The Old Man and the Tee

The sun rose like a wild fire raging across a dry line on the horizon. Heat flickered on the grass as I stepped to the teeing ground, planted the peg, placed the ball on top and prepared to hurtle my sphere into space. And then, and then, apparently it was Octogenarian Day at Fort Sam Houston Golf Course because I stood there watching an 81 year-old lady standing in the fairway 150 yards away from the tee box wait for 10 minutes for the group on the green 250 yards away to clear the green. Of course, she hit her ball all of 105 yards, left, nowhere near the green. And this was just one example of many today at the course. Old men and women hitting from tee boxes 160 yards in front of mine, mostly straight, rarely far, always slow, making my life drag on at a pace that would make a snail seam like a cheetah. Fortunately, I left a club at the driving range and my dad and I went back to the pro shop to retrieve it, asked if we could have our money back because I have to be in Florida next week not on the back nine, and we went to Olmos Basin Golf Course. (www.sanantonio.gov/sapar/coursedescriptions.asp)

At Olmos Basin, we had the course to ourselves; quite the different feel from the “wait wait wait” of Fort Sam. We had a great time playing the course, even though the temperature was in the mid-90s and we were both prime candidates for heat exhaustion. The old man and I ended the day even on the bets, I won the front 2-up, he won the back 2-up, he shot a 93 and I an 80. I did spot him 5 strokes a side.

But, he played from the blues tees with me; which was rather sporting of him. We had a great time and we will probably be playing Northern Hills Golf Club tomorrow. (http://www.northernhillsgolfclub.com/)