Should Beginners Play 18 Holes?

Written on 9-21-25.

    It’s another Broncos’ Sunday, and I am in our computer room listening on my little MGD radio.  It is also the memorial service for Charlie Kirk today.  So sad.  He was close in age to James and Danielle, so I think of Casey and Rowan without their James.  I think of Danielle not being able to serve her community as a firefighter.  Of course, I think of (and pray for) Erika Kirk and their two children.   This happened because someone didn’t like what he had to say.  I believe he (the shooter) would not have wanted to kill Charlie if he had met him, though.  Charlie was all about that.  Many people would agree with that sentiment, too.  People should use their words (something we said to our children often when we were raising them) instead of violence.  When people don’t have an argument, they sometimes wrongly choose violence instead.  So sad, but I have trust in God.  That Erika was able to forgive the shooter during the service was incredible. 

On to golf…

When Eric and I played in Utah, we were matched up with a couple.  They smiled when they greeted us, and the first thing the guy said was, “You guys look good.”

I think he meant experienced.  We found out right away that they were not experienced.  Very friendly, just not good at golf.  Later in the round, they admitted they were beginners.  Eric and I, to our credit, kept it light and amiable.  This was a vacation round after all.  I knew that we would be hard-pressed to finish 18 holes before it got dark.  By the time we had made it to the second nine, I knew we wouldn’t make it, which was a bummer.  Eric and I even talked about telling them we were going to go on ahead, but we decided against it.  They did tell us on hole #9, after we had let a third group play through, that they were having so much fun playing with us.  Yes, we “looked good” like he told us when he met us, but we also were good (at least for amateurs).  They were not.  They were green and uncoordinated.  I don’t say that to be mean; I know they would agree with me.

Let me get to the point.  I would have preferred if they had practiced a bit more before playing on this “real” golf course.  It would have been better because beginning golfers slow down the pace of play. So s l o w.  I bet there is data on that.  It would have been a better experience for Eric and me if they wouldn’t have had so much alcohol as the round went on, too.  They would whiff over and over again, but they would whiff many more times as the round went on.

Suddenly, on hole #14, they decided to go on ahead of us.  They said they were going to goof around and enjoy the scenery.  Wow and phew!  It was still too late to finish our round before it got dark, but at least we got to enjoy the rest of it by ourselves.

Until next time…