sets in their garage to pick up the game again. And to do it at Gunflint Hills, our local Muni that has growing play and is getting nearer to break-even status. (Bill and Mike, this might be you.) Season passes are a bargain, and Grand Marais city residents get a discount.
Steve Aldrich is a retired Hennepin County lawyer, mediator, and Judge, serving from 1997-2010. He and his wife moved here in 2016. He likes to remember that he was a Minnesota Super Lawyer before being elected to the bench. Now he is among the most vulnerable to viruses. Steve really enjoys doing weddings, the one thing a retired judge can do without appointment the Chief Justice. He writes this column to learn more about his new home area, to share his learnings with others, and to indulge his curiosities. Bouquets or brickbats to stevealdrich41@gmail.com, or better yet, to the editor. Copyright Stephen C. Aldrich and News Herald, 2022
Leave a Reply