Golf is universal. The game can be played with anyone; the traditions can be shared by everyone. It unifies us with Mother Nature, and connects us with old friends and new friends. A round of golf, no matter where in the world it's played, is an eighteen-hole journey through sculpted scenery and our entire spectrum of emotions. Most of all, golf is rewarding--each and every time we tee it up.
I've been referring to this section of my gap year as my road trip. Though it may not equal my friend Dylan Dethier's eight-month forty-eight state golfing journey, I wanted to have a road trip of my own. And since Dylan was my inspiration for the trip, I figured I had to play golf along the way. (Not like I needed any convincing). After nearly a dozen rounds here in America's southeast, I'm starting to see how Dylan was able to stay motivated for a year on the road--and how he was able to connect with so many people to make his trip and golfing experience possible.
I've sought out golf courses during this trip for many reasons, and I've experienced a vast range of quality, notoriety, and atmosphere during my rounds. There was the twelve dollar town course in Mooresville, NC. On a cold January morning I was one of very few on the course, and walking alone for my first round of 2013, I rediscovered the inner peace that I've found on the golf course so many times before. There was the Monday morning in Dunedin, where I learned what my grandfather's golfing group was all about. The old guys have all come down to Florida and all love to get out and hit the golf ball, and they all have their own story to share. There was the round in New Smyrna Beach, where after hours of quietly suffering from the slow play in front of me, I shared a laugh with another solo walker, who was shocked at the pace of play even though he was a frequent looper. And there was today at Boca Royale with my grandparents, John and Martha Storey (I call them Mommom and Babo). The last time I played golf with them was last summer up in Westport, or even back at Taconic in June. It's amazing to think of how many miles I've covered and how much I've been exposed to since then.
I golfed with Bobby, a traveling pro who scraped by playing mini-tours all over the country. Coming from North Dakota, he chose to forgo college for a life as a golfer, and though he is not and probably never will be famous, he's used golf to take him places.
I joined John, an Auburn graduate and fourteen-year veteran in the engineering field. A true Florida native, John talked me through the Victoria Hills course as I plastered drives and snubbed approaches. He was in his element on the golf course, though I could tell he was restless--wanting to know what was next for him. Would he marry his longtime girlfriend? Would he be able to climb the ladder at his new job, or would he grow tired of it like his last one? Though John asked most of the questions, I knew he had a lot on his mind.
I caught up to Kevin McGinnis in a rain storm on the fifteenth hole at the new Streamsong Resort (the best course I've ever played; I'll devote an entire blog post to that day sometime soon), a senior executive at a renewable energy development corporation out in Silicon Valley. Like me, he was a true golf course architecture nerd, and unlike me, he had the time and the money to travel all over the world seeking out the best golf courses. I hit my shots in awe of the contours and dunes at Streamsong, while Kevin mildly sauntered around the course--rattling off courses he'd played that I could only dream of and "practicing" for the following days when his brother and a few buddies would join him at the resort.
These were three incredibly different people I met here in the state of Florida, but above all, they are golfers. Had it not been for golf, I wouldn't have had the pleasure of sharing an afternoon with each of them. Each time, as we shook hands on the eighteenth green, I was told, "If you're ever in my neck of the woods, call me up and we'll play another round together."
That's what makes golf universal. We can all enjoy, but more importantly we can share it. I know that wherever I go, I'll try to bring my clubs, because a round of golf is often the simplest and purest way of meeting new friends. I know now that I at least have to get out to San Francisco to take Kevin up on his offer.
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