And Some Thoughts on the Gap Year
It seems like I spend the majority of my waking hours involved with the game of golf. Friday, I caddied during the morning and later slipped out of the house for five holes at sunset. Today, I arrived at the club at 7:00 AM for another loop. Though it was a gorgeous morning out at New Haven, I had a different golf course on my mind. I did everything in my power to speed our group's pace of play, because I knew that the sooner we finished, the sooner I could jump in the car to go see my friend Dylan Dethier tee it up in the NESCAC Championship.
This spring Trinity hosts the tournament since they were the top qualifier in the fall. Hamden isn't far from Hartford, and Trinity plays at a course fifteen minutes south of the city--even better for me. At 12:05 the final putt dropped for my group, and after hastily pocketing a two fifty dollar bills from Mr. Early and Mr. Garcia, I raced out of the parking lot--off to my second golf course of the day.
I've mentioned Dylan on this blog many times for many reasons. I've known him since we were at Mt. Greylock together, and though he's already a junior at Williams, I often saw him around town or out on Taconic. Last winter, when I officially decided to take a gap year, Dyl was one of the first people I reached out to. I remember sitting in his dorm room in maybe March of last year, talking about all of my plans as we relived many of his successes and failures during his gap year. Though I wouldn't be on the road all year long like he was during his forty-eight state golfing escapade, I knew he was an invaluable source of information. He went through a year of solo travel and blogged the entire way, and these were two things around which I structured my year. I followed his blog religiously during his gap year, and his stories inspired me to seek similar adventures. Without Dylan, I doubt I would've planned any type of road trip. Now I've lived through six weeks on the road. I can definitely relate to what he experienced, and that makes me all the more excited for his book, 18 in America, which comes out on May 21.
The last time I watched Dyl play golf was exactly a year ago, when Williams hosted the NESCAC tourney at Taconic. I was enjoying senior year, preparing for prom and graduation, and somewhat glad that I didn't have to start worrying about college quite yet. I had other worries, of course, but it's safe to say that those plans turned out better than I ever could've imagined. When you plan a big adventure, you focus on the big things, but when you experience that big adventure, it's the little things that stand out the most. It was impossible for me to foresee things like morning bike rides, hours spent passing the time on train rides, runs on the beach, or a quick five-hole loop at sunset. But I can't imagine my year without these little bits of happiness that I discovered for myself.
Today I found myself walking the front nine of Shuttle Meadow Golf Club in reverse, passing four groups of college golfers before meeting Dyl's foursome on the seventh green. The weather was perfect for golf; only the occasional flower petal fell from the sky in the soft spring breeze. I quickly found Dylan's mom, who was thrilled and a little surprised to see me. It took a few minutes of explaining how and why I came to be living in Hamden, but I was happy to explain my situation and talk about the previous phases of my gap year. Soon I was introduced to other parents--a couple living in Middlebury whose son went to Hamilton, and a Middlebury mom who had one son playing and another set to join me in the Class of 2017. Our small crowd followed the group through the turn and onwards to the back nine. These were the top golfers on their respective teams (Williams, Middlebury, Hamilton, and Trinity) and though they all struggled with consistency at times, they were all capable of pulling off incredible shots. Dyl carded an even-par 37 on the front and scrambled his was to a solid back nine score. On sixteen, he skied a short-iron that just cleared the top of a tree before landing pin-high on the back of the green. On eighteen, after driving right into the the tenth fairway, Dyl hit a high hooking three-wood from 270 to twenty feet, reaching the par five in two. After tapping in a birdie putt, he finished the day at one-over 72. Williams carded a team total of 292, but Trinity used its home-course advantage to shoot a 290. In team play, two shots is certainly not a safe lead, and hopefully by tomorrow afternoon, Williams will walk off the course as NESCAC Champions and earn an NCAA bid. (I'd love it if Middlebury made a run at it, too, but they're much farther off the lead).
I've known the NESCAC for as long as I can remember. It's far and away the best DIII conference, and competition is always close. I'm only months away now from my first NESCAC game (September 7 at Amherst, if anyone wants to mark the calendar that far in advance), and I can't wait to finally be a part of the action that I've loved as a fan for so long. Still, I'm not quite ready to be done with this gap year. Maybe I never will be. As I do almost every time I'm out on a golf course, today I reflected on my year and my adventures. Every time I meet someone new and tell them my story, I'm happy that I've had the chance to do this. Dylan was in my shoes three years ago, and his college career has turned out just fine. I know that I'm on the same path. Four months from now I'll be moving in at Middlebury, and I couldn't be more excited. For now, I'm going to enjoy each beautiful spring day and make the most out the final stages of this year. It's been a lot of fun, and following Dylan around today on the course was no exception.
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