INJEY Today: Swing all the way

Golf, the fancy game for the old and the rich. A small ball being hit with an iron stick over a very large green lawn and trying to put the ball in a small hole. And there is atleast a dozen type of sticks used in the game. If you are rich enough, you need not walk. You can use a small vehicle to move across the lawn. This is what I used to think about this strange game.

I have played golf in video game consoles. The 2D game used to provide entertainment for hours. I had tried to play golf in my house too. Drill a hole in the garden and use the small elastic ball and a stick from the tree in the garden to play. It would always be fun. Though I don't know much rules, the movies and the sports channels relaying golf (which I rarely watch) helped me to remember a few terms used. Clubs for the iron sticks, 9 hole or 18 hole games and Par shots are few that I learnt in my school days. Golf always appeared to be a game of prestige and style. Most of the movies showing some rich villains or rich heroines would show atleast one scene playing golf. It always seemed funny that hitting a ball in the ground can become such a costly sport and to use 14 clubs to play the game was crazy to the maximum.

Coming to the news, I got a chance to play golf last weekend. Myself, Ganesan and Shanmugam decided to go out somewhere for the weekend. The only problem was with me as I am used to work in weekends. I somehow took the day off and we went to Coate water, a large park like Lalbagh garden in Bangalore. It was a nice scenic place with a small lake in the middle of the park. It was more like the Kodaikanal lake with cycling track covering all the sides. We wandered near the lake for a while and saw a golf course. There was a counter to get tickets to use the course. To the left of the counter was the mini golf course with 18 holes and to the right was the kids' version of golf, pitch & putt. After long thoughts and finding the difference of the cost between these two games was just a pound, we decided to take the mini golf course. ₤4.60 for the game ₤0.8 for the ball and ₤0.1 for the tee. We didn't even know what the clubs we need to play the game are. When the person at the counter asked whether we want 7, 8 or 9 numbered club, we were like "WHAT is that?" My experience in the video games somehow helped me to speak few words and the person gave us the 7 club saying that it will be good for beginners. When she gave us three balls, we even tried to return two of them. She laughed and said that each player should use separate ball. With little laugh we went to the golf course to start the game.

There started the big confusion. There was a small rough sheet on the lawn which we understood to be the place to start the game. But the "Tee" provided didn't go through the sheet. It was too hard. We were wondering what to do. Then we found a small hole in the sheet and used that to start our game. Later in the game, I didn't use the "Tee" at all. ;) With better knowledge about the game than the other two persons, I started the game. I positioned myself as shown in the video game and made a swing. It was a fast swing that I even heard the whooshing sound of the club. But the ball still remained in its original position. My very first golf play was a miss. I tried again with more concentration and it was a hit. The ball instead of flying high rolled over the ground and went to the bush some 50 metres away and the ball disappeared from sight. My very first shot was not only bad but I also lost the ball. After a long search, we found the ball and we resumed the play with a sigh of relief.

It was absolute fun as we fought to become the first person to make the goal. (what do they call for putting the ball in the hole?). Ganesan was methodical, while Shanmugam and I were usually making random shots. After completing the first hole, a new confusion aroused. We found the starting point for the next hole. But there were many holes around it. Which once should we play? Do they choose holes at random or is there any proper order??? With no idea, we chose a random hole and I tried for a shot. This time, the shot was perfect as it travelled high in the air straight towards the hole. The shot was bit fast that it travelled over the hole and landed at the far side. Still happy with the shot, I ran towards the ball only to learn that we were aiming for the wrong hole. Another person who was playing in that course told us the order we have to play and I have to start the game again. After this, the game went on very much fine, with Ganesan always winning each hole with myself trying to finish second atleast. I do found out how to make good shots and my first shots usually went high in the air straight towards the hole. The funny part came when the ball landed in the bunker. Ganesan had to try for atleast 3 times to get the ball out of the sand. With little tricks on the sand like removing the dust at the side of the balls and raising the ball high on the sand, the game went on interesting all the time. We became like Pro after playing four to five holes and we completed each hole by 4 to 5 shots easily. Sometimes, I found the ball fighting against me by jumping over the hole (See the video). Ganesan even completed a hole in just 2 shots and myself and Shanmugam managed to finish off in 4 shots. After playing 18 holes that took about 5 to 6 hrs, we were exhausted and our legs were paining. After the game, we walked around the lake for a while before resting on the sides for a while and we returned home. A wonderful day spent in Swindon. A pleasant change from the daily normal routine.