Back on the Links

                      Back on The Links

      It was a cool, sunny day in early June. We found ourselves in the pleasant environs of the Dande Farms Golf Club, in suburban Akron, New York. It was to be my first eighteen-hole round of golf in almost seven months, since that stupid accident had fractured my left arm and torn up the muscles of the upper arm. Five months of care and effort, from a lot of talented people, had brought me back to here. I am appreciative of all of their efforts. I had tried twice before to venture forth for nine holes sallies, but the efforts had been poor enough to discourage any further outings. The spirit was willing but the arm just wouldn’t function.

     Everything is different now in the time of the Corona. The small club house at Dande Farms was closed, rest rooms are unavailable and any needed water or supplies had to be carried in. We paid our fees to the young lad at the door, then picked out a cart and loaded up our clubs and gear from the car. Momentarily, we wondered if the cart had been disinfected from its last use. Probably not, I thought. But, we carry purell and will wash our hands thoroughly afterwards.

     The first few tee shots went surprisingly well. Maybe I could do this again. I still couldn’t manage very well to hit a shot from the fairway. Laying off for six months had eroded that magical dance of motion and physical balance. Still, we managed as well as we could. Mary was hitting them well enough and I was determined to relearn the eroded skill.

    On the second hole, a farmer was towing a spreader across his dusty field. Great clouds of dirt and spray drifted across the fields to us. We closed our eyes, hit a few shots and moved on, out of the wind spray. The course itself showed the effects of a wet and cold Spring. It would take a lot of mowing and care to return these former farming pastures to their pristine condition.

   The sun was shining overhead, but a chill wind was sweeping in off of Lake Ontario. We were glad that we had had the foresight to wear long pants and a windbreaker. Various clumps of golfers were scattered up and down the fairways. The oddity of course was that now each golfer had to ride in a cart by him/her self to preserve the recommended “social distancing.” We also had been instructed to avoid touching any of the flags, on then greens, to help check the spread of infection. Like everything else in the Corona era, we were adjusting to the “new normal.”

      In spite of the differences, most of the duffers seemed to be enjoying their time in the sun. Cabin fever was encroaching on most of our mindsets after a few months “locked down.” We hit some good shots and some bad ones, but the rhythm of the swing seemed to be coming back to me. It is a delicate ballet of mind, body and mechanics that launches the surlyn covered missile into a graceful parabola, before landing on the emerald green expanse of a fairway or green.

       The variety of conditions called for a constant revaluation of club selection, nuances of stance and degree of effort need to complete the needed shot. The game is as much mental as it is physical. Play advanced as we watched the countryside around us. A crew of linemen were noisily chewing up tree branches along one hole. Several grass-cutting tractors buzzed around us, trying to make up for lost time. It was noisier than usual. Sometimes, when you are out here, the green of the fairways, the soft tan of nearby hay fields would be frosted by a warming sun overhead. At time like these, you can hear the lark sing in neighboring trees and the whisper of a breeze as it rustles the canopy of large Oak Tree, with an enormous leafy canopy. These sights, sounds and smells much add to magic of the experience.

       We finished the round in three- and one-half hours and were happy to be done. Our play hadn’t been very inspiring, but it passed the basic muster for the casual duffer’s effort. It was a hurdle that I was glad to cross over. I look forward now to many more excursions, at the manicured expanses of greens and fairways in and around Western New York. It is a pleasant way to spend a sunny afternoon, in a parklike setting in Summer. Fore!

                                           -30-

                                    (772 words)

                                  Joseph Xavier Martin