pastime - noun - an activity that someone does regularly for enjoyment.
Traditionally, the end of October marks the official last stand of the boys of summer as it is when the World Series happens. This year, there is a bit of a "subway series" taking place as the Los Angeles Dodgers were once ensconced in Brooklyn, New York, and the Yankees' home base is still in the Bronx. Although tickets to the games are extraordinarily high, fans are still flocking to the ballparks to see their heroes hit and field baseballs. But based on the above definition, courtesy of Google, can we say that baseball is still America's pastime?
No, golf is.
Yes, it is undeniably golf. Other than the pros and Little Leaguers, who plays baseball? I'm telling you. The pastime is definitely golf. Okay, okay. Maybe the televised PGA tournaments don't win any ratings' wars, but middle and upper-middle-class people of all ages are migrating to the public courses, taking golf lessons that run about $150 an hour for a private lesson, buying expensive clubs (some at $2,000 a driver), and flocking to try them out just about anywhere green, even in desert locals, like the irrigated Las Vegas. I know all of this since I follow the crowd. In fact, just last Monday around 3 p.m., I took a drive over to Alondra Golf Course, which is in the neighborhood of Torrance, California and found myself waiting in line (yes, in a long line) just to drive a few balls on the range. I have never before encountered such enthusiasm for a sport that is not only expensive, but terribly difficult and often exasperating.
The pastime of golf is practiced regularly, yes. We who play find ourselves competing in leagues, playing regularly in quartets, in trios, or in duos on courses that are challenging and even dangerous – yes, dangerous because a little hard ball soaring at 120 m.p.h. can go in any direction, right at other players sometimes. And a "Fore!" cried out quickly won't stop the ball mid flight. My father had to get four stitches in the back of his head once because he was in the wrong place at the right time on a course. He was lucky the errant number 3 Titlelist didn't kill him.
That's the thing, though. It is rare for the weekend warrior to be consistent at the game. No amount of lessons can cure this ill either. Look at the pro golfers, for instance, Phil Mickelson. Once during the PGA held at Baltusrol in 2005, I saw his ball strike the side of the pro shop and land just beneath it. Steady, yet unpredictable Phil had to hit the ball off of the macadam cart path alongside the eighteenth hole. Of course, he got it in the hole and won the tournament. Clearly, he didn't earn the moniker "Phil the Thrill" for nothing.
Is golf enjoyable? Hmmm. I would say it is if you are having a good game. It isn't if you aren't. And you are lucky if you do have a majority of minuses as opposed to pluses on your score card by the end of eighteen holes because in golf, it is all about the lowest score, getting the ball into the hole via the fewest strokes, which is almost impossible if you play by the rules. And very few do.
What does all of this say about those of us who run the risk of being totally frustrated more often than not on the course? It says that we are risk takers, that we are brave enough to accept failure, and willing to allow tenacity to be a best friend. Golf, like baseball, can be a metaphor for life. If you play the game well, you reap rewards. If you don't or if you cheat, you stand to be discontented.
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