Swing Away

I went with jeans…

The traffic was brutal on Tuesday night, all over the city. I got to the Burnaby Mountain Golf Course at five to seven and met with Angela and two members in the pro shop. A few others weren't so lucky with the commute; they showed up sporadically over the next fifteen minutes. But… it turns out this was a blessing.

Instead of starting at seven, we waited till seven thirty and received twenty-five extra balls. In fact, the bucket of balls cost less than six dollars. And, I forgot my clubs and the pro shop lent me clubs for free. Win, win, win.

Once everyone arrived, Angela made sure we were all introduced. Each of the members was new to me, but they were all super friendly and excited to swing away.

One of the ladies was golfing for the first time, so Angela and a few of the other members gave us all a basic lesson on club order, how to grip and the key points to having a consistent swing. I was sort of glad there were a few novices amongst us, as my own swing is far from tour quality.

After the mini lesson, we made our way to the driving range and found our reserved stalls upstairs. It was a gorgeous night - a bit brisk, but clear. The stalls were heated, but I was still glad I went with jeans.

The facility itself is brand new and state-of-the-art. With our own private section, we were able to socializefreely.

Like I said, we setup upstairs, so we were already positioned for success. I had a low iron and a monster driver. I started with the iron and had small spurts of success, but when I switched to the driver, I developed a mean slice. I tried to adjust, but my balls continued to veer to the right.  I laughed about it with the other members, who all seemed to be struggling with either direction or power issues. Golf is like that. No matter how good you are, there is always something pulling at your game. And that's what makes it fun. If we could all hit it two hundred and fifty yards straight down the middle of the fairway, what would be the point?

When our baskets were empty, we made our way back to the pro shop, returned our clubs and made plans for a quick bite to eat. Unfortunately, the Eagle Creek bar was closed, so we scooted down the road to 'Hop and Vine'. It was nice to sit down and have individual conversations with a number of my fellow golfers. We talked about upcoming events, the Halloween party and our plans for November. Tacos were on special and the beer list was extensive - a nice end to the evening.