The temperature hovered between 30 and 40 degrees on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning last week.
It was exceptionally windy on Friday. Occasionally windy on Saturday.
It was raw and cold. Unpleasant and damp.
Definitely not ideal golfing weather.
But I played golf on all four days.
8:20 AM tee times that became 9:00 and 9:30 AM tee times on two days because of frost.
Still, I played.
I played alone on Thursday. I
played with my friends, Gary, Rob, and Jeff, on Friday.
I played with Gary and Rob on Saturday.
I played with Gary, Jeff, and Chris on Sunday.
Honestly, I was less than enthusiastic about playing on every one of those mornings. Part of me wanted to stay home.
Stay warm.
Read a book.
Write my book.
Make some scrambled eggs and toast.
Sit by the fire.
But I went out every morning into the cold because I love golf, and the days of golfing before winter sets in are shrinking fast.
But I also played because I recognize that, as much as I like golf, I like spending time with friends even more.
I spent about eight hours with Gary this weekend.
Six hours with Rob and Jeff.
More than two with Chris.
How often does anyone get to spend that kind of time with friends, doing something you love?
I was also outdoors. As cold as it might’ve been, I was still under an open sky, which is always good.
Exercising, too. Carrying a golf bag on my back for nine holes. Up and down hills. Across fairways.
Trying to improve and occasionally excel. Sometimes, when you’re lucky, you might even get a chance to “grow the legend,” as my friend, Scott, would say.
This weekend, I watched Chris play golf in winter work gloves and play pretty well.
I watched Gary absolutely clobber quite a few tee shots.
I watched Jeff hit a ball directly into the woods to find it on the edge of the green. This is how golf works for Jeff.
I also watched him hit a ball over a fence. A first for him and for me.
I chipped in for a par.
Only lost one ball all weekend long.
Followed a quadruple bogey with a birdie.
We told stories. Offered advice. Laughed.
We had our moments when the wind was so strong that we couldn’t hear each other speak. We had moments when our hands were cold, and our noses ran like faucets. We hit many poor shots. Quite a few horrendous shots. Also, quite a few outstanding shots.
I broke 50 only once this weekend.
I had a glorious time.
I was tempted to pass on playing every morning. I’m so very glad I didn’t.
Future Matt — the one writing this — is happy that former Matt didn’t allow a chilly morning and a stiff breeze to keep me from friends and a game I love.
I’ll remember these past four days the next time I think about maybe skipping something inconvenient, difficult, or challenging.
Staying home takes no effort.
Staying home is table stakes.
Staying home can be done most of the time.
When you have an opportunity to do more than stay home, you should
Days are waning. Friends are precious. Time spent under the sun is gladdening.
