This year has been a newish experience with my frequent rounds of golf played on the local municipal golf course. Newish because in previous years I had discovered I could golf 4 of 5 weekdays a week while golf was possible in the northern United States and I spend most of those days with regular partners. For 3 different reasons, my foursome was reduced to a onesome, some would say lonesome but I am fine with playing golf alone.
It might be the time of day I am able to play now but there is almost nobody on the course when I play. An odd time of day for most I suppose but today I notice one other vehicle pulling into the parking lot as I am getting my push cart out of the back of my SUV. It parks a spot away from me leaving one empty spot between us, how considerate I think, making it easy to open a side door and perhaps even leaving it open. I continue to load my push cart, getting my golf bag from the vehicle and strapping it on. I also get the umbrellas and rain gear out as the forecast has a chance of rain for today.
I hear the back lift door of the new arrival open as it has a power lift feature and is opening itself. I sit on my back bumper to change from walking sneakers to my waterproof spiked golf shoes and hear a pleasant female voice say hello and excuse me. I look over to see an attractive woman wearing a golf shirt and skirt, knee socks and golf shoes looking at the folded push cart at her feet. She said to me, "I think you have the same make of push cart, mine is new and I've set it up before but it always gives me trouble. Do you have trouble with yours?" I inhale and marvel at the amazing ice breaker she has just started.
"I know what you mean, I had to watch the video a few times to work it out, now I have it like a routine and it is very simple really, may I show you what I do now?" She stepped aside, her cart looking identical to mine except mine has a black frame and black wheels and hers has a white frame and black wheels. I checked my own cart to make sure the wheel lock was engaged and went to her cart. I picked it up and started my demonstration being careful to explain and demonstrate a systemic step by step that flowed from one part to the next until it was fully set up, taking less than a half minute and ready to use. She seemed impressed and declined my offer to return it to its closed configuration for her to try, which caused me to smile but I kept my comments to myself.
She set up her golf bag on the cart, again asking for suggestions on how to keep the bag from twisting in the straps, how to attach the umbrella to where it stows on the cart, and then she asked if I have played the course before as it was her first time. I suggested we play the course together and she smiled and looked around saying, "I would rather not be out alone as it seems there is nobody else on the course." I responded, "at this time it is usually this way."
Last checks for what we have with us made and vehicles locked, we went together to the clubhouse to check in. They knew me at the counter so I got the wave to the first tee with my season pass, she noticed and I noticed her noticing. I said, "I have the season pass," she asked how much it was, they gave her the prices, she presented her card and bought one on the spot. They took her photo and within a couple minutes she had her season pass card too. I thought it was still too soon to talk about playing again as we had not even started this round yet.
We went to the first tee, I explained my swing is not fast and my drives don't go long. She said she used to golf and is getting back into the sport so the front tee box would be fine. We each put a ball into play from the same place and walked together, had an easy conversation and learned about how we both are married with a spouse who does not golf and who is a workaholic that leaves us time for playing golf. Lots of similarities that seem to be going in our favor. I suggested that we plan to play a round each day about the same time and her reply made me wonder. Did she actually say, "yes let's play a round together every day" or was she saying, "let's play around together every day." Not wanting to be that guy I just smiled at her double entendre and kept walking.
I found it easy to swing easily and made some good ball contact. She was an easy player to play the round with as her shots were going about as far and in the same direction mine were going. "Cart golf" is the term used in golf that means two people can use one riding golf cart to go to both balls easily. We talked about family, grown children, what we did before retirement and having all this new, for her, time on her hands, my time having been like it is now for a couple years. I say, "golf fills in the time when I would rather not be home" and she said, "that sounds good." I could feel we were compatible as golf partners and even the bad golf jokes started between us, the ones that fit the "things you can say on the golf course but not at home" jokes. She was as good at telling them as I was and she had some that were much raunchier that made us both laugh and made her smile and blush, though I think we were both at that point.
A golfer usually carries water or something else to drink to stay hydrated while playing. Having a snack to ward off feeling hungry is another "must have" and we were both well equipped that way. We were stopping at the tee boxes for a short refreshment, continuing hydration as we played. I could already imagine sharing what we have but I did not want to be presumptuous.
Well into the first round, about the 7th tee box, rain showers came along and we put the rain covers on our golf bags and deployed our umbrellas on the push cart umbrella holders. Our waterproof spiked golf shoes keep feet warm and dry, but the day was warm enough to not need a rain jacket with the umbrellas to stand and walk underneath. We played on and at the turn, when we finished the first 9 holes, I didn't think either of us wanted to stop what we were doing. We continued and went on to the 10th and played on. I think this was when she started to feel comfortable with me.
After we hit off and the rain was coming down a little heavier now, we walked closer to the trees along the sides as we went down the fairways and watched where each other's shots were going. It was more important now that keeping an eye on our own ball was getting more challenging. For the second shot on a long par 5, I asked her if she thought my ball had cleared the stream that crossed the fairway and she said she was sorry that she had not watched that shot. I looked at her and caught her blushing again even though nothing was said, no raunchy joke or any other such thing. I could not take her blush as anything except a compliment as she was watching me but not my golf ball.
We had both cleared the stream and together we crossed the footbridge wide enough for push carts to cross. That saved us having to backtrack to the cart path and follow it to its bridge over the stream on the other side of the fairway. As we set up for our shots, a heavy downpour came sweeping down the fairway in our direction and we pulled our push carts to the edge of the treeline, moving close together so when we angled the umbrellas to provide a combined rain shadow, we had somewhere out of the rain to stand together with nowhere to sit.
Then she asked me, having to talk loudly to be heard over the din of the falling rain, "Does your spouse ever make you wish you were somewhere else?" I responded nodding, "Yes, and I am here!" She laughed while nodding, "That's why I'm here too. The golden years are not turning out to be like how I thought they were going to be." I nodded and smiled, "I always thought it would be a return to intimacy when the kids were moved out and we had the place to ourselves but I think she totally forgot how intimacy works, she makes me happy I learned how to take care of my own needs so I don't need her to do it." She laughs with smiling eyes, "Tell me about it, I can't remember the last time I saw his cock."
