Lady Golfers Rule!

I’ve discovered that lady golfers, to quote Lady Macbeth, “are full of the milk of human kindness.”

Over the past year, my golfing journey has had many ups and downs. There have been many days when  my body just didn’t want to do what I was telling it to do. I thought I was following instructions but discovered that what I thought I was doing and what I was actually doing were poles apart.  I was standing too far or too close to the ball and as a consequence was aerating  grass that really didn’t want to be aerated. My grip was wrong ( I realise now that I was holding it in a manner reminiscent of Barney Rubble)  and unbeknownst to me, I lifted my head.  To make matters worse, my feet were always pointing in the wrong direction (no wonder so many of my balls seemed to have a love connection with the trees) and my weight was too far on the back foot. (Just as well that there aren’t any rabbits on the course because I would have wiped them out with my ground hugging torpedoes.) As well, far too often, my swing was too fast or my follow through was on the nose, literally!

But  someone once said that the first thing golf teaches you is humility and that’s so true. But I’ve also discovered that it’s the empathy and encouragement that a beginner receives from lady golfers in particular, that gives them the patience to keep practicing, the will to keep on going.

Our Golf Pro, Nicky Dickon never gets impatient, never seems to mind repetition and always finds something positive in your game.  The lady members, go out of their way to welcome us and share ‘secret lady golfers’ business’ with us.  My golfing group is always supportive, never noticing the bad shots and always praising the good ones. Their company, as we enjoy our coffee after our lesson, is always fun and adds a wonderful social dimension to my week.

Because of their support,  I have ventured onto other courses, notably Teven and Byron Bay and participated in my first invitational.  There have been  increasingly more days when I seem to be one with the ball. Days when my drive goes straight down the fairway and not into a hazard, my iron shots see some airtime and my chip shots land within coo-ee of a pin, welcoming in my ball with open arms. Par at last!