08/25/2021
A couple Sundays ago, I shared 9 holes of golf with my little man for the first time! We both came away so excited we couldn’t sleep that night!
I had no idea what to expect. Was he going to ride well? Will he want to use Papa’s clubs instead of his plastic one? How far would we be when he needs to use the bathroom? Questions that come to a father’s mind when you have a toddler a week or so out of potty training.
The first hole was better than I could have imagined. It was all new for both of us. He listened to every direction I gave, especially the “now stay right there” while I swung. He watched the ball, looked at me, processed a bit, and emphatically said, “let’s go get it!” At that moment, I knew it was going to be an amazing experience for us both.
Scoring was up and down, pars, a birdie, some lost balls. As he grew more confidence in the rhythm of each hole, he definitely gained the independence that made it less of a care free swing, especially on the tee boxes.
Once, I made the mistake of putting his plastic club in my bag. I got out to putt on the green, looked around, and immediately had that pit in my stomach. Where had he gone?!?! Then I see him half way up the back of the cart and bag lifting up his club. He got it out and climbed down before I could race over. He had that accomplishment grin on his face.
I cannot forget the tunnels. B has a thing where he yells his favorite names of the day to hear the echos. It could be Cars characters or the names of our neighbors. Bittersweet has holes on both sides of a busy road. Tunnels beneath the road connect the holes and the front nine has at least two. He was soooo excited and tried to name anyone and everyone he had ever met.
Looking back while holing out on the ninth, B was dancing around the green on my view back to the tee box. The sun was low. It was a successful end to the whole experience.
It’s safe to say we are both looking forward to the next Father / Son golf outing!
