A good walk spoiled?
By Staff
Kim West
Franklin County Times
Mark Twain famously said, "Golf is a good walk spoiled."
For a long time I didn't think much of golf, and my favorite cross-county T-shirt from high school even has that quote stamped on the back. But in the past few years, I've noticed how much fun people seem to have on a golf course, and it's also a great way to network with people.
Golf was a sport long before Tiger Woods started stockpiling Masters jackets and tournament trophies, but I think he has injected a lot of excitement into a sport that isn't exactly riveting to watch on TV and has caused a lot of golfers to pay more attention to their fitness and practice regimens.
I spent a few hours yesterday afternoon on an impromptu guided tour of the Robert Trent Jones' Schoolmaster course while I was following around the Red Bay boys golf team during the Class 1A-3A state tournament.
I had never been to this course before but after a three-hour walk through the front nine, I couldn't help but admire the course's beautiful scenery and well-shaded design while I tagged along with one player's parents and learned some nuts and bolts about golf.
The prettiest hole I visited was the par-5 No. 4, which measured 504 yards in distance and contained a long water hazard that is probably filled with an assortment of Titelist, Nike and Carraway golf balls and perhaps a few clubs judging from the frustration that it caused yesterday.
I think golf is popular with so many people because it's relaxing despite the difficulty of accurately hitting that tiny white ball. I think if you asked the average person to take a walk that lasts about four or five hours, you would get a quick no, but there are a lot of people who can't get enough of walking around a golf course while trying to shoot par or better.
Not everyone enjoys lugging a heavy golf bag through a full round but there's always a golf cart, which makes it much easier to finish 18 holes in the recommended four hours. One of my jobs in college was to drive the beverage cart at a public course, and zooming around the course made my job a lot of fun, although my cart wasn't nearly as fast as the one that gave me a lift a couple of times between holes yesterday and brought me back to my car, which I had to park about a mile from the clubhouse.
I'd like to congratulate Red Bay boys golf team for being the only public school in its clasification to qualify for the state tournament. I enjoyed watching them drive, putt and chip their way through a very difficult course and I gained a little more respect for a sport that requires so much walking.
Kim West is sports editor for The Franklin County Times. She can be reached at kim.west@fct.wpengine.com or (256) 332-1881, ext. 30.
