Golf - The First Round of the Season

Sunday, June 28/2015

Today's song is courtesy of Suits Season 4 Episode 1 "Love Me Again" by John Newman

The YouTube video for this song is very interesting and it can be found at -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfihYWRWRTQ

For those left wondering about the end of the video - see his video "Cheating" for the answer :)


Yesterday was my first real round of golf for this season and the results were about what I expected.

I say first real round as I played a full 18 at a regulation course, not like the two 9 hole rounds I got in back in early May.

It also marked the first time I talked with my friend B who I used to work with at my old job. I've been tying to avoid meeting or talking to anyone at the old job as it just feels awkward but with B it's different as we have connections outside work through golf and soccer. We usually golf about once a week in the summer and I've coached both of his daughters in winter soccer for the last few years and on competitive teams with my daughter a few years back.

We played at Sandpoint, the old Arnprior Golf Course, and I have to say it is in great shape. As we teed off on number one he gave me some background on changes at the course and off we went. I've always liked Sandpoint as it has the right amount of challenging holes paired up with some great layouts that make me really have to use my whole game, what there is of a game lol

It was pretty obvious from my play that I need to get some lessons to work on my driving as I think I only hit one drive over 250 yards and while I didn't totally suck it still felt like I was grinding my way through the round. Something I've had to do many times before but yesterday was just sort of offsetting and I couldn't shake it.

Now as usual B and I spent the time catching up on things, how things were going at the old company, how my new job was developing, and how the families were doing. Is it telling on how lucky I am to be gone from the old place that he asked me if my new company was hiring?

As we made the turn onto the back 9 talk turned to our respective games and I commented on how his normal fade wasn't as pronounced as usual and he laughed and said he hadn't played enough rounds for it to creep into his game yet. As I prepared to tee off on 13 he said he was surprised by my driving since he figured all my rounds playing up on the courses in the valley would have helped me by now and it dawned on me he was referring to talks we'd had about my summer plans and didn't know about C and our relationship. I didn't reply right away and instead managed my own good drive as I thought about the valley, crushing what would turn out to be a 275 yard drive - exceptional for me.  We traded spots and after he hit his driver and was in his follow through I told him C had broken up with me and I hadn't been on a course anywhere in the valley. He stood there, dropped his driver in shock, and said "Shit, man I'm so sorry, I saw how happy she made you".

As we walked down the fairway he asked what happened and I laughed and said I really didn't have a clue. He stopped and asked what did that mean and I told him what she told me and he just looked at me like I was speaking Mandarin to him. I said I know, imagine how I feel and sort of laughed.

He asked how come I hadn't called and talked to him about it, what was I doing about it, and was there anything he could do to help. I smiled and said calling a friend to tell them the love of my life was gone and I didn't really know why wasn't high on my bucket list, that there really wasn't anything I could do but pick up the pieces of my life and make the best of it. I asked him if he knew of any cures I could use to fill the huge fucking hole in my heart and he just shook his head and said he wished he did.

We played the last few holes in silence, each of us thinking different thoughts about the same thing.

As we loaded our clubs into our cars he asked if I wanted to go into the clubhouse and get a drink and talk but I said not today, things were still a bit too raw even though it's been almost seven weeks, seven weeks but feels like it all happened yesterday. B then did something that completely took me by surprise, he gave me a hug and reminded me that love had found me once and would do so again if I just kept my head up and my heart open.

As I drove home I thought about what my summer had looked like just a few short weeks ago and how I never knew one could miss something that hadn't even happened yet but miss it I did.

I had plugged my iPhone into the radio and today's recommended song came on and it made me wonder if life offers seconds chances and what I would do if one came my way, if my cell suddenly lit up with a text, a call, or my inbox had a email pop up........

Love made me feel alive and now it leaves me gasping for air..........