It was poignant moment for me. not because I was serious about golf but because it closed the lid finally on a specific period of my life, when I enjoyed playing golf with a group of friends in the mid to late 1990's.
I had another life back then, a captain of industry with a career, young and full of energy. Playing golf once a week after work was the perfect way to relax with workmates.
We didn't go far. Just up the road to the nearest public golf course. We were what I called 'hackers'. None of us very good but all decent enough to get round 18 holes and have lots of fun along the way. Some of my shots were inspired. Most were terrible.
I would say we enjoyed playing golf as a group of four friends for a good five years and occasionally ventured further afield to other public courses. We usually had a curry afterwards in the curry house nearest the course, where the highs and lows of play was discussed over popadoms and a pickle tray to start.
Looking back a quarter of a century they were great times. We had stressful and demanding jobs, all working for the same company and golf allowed us to leave work early and be friends. Anything and everything can be shared when you play an 18 hole golf course.
Sadly I am no longer in touch with any of my golfing pals. The beginning of the end was when the first of our troop left the company we worked at. This wasn't so bad as he made an effort to keep coming to play. When the second of us left it became more difficult and when I departed in 2005 the game was over. Despite trying we simply couldn't re-capture those glorious years of hacking in the midweek evening sunshine followed by a Dansak.
One of our party, the eldest, is now sadly in a home for Parkinsons sufferers and I have lost touch with the other two members.
So it was a bitter-sweet moment as I handed over my old bag, trolley and clubs this afternoon. It was 3pm as well, the time we would have knocked off work and headed out to the course in the late afternoon sun of the late 1990's.
As I watched my gear leave in someone else's car today I realised I was saying goodbye to old friends. Friends who I'm unlikely to ever see again now and a glorious time when we were our younger selves.
I sensed too an uncertainty of what can and will ever replace those days.
I suppose this is the essential sadness at the heart of all nostalgia.
Have you had to bring parts of your old life to a close readers?
A pic of my old clubs on our recent car boot stall. They didn't sell. No-one even looked!
I too used to play golf a lot. From my early 20's. Played loads with a group of friends. They were good times. I still have my clubs. I don't play but can't bring myself to part with them. Most of them my parents bought me. The bag I swiped off my Dad when he bought a bigger one. He was better than me!
ReplyDeleteThey have sentimental value then Kev. I can see why it would be hard to part with them. Trouble is, now I've got rid of mine and fancy a game now! ha ha
DeleteI am surrounded by Country Clubs with very nice golf courses,but I cant afford to be a member,and the daily rate is even more prohibitive.Do you have miniature or arcade golf in your area?That's a fun way to at least keep your chipping and putting skills sharp.
ReplyDeleteFortunately the UK has public golf courses Bri, no membership needed. Just turn up, pay and play. At least we used to have. I haven't played for ten years! My old skills are now blunted. I did love crazy golf and mini golf when I was a kid!
DeleteThese clubs represent your friends as well as a particular time in your life and it's always hard to close the door on a fondly-remembered aspect yesteryear. Whenever, I used to upgrade to a better condition copy of a collectable comic, I used to pass the old one on to someone else, but I always felt like I was abandoning it because of its imperfections and felt guilty about it. Nowadays I tend to just keep both copies. Did you take photos of your old clubs before parting with them, Woodsy?
ReplyDeleteI may have one picture of the clubs Kid from a car boot sale over Easter. I tried to sell them there but no-one was interested in my old golf set. Yes, objects seem to symbolise times and relationships. Your comics analogy is interesting. I've never really upgraded comics - apart from Creepy and Eerie by Warren. I dread parting with my comics from my childhood. They are some of the few survivors of my beginnings. The Acrobat and Judo Master is one that springs to mind as well as Yang. I was into Martial Arts in my early teens and bought Kung Fu styled comics. My really early ones from early childhood like Casper, Archie and Sad Sack are alas all lost.
DeleteThe comics I upgraded weren't the originals I had as a kid though, but later replacements. Having said that, in some cases I'd had them for years (as an adult) before upgrading, so it still felt like I was parting with an old friend.
DeleteInteresting that you relate objects to friendships and emotions so closely.
ReplyDeleteI do something similar.
Often, when I throw things away, after many years of possession or use, I feel the need to literally say goodbye to them or pat them, like they were people or pets.
When I don't get to do this, I sometimes feel genuinely regretful, or even mournful about it.
It's as if I owe these inanimate objects some sort of 'affection' or 'respect'.
Mish.
I know what you mean Mish. I find chucking old stuff away a genuinely painful experience. the last time this happened was the family stack of VHS video's. I saved all the paper sleeves and sold them to a sleeve collector but the cases and tapes went in the bin as no-one wanted them. I said a fond farewell to this dead tech as it fell in the wheelie bin.
DeleteThat's exactly how I feel. Phew, glad to know I'm not the only one.
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