Golf – not at all what I expected!!

I’ve always been one of those folks who disliked golf.  It just seemed so boring!  I grew up with ‘country cable’ and sometimes the only thing on was golf….announcers whispering about greens and fairways, crowds shushing at the flap of a hand or wave of a flag, long drawn out shots of a tiny white ball flying through the air…  I refused to even acknowledge golf as a sport!  And I know I’m not the only one.  Some wives talk about golf as if it were ‘the other woman’….  So when my Father-in Law suggested that D and I go golfing with him when he was down last summer I was not overly enthusiastic.  But I went.  Grudgingly.

In Cape Breton we have an abundance of golf courses to suit all golfers tastes.   Like the world Famous Highlands Links for instance.  We also have amazing family-run courses like Baddeck Forks Golf Club.  My Father-in-law (Ben) absolutely loves this course.  He plays it anytime he comes to the island to visit us.  This is where I lost my golf virginity…. and I can’t wait to go back!

I didn't get a pic of the main entrance that day - but here's one someone else took!

We went on a beautiful sunny day last August, and it was fairly quiet on the greens.  We’d missed the morning rush and the evening crowd.  Ben and D tried to show me the ropes so to speak.  Knees bent, head down, follow through – all the usual advice.  I had other plans. … My version of golf (for the first few holes) was to whack the ball as hard as I could and see what direction it went in.  9 times out of 10 it simply rolled down the grass and stopped a few feet away.  Thank God we weren’t keeping score!

By the third hole I was getting into the swing of things and started actually trying to have somewhat of a proper stance and swing.  It didn’t help me much…but on the 6th hole I hit one shot about 150 feet!  I was so excited!  Then it took me 10 or more shots to get to the pin…but what the heck – it was all in fun!

We had rented a set of ladies clubs from the front desk.  Ben and D had their own and attempted to instruct me in the different names and uses of each club.  They offered to be caddies for me and choose my clubs for each shot – but I preferred the trial and error method of golf club selection.  By the end of the day I knew all the names of the different clubs…but I still called drivers “the big whacking ones” and the irons were lovingly nicknamed “the crooked wedgy ones”.

This is the hole that I took my 150ft shot on! Can you see that ball... way, way off in the distance? That was me!

At the end of the day we’d been laughing so hard my sides hurt and it was time to head back to town.  We turned in my clubs, and headed for home.  I’m hoping to get back out on the course in the next couple of weeks.  The Baddeck Forks Golf Club has some new faces whom I’d love to meet.  Darren and Loretta Baker took over ownership and operation of the Baddeck Forks Golf Club just this year, and they plan to continue treating the seasoned pro’s and golf rookies with fabulous service and a smile for years to come.