gmhTODAY 20 gmhToday June July 2018 | Page 92

it’s your SWING BY DON DELORENZO Golf…join the club M any of you may think of golf as a very solemn and solitary sport. A lot of whispering…keep your voice down and not a lot of expressive behavior. Visions of a single golfer trudging down a misty fairway at dawn doesn’t exactly stir excitement into a lot of people. But golf can be a ton of fun, especially if you join some sort of club. Now I’m not saying you have to mortgage your house and be a member of a private golf course, but if you want to do this, please be my guest. I’m talking about joining a club or league at your local course as a way to meet people and have a regular group that you can play with. Oftentimes when I give students lessons they immediately fall in love with the game. They fall in love with the challenge and the joy they get with the noticeable improvement that can be readily seen. But what prevents a lot of these students from playing this great game on a regular basis is not having someone to play with. Nobody wants to play round after round by themselves. This game is much more enjoyable when you share the ups and downs and highs and lows with someone. Every golf course has some type of club, league or clinic you can join to meet people with the same interest. Playing golf! Many golfers feel they are not “good enough” to join a golf club at their local course. WRONG! Most of these clubs operate under the umbrella of the Northern California Golf Association or the Pacific Women’s Golf Association. What that means is you will have a golf handicap based on what type of player you are. A golf handicap gives players at any skill level the ability to compete on an even playing field with a more skilled golfer. The other thing that makes golf so great is that a talented low handicap golfer can play right along- side a high handicap and less talented golfer. Name another sport where that can happen without one player getting bored and the other player getting beaten badly. Check with your golf course and see what type of club is available. Gilroy Golf Course has a Men’s Club that holds regular weekend events, road trips, Skins Games and monthly tournaments. Different formats are available with singles, twosomes or four-person teams. Eagle Ridge has the same and both host after-work golf leagues. On Wednesdays at Eagle Ridge and Thursdays at Gilroy GC the fairways are full of laughter and frivolity and some competition too. Teams gather to compete against each other on a weekly basis in a relaxed yet semi-competitive atmosphere. This is a great way to meet new golfers. Oftentimes work teams can be formed as a way to relax after a long day at work. I’ve personally seen teams from See Grins, Anritsu, and Golden Bear Fire Extinguisher Company, use golf as a way to bond after work. On the ladies' side there are nine-hole and eighteen-hole clubs at both courses as well. Often-times the nine-hole clubs are for those ladies who have less time to spend or they are more comfortable competing for only nine holes instead of eighteen. Both clubs are very social with lots of activities outside of golf. The Gavilan College golf course hosts a beginner class each fall. It is a perfect place to learn the game and have a built-in group of players to play with. Playing opportunities are part of the class scenario, so many students play directly after instruction. I’ve seen a lot of students come from this class and join the ladies' and men’s clubs at Gilroy Golf Course as their next step. So if you love to play golf but don’t have anyone to play with, contact your local golf course. We’ll put you in contact with a club or team or group that will make the game more enjoyable and get you out to meet people who share your same interest. GOLF! WESTERN GOLF GETAWAYS 92 GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN JUNE/JULY 2018 gmhtoday.com