Any Given Moment

We were paired with two young men yesterday morning.

Twenty-somethings.

It’s been a bit of a frustrating year because half of our regular foursome has been out of action this summer.

So, we are usually put with two people we don’t know, and there’s that moment when you wonder:

“Can they play?”

We got our answer on the first tee as both men struggled to get the ball to the fairway. The first kid swung and missed at the stationary ball three times.

Whatever. We were golfing. Nice enough day. Perhaps we could give them some pointers.

We waited to hit our second shot as both of the kids hit 4 times.

The first hole took a long time.

I birdied hole two and parred the third hole and I was done with the experiment. They had mentioned that we could break away and that they’d play behind us, so we did.

And as men pushing 60 we talked about how loose the kids swings were compared to ours, but we felt some satisfaction in knowing we’d crush them if we played against them.

As more than middle-aged men, though, we have to take inventory.

“My back is tight, but it’s not an injury,” JC said a couple of times.

“I’m free and easy,” I said, and I was. The ball was flying off my club.

Then it happened.

I took a normal swing on the 16th tee. The ball didn’t go quite as far as I wanted but that wasn’t the problem.

“My back!” I yelled.

And that’s the plight of a nearly 60-year-old man.

“I’m walking to my ball,” I said.

The walk was designed to allow me to stretch it out a bit. I had 3 holes to get through.

I knew my immediate future:

Ice, heat, rest, heat and ice.

I did drive the green on 17 and finished the par so I figured I was all right.

“You good?” John asked.

“Nothing that climbing a ladder won’t cure.”

Then we talked about what was coming up over the next few decades…

…we will face something or other health wise.

That’s how it goes.

Any given moment a pain will crop up…

…got to push through.

We would have absolutely destroyed those young guys.