Riding Solo

“That’s great,” you reply to John.

“I’ll catch you after the round!” “Hit’em straight, Ryan,” he quips as you walk out the door. You grab your bag, throw it on the closest cart and speed toward the 1st tee box.

As you pull up to the tee box, you see the young man taking a couple of practice swings while his partner sits in their cart, looking at her phone. You hop out of your cart and walk up to the tee box. “Hello. I’m Ryan. John told me to join you guys to beat the scramble. Do you mind if I join you two?” you ask the young man.

“Hello John. I’m Matt and this is my fiancé Melanie,” he says pointing toward the young lady sitting in the cart. Looking to Melanie for a cue, he eventually responds by saying, “You can join but we’re both pretty competitive golfers. Not everyone enjoys playing with us.”

“Well, I haven’t played much recently but I used to break 80 on a pretty consistent basis,” you say.

“Well, you can join if you are able to keep up,”Matt says with a bit of a snarky tone. “Melanie and I both played in college and are scratch golfers.”

At that time you notice Melanie walking toward the two of you. As she approaches, you take notice of how sexy she looks in her light pink polo and white golf skirt. “Hi Ryan! Don’t mind Matt. His ego is bigger than it should be,” she says with a little wink. “I’d love for you to join us but understand if you don’t want to play with Matt.”

You smile at her comment and jokingly say, “maybe we should ditch Matt and just the two of us play a round.”

Melanie giggles at your comment but Matt does not appear so thrilled with your suggestion. “Maybe it’s best if you just go ahead of us and play on your own,” Matt says with a bit of anger in his tone. “Just watch your back in case I accidentally hit one up on you.”

Melanie can sense the tension between you two growing and steps in saying, “Matt! Please forgive Matt’s lack of manners.”

“No worries, “ you say. “Let me grab my driver and I’ll be out of your hair soon.”

As you walk back toward your cart to grab a ball and your driver you overhear Melanie scoff, “I don’t know why your such a dick sometimes Matt.”

You return to the tee box, take a couple of practice swings, then bomb your tee shot down the right side of the fairway.

As you return to your cart, you thank them for letting you play through and wish them an enjoyable round, specifically directing your comment toward Melanie.

“Thanks, Ryan!” she says.

“Yeah, thanks Ryan,” Matt says in a slightly mocking tone. “Good luck keeping those shots up all day old man.”

As you pull away, you overhear Melanie saying to Matt, “seems like he hits it longer than you even though he’s nearly twice your age.”

You just smile to yourself and settle in for a quick round. You think to yourself, “it may be better this way so I have more time to tackle the honey do list later.”

As the round progresses you find yourself having a phenomenal round. You are currently 2 under par as you approach your 22 foot birdie putt on the ninth green. You read the putt and it appears there is a slight break to the left. You line up your putt and put a good roll on the ball. As it approaches the hole the ball hits an old ball mark and hops slightly to the left before straightening out and tracking directly toward the hole. You watch the last three rolls of the ball as it gently drops into the bottom the cup. You think to yourself, “this must be my lucky day to get a bounce like that!”

At the turn you stop for a quick drink and to hit the mens room. John comes over to take your drink over and asks how the round was going. You order your Jack and Coke then go on to explain your fortunate bounce on the ninth green. Just as you mention that you are sitting 3 under par, Melanie walks in and up to the bar next to you.

“Wow! 3 under after nine? I thought you said you don’t play too often these days…,” Melanie said looking you up and down quickly.

“I don’t!” you exclaim. “Just my lucky day I guess.”

“Maybe,” she says with a wink and smile.

You appreciate her kind words and playful nature so you consider buying her a drink.