Golf Outing’s Unexpected Turn of Events

Photo of Sebastian Municipal Golf Course by Google Maps Street View

I started playing golf back in 1988. A friend from high school and I used to play tennis all the time. He started playing golf and I became interested. I used to watch golf on television but I never knew that playing golf could be so fun.

For those wondering if it’s hard to hit a golf ball as small as it is, yes and no. You would think it was difficult to hit but once you learn the basics, it’s a piece of cake.

One thing that was difficult at first was keeping my head down. If you lift your head up before you hit the ball, you will miss it. It can look and feel disastrous. So always keep your head down until you have hit the ball.

For those new to golf, I would recommend only playing nine holes. I have played nine holes more than I have ever played eighteen holes. You can play nine holes in two hours. It made for an adventurous time after school. Figure if you get home around 2:30, you can get out to the course by 3:00 and play nine holes and then be home for dinner.

Fast forward to 1996-1997 time frame. I was working at a government company as a web developer and computer programmer. A guy who I will call K worked in the same office as me. He was a computer technician. He was a golfer. He used to go golfing after work all the time. He learned that I loved golf too. He begged me to go golfing with him. The only problem was he wanted to go to a golf course that was in the county south of our county. I wanted to go to some of the courses I had already played. He didn’t want any of that.

The other problem was that he came in early and left early. He usually came in at 7:00 a.m. and left at 3:00 p.m. My hours were usually 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.

I asked management if I could leave early one day. They let me do it once. I don’t think they were too happy that I was doing it.

I just remembered I mentioned K during this story, You Need To Get The Money Now. You’ll be hearing about him again in another story.

So the day came when we were going to go golfing. We weren’t sure if we were going to be able to go because it was raining. This part I’m a little fuzzy on. I think it stopped and we were able to go. But I could be wrong and we went another day. That was so long ago, it’s hard to remember.

He drove us down to the course that he wanted to go to. It was the Sebastian Municipal Golf Course located in Sebastian, Florida. I had never been there. This was the course he frequented. Of course, he had the advantage having been there so many times. That part I didn’t like. That’s why I wanted to play at a place I had been before. This wasn’t my only time going down to Indian River County to play golf. I’ll talk about that another time.

Once we arrived, we opened the trunk of his car and put on our golf shoes with spikes. Spikes sink into the ground and allow you to maneuver when you are swinging the clubs. Nowadays they have gotten rid of spikes because they say it hurts the turf. A lot of golf courses only allow spikeless shoes now.

Then, we went to the pro shop and paid for a bucket of golf balls for practice. I think we also paid for our rounds at the same time. We were going to play nine holes. We were going to be playing with one of his friends from work. I didn’t know him.

We walked over to the practice driving range and placed our bucket of balls on the ground behind where we’d be hitting. He had his bucket and I had mine. His friend was going to join us after we finished at the driving range. He had to work later and would join us when we started our round.

So I start hitting balls and then I noticed something strange. There were black pieces of rubber all over the place. At first, I didn’t know where it was coming from. Then I lifted up my foot and discovered it was from my golf shoes. They were falling apart. I hadn’t used them in a few years. Apparently, they had become moisturized after not being used for so long.

I thought what am I going to do now. K gave me the keys to his car, so I could go back and get my regular sneakers. He had a car alarm and had to show me how to use it. I had never used one of those key alarm thingys, so I had no idea how to use it. I was so afraid I would set off the alarm and then not know how to shut it off.

I made it back to the car and pushed the correct button and opened the trunk. I put my golf shoes into the trunk and switched out to my sneakers.

Of course using sneakers, I didn’t have as much traction. But I had no other choice.

We played golf. I can’t remember the exact score I got. I do know I was a little nervous having never played with K or his friend.

After the round, K drove me home.

We would never play another round of golf together. This was because he always wanted to do it after work and I couldn’t leave again so early. Also, he wanted to keep playing at that course. I could never get him to go to my “home” courses.

The next day at work, my golf shoes were the talk of the office. K kept telling people about the story of my golf shoes and what happened. It went on for so long that they wanted to see what they looked like.

So a few days later, I brought the shoes in to show everyone. They couldn’t believe how deteriorated they looked. They had never seen anything like it.

Conclusion

First off, if you haven’t used any shoes you intend to use for a sport, make sure everything is okay. Take it out to the area where you’ll be using them and walk around.

They looked just fine by looking at them. So looks can be deceiving.

I do not have a photo of them. I wish I did because you wouldn’t believe what they looked like.

Let’s hear from you. Have you ever had shoes fall apart? It doesn’t have to be anything for a sport. I’ve heard of women’s shoes falling apart. Have any of you encountered this?

Until next time, happy reading.

-Matt