What I miss about golf during lockdown

Being denied golf serves only to make me think about it constantly and pine for certain things…

- RICHARD RUSSELL

Unpleasant tension and nervous pressure. Well, who knew? It seems that the part of golf that makes me anxious is also the part that makes it special. It’s weird, but I miss that fear. The fear of looking a chump. The nerves that come when you have to play a shot that really, really matters. The gnawing dread that settles over you when your foursomes partner plays a fantastic fairway wood to just four feet, and instead of thinking, “Yay! What a shot!” you’re thinking, “Cripes! What if I miss it?” Hurry back, knotted stomach.

The first 200 yards down the 1st fairway. When my smile is truest and my step is springiest. Those first few jaunty strides are bursting with possibility and anticipation. But it’s not just the fact that I might… possibly… you never know… play really well today. For me, that first minute of the round is also a strangely mystical moment when all seems well with the world. Boy, do I miss that.