The Putting Green

I walked to the putting green of my neighborhood socialist golf course, meaning, of course, it is owned and operated by the city and operated by city employees.

In my right hand was a putter recently purchased from a thrift store for a few bucks. In my left pocket were two brand new golf balls, also purchased from a thrift store.

I bought both on a lark. I hadn’t putted on a golf green in 25 years. A few days back, I’d seen the putting green, and thought why not? It’s free, outdoors, and right off the street, no fence. It was even possible I might meet a homeless person practicing his putting. Why? Because I see homeless men with golf clubs on their persons, bicycles and in their encampments all the time.

I arrived at the green and plopped down the balls on the green, ten feet away from the hole. Another man was putting and smoking a cigarette not far from the NO SMOKING sign.

It was time to putt. I practiced my stroke and it all came back to me. I putted both balls a good 10 feet past the cup and missed the break badly.

After some more terrible misses, I drained a couple of four and five footers and was reading the breaks much better.

At some point I noticed 20 or so elderly women were hanging around the first tee in some kind of ladies event. They were all dressed in red, white and blue MAGA attire. Yes, female Trump supporters were teeing it up at a socialist golf course and no doubt bitching about socialism. I chuckled a bit at that.

It occurred to me as I putted that practice putting is an excellent way of clearing one’s mind. I was surprised at the clarity of thought as I kept putting. It could be a new way of warming up my mind besides running, walking, bicycling and in the past, driftwood fort building.