Bonus Date!

STATS:  Cost: $12
                       Golf Cart $5
                       2 small bags of balls and 1 bag of tees $7
         (We already had a golf bag and clubs that we picked up earlier this summer for $15 at Goodwill.)
               Distance: 2 miles from home



What's a bonus date you ask? Well, it's when you have no plans to go on a date and someone from your church invites you to go to a wedding shower for a couple that you have not had the pleasure of getting to know. The date is at the golf course! Did I mention I've never golfed, Ever! Well, I did go about a month ago to get a free lesson from our local golf pro and eat a free shrimp dinner and $2.50 margaritas, but I was lucky to swing and get the ball off of the ground (and that was before the Margaritas.) So, I was a little trepidatious about golfing.

My husband got home at 6:30 and the wedding shower started at 6:30. I'd been distracted by several phone calls so I had not prepared dinner. I know, I failed to do my wifely duty. So I slapped together some egg salad sandwiches, called it dinner and we drove 2 miles to the golf course. We purchased our balls and tees and rented a cart. I tried negotiating the price to an even $10, but the guy at the pro shop didn't go for it. (Always try and negotiate for a better price, always! Sometimes it even works.)

We went outside and met the bride and groom, ate delicous cake bites that looked like golf balls with little Nike swooshes on them. There was red velvet and key lime cake bites. Yum! There was also bottles of water available for all of us. The bride and groom were presented with their gifts. (I had pitched in $5 the day before for the group gift.) They explained we were playing best ball and I think a scrimmage. I don't really know, because I had no idea what they were talking about. We split up into several groups. My group had Jerry (a golfer thank goodness) Liz and Wayne (a wonderful couple and friends of ours) and my husband and I. We hopped into the golf cart and took off. When I say took off I mean hang on to something because my husband drives a golf cart likes it's a lifted pickup on a 4 wheel drive course. We made our way to our first hole. I looked at the spot where you hit from. I'm sure there's a proper name for it, but oh well. Yikes! There was a whole ditch of weeds between us and the next green. Thankfully, we weren't to the women's tee spot yet. I learned to take my tee with. I lost my first tee, because I thought we would all share. Oops.

So, I did manage to hit the ball into the weeds. Shocker! Liz, was a doing awesome. She was a natural. Don't you hate that! Did I mention I'm extremely competitive. Here was my friend with very little golfing experience and she was hitting the best ball over and over. Grrrr. No really, I was happy for her, mostly. Wayne golfed at my level thank goodness. So, I had some company in my constant failure. But, man, is it sweet when your club hits the ball just right and you hear that sweet sound and then the little white spot disappears into the sky and lands somewhere in the general vacinity that is supposed to be in!

My husband was hit and miss, literally. But, you should see his form. It was beautiful. He got into position, stuck out his butt (really far) wiggled it to the left, to the right, to the left again, swung a couple of practice swings and then hit the ball. The entertainment value was very high when it was Andy's turn to swing.

We are not serious golfers if you figured that out yet, but we do know how to be rediculous and have a good time. We were doing 5 holes. The sun was setting and we were finishing up our fourth hole. By the time we were on our last hole we would hit the ball into the fading twilight and wonder if we would ever find it again. It was really getting dark. By the time we were on the green for our last whole we needed a flashlight. But, we were determined to finish all five holes.

Guess what! When we got back to Mulligans ( the restaurant at the golf course) we found out we won! No joke. Ok, so Liz and Jerry get most of the credit, but I hit a couple of good ones and there was that time I putted from the edge of the green and sunk the ball! Andy was so excited for me he jumped into the air and threw his golf club all the while screaming "Yahooo!"

Great Bonus Date and it's not even my anniversary yet!