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It has been 10 weeks since I last teed it up, and I have missed golf a lot. Especially as I was hitting the ball pretty well the last times I played. But what has been even harder to forgo in these times of self-isolation is the time the sport allows me to spend with fellow golfers. Whether friends with whom I have enjoyed hundreds of rounds, or newfound mates from all around the world. The absence of those interactions during a three-hour stroll amongst the dunes of, say, a seaside links or across the gentle, rolling hills of a heathland track has left a massive void.
I pine for the repartee on the first tee, as teams are made, handicaps exchanged and stakes proposed for matches about to begin. I ache for the jokes that are told, and the belly laughs the really good ones elicit. I even crave the grief that is meted out during a game and the no-holds-barred approach that governs such discourse. No blow, it seems, is ever too low. And somehow through it all, we also manage to catch up on our families and recent travels as well as our favorite sports teams and the latest news out of Washington D.C.
It is a lot to do without in these times of coronavirus, and the deprivation has reminded me that golf is as much about the camaraderie as anything else.
In what other activity can a foursome enjoy the outdoors and each other so completely, whether during a round or at the 19th hole afterward? And it matters not if there are vast ranges in ages, for golf bridges generation gaps better than any other sport as it also makes it possible for players of varying abilities to play competitive matches.
The deprivation has reminded me that golf is as much about the camaraderie as anything else.
When I consider golf and the relationships the game gives us, I think of a friend 20 years my senior who passed away a few years ago. In many ways, we could not have been more different. He captained the hockey team at Yale, while I played soccer at the University of Nairobi. He was a Navy pilot who landed planes on aircraft carriers, while I needed a stiff vodka just to make it through takeoff on a commercial airliner. He ran one of the biggest corporations in the world, and I led a S-corp with just one employee. But we bonded on the golf course and for many years played at least 20 rounds a year together, at our home course and on the road.
My friend often spoke about the robustness of golf and all it brings those who play it. And right now, I am missing perhaps the most robust part of the game – that opportunity to spend good times with good people, playing a game we all love.
John Steinbreder