I am over 50 and I never ever played proper golf …..ever!
I never wanted to play, because of the snob and self-centred idiots I occasionally had to meet in my youth as my parents were playing in France. For me, the golf course was the place you would find a white middle-aged male, poorly mannered, misogynist, self-important and most critically with shady ethics, using the under-cover of wine and dine to corrupt a deal.
I know it is an outdated view of golf, my friends and family who are players are often appalled by my perception of the game. I think the game is great, it is the people I met in the past at a golf course that I dislike.
I had a long career in a Corporate environment and never had to play a round of golf with anybody. Thank god really…
I wish Kite-surf would have been on the list of Corporate entertainment.
I did mini-golf and that’s it…never even had a go in a golf range.
Recently my friend Chris from tennis organised a lesson with a coach for 30 minutes and then took me on a round of golf with him! I was under some serious pressure. All self-imposed. But I was not ridicule. Thanks to the scoring system, I did not feel humiliated and could walk back to the bar with my head up. Everybody was very friendly and I felt the pleasure of discovering something new.
I feel very blessed to have a friend like Chris who took some of his precious time to share it with me, just because he wanted and knew how much it would mean to me. I had a great time and although I am probably going to stick with tennis, mountain biking, skiing, sailing/kite-surfing as my preferred sports, I am pretty sure golf is now on the list of things I must learn and improve on.
Thanks to Chris, I also feel less intimidated to go for a round of golf with my kids who have been playing for many years thanks to Papy & Mamy.
Was I wrong about golf all this time? Some will say yes. I would argue that like in the boardroom, things have improved over time. The majority of golfs have had to adapt to economically survive and discovered that diversity and inclusion are more powerful than the elitism of a few.
This is great as I look forward to my kids taking me for a round of golf where we can just chat about anything and have a nice walk together, trying to find my lost ball in the rough…
