More Birdies
A year and a half ago, on May 20, 2008, I wrote a blog entry titled "Three Little Birds," about a family of hummingbirds nesting outside my window, and whom I named Maudie and the Twins.
Well, here I am again, writing about birdies. But this time I am not referring to hummingbirds or any sort of feathered friend. I am talking about hitting a little white ball into a hole in the ground! You guessed it - I have taken up golf. I figured it was about time I tried something new. It's a great sport, I've discovered, and one that comes with its own foreign language, which I am learning rather quickly. Everyone has heard of "par" - the number of strokes set for each hole on a golf course (the phrase "par for the course" comes from this). But did you know that "birdie" means getting the ball into the cup by one stroke below par? Or that "eagle" means two strokes below par? On the other side, there are "bogey" (one over par) and "double bogey" (two over par) which brings me to …..
My very first personal golf story!
A dear friend took me out to a lovely golf course called Oak Quarry, set against majestic granite cliffs, with ponds and ducks and rolling green fairways. A delight for the soul! Since I am a novice, I did very little tee-ing off (okay, so I can only hit grounders for now) but I can handle a putter. So after my friend got the ball on the green in one drive, he encouraged me to putt the ball into the cup. "Go for it, Barbara," he said enthusiastically. "Sink this putt and get us an eagle!" I took my stance, addressed the ball, took a few practice swings, eyed the cup, and then made my shot. The ball sailed right past the cup. "That's okay," said my friend with energy. "Sink it this time and get us a birdie. You can do it. Birdie is good!" I took aim, hit the ball and missed. "That's okay," said my friend, "par is good. Let's go for par." Missed again! "Bogey's good, too," said my friend still with enthusiasm. "Go for bogey." I missed again. "Double bogey isn't bad," said my friend, "go for it!"
I don't think there is a golf term that covers the score I finally got (I think it was the equivalent of a good bowling score) but it was my first try and I had jolly good fun doing it! I go out again next week on another course, and this time I am going to try for more than a birdie, I want an eagle!
Image Source: http://www.golfequipment365.com/
