My Quest for Greens in Bel Air
So, I found myself with some unexpected time on my hands lately. You know how it goes, one project ends, and the next one hasn’t quite kicked off. Sitting around the house was driving me nuts. My buddy, Dave, keeps going on and on about his golf game whenever we talk. Honestly, I think he mostly likes the fancy shirts, but he suggested I should try playing again. Haven’t swung a club properly in years, probably since that disastrous company outing where I spent more time looking for my ball in the woods than actually playing.
Anyway, I figured, why not? Need to get outside. I live near Bel Air, Maryland, so I started poking around, trying to figure out where folks actually play golf around here. Fired up the laptop, did the usual search thing. A couple of names popped up, some sounded pretty swanky, others less so. It’s funny how online pictures can make anything look amazing or kinda dumpy.
Finding a Spot to Start
I decided to just drive over towards one place I saw mentioned a few times. Didn’t call ahead or anything, just wanted to scope it out, maybe hit a bucket of balls at their driving range if they had one. Getting there wasn’t too hard, followed the GPS, nice roads. Pulled in, and okay, it looked pretty well-kept. Lots of green, which you’d expect, right?
Walked towards what looked like the main building. Felt a bit awkward, not really knowing the procedure. Everyone else seemed to know exactly where they were going. Reminded me of my first day at high school, totally lost. Finally found someone who worked there, asked about the driving range. Super simple request, I thought.
- First, had to find the pro shop.
- Then, had to wait while someone finished telling a long story about their game.
- Finally got to ask about the range.
- Paid for a bucket. Seemed a bit pricey, but hey, I was there.
Hitting Some Balls (Finally!)
Got my bucket and found a spot on the range. It was decent. The mats were okay, not brand new but not totally worn out. Started swinging. Felt rusty. Like, really rusty. Topped a few, sliced a few into the netting on the right. Felt like everyone was watching, even though they probably weren’t. You just get that feeling sometimes.
After about half the bucket, I started to get a bit looser. Actually hit a few straight ones. It felt good, that thwack sound. Stayed for maybe 45 minutes. Didn’t fix my slice, but it was good to be outside, doing something physical.
Next Steps
So, that was my first little adventure trying to golf in Bel Air. The place I went was alright, maybe a bit formal for just banging balls on a Tuesday afternoon. I heard there are other courses around, some maybe more relaxed. Think I’ll try a different one next time. Maybe even brave playing an actual round if I can find someone crazy enough to join me and watch me lose a dozen balls. Gotta keep trying, right?
