It was a hot, sweltering August day. You know, the kind of day where you find yourself drenched in sweat just from standing outside; the kind of day where you should stay inside with the air conditioning on high.
On days like this, it's not wise to try to learn how to golf. But that's what editor Amy Augustine and I did.
We arrived at Beaver Meadow to meet with Ed Deshaies, a man of many golf hats. Deshaies, a Class A PGA member, runs Beaver Meadow's pro shop and is the course's head golf professional. He also finds time to coach the Concord High golf team.
Deshaies calls working at Beaver Meadow a “good summer job.” He has been there for 30 years now.
Deshaies agreed to take on the arduous task of showing us greenhorns the fundamentals of golf. Other than mini golf (which I'm awful at), I had never touched a club. Amy seemingly had the upper hand – she had played once before. Prior to our lesson, though, she told me about a traumatic and embarrassing incident that occurred to her the time she played. I listened with delight and hoped that her mortifying past meant a better game for me.
And no, I won't tell you what happened to poor Amy.
Deshaies began the lesson by showing us how to hold our weapons. He explained that proper grip is one of the most important things of a good golf game. Amy and I managed to flub this up time and time again. Deshaies was patient, though, and put our hands back into position each time.
When we had “mastered” our grip, Deshaies demonstrated how to chip the ball. A chip shot is a short stroke made from off the putting green. With one soft swing of the club, Deshaies made the shot look effortless. I, on the other hand, missed the ball entirely or hit it toward the woods in my first few attempts. “If we're not having any luck here, then we stay here until we do,” our unwearied instructor said. A man of his word, Deshaies didn't let me move on until I hit the ball properly.
To my dismay, Amy had much better luck with chipping. I tried not to glare at her with jealousy.
We advanced onto the next part of our lesson: pitching. In chipping, most of the power is in the arms, but in pitching, it's all about the wrist. “The head of the club goes above your head and with a little flip of the wrist, you loft the ball up into the air,” Deshaies said. “If you can get this, then you can really have some fun with the game.”
With one swift blow, Deshaies launched the ball. We watched it land into a patch of tall grass a little more than 15 yards away. The tall grass, Deshaies explained, would be our target.
On my first try, I gave it go and watched my ball soar toward the sky and land near the woods . . . again. “Nice follow-through,” Deshaies encouraged. He had me loosen up my grip and improve my stance – both Amy and I were guilty of standing upright during our lesson. According to Deshaies, a proper stance is a straight spine but with your hips pushed back a bit. “Kind of like if you're playing softball and are in shortstop position,” he said.
After changing my posture and relaxing my death grip, I launched the ball in the air and watched it land at the desired location.
“Hole-in-one!” Deshaies exclaimed. If only a hole-in-one was always that easy. I have a feeling that an itty bitty golf hole is slightly harder to aim toward than a vast mound of tall grass.
Even though she had a “little wrist problem” Deshaies said, Amy eventually landed a hole-in-one, too.
Once our lesson came to a close, one question remained – how'd we do?
“You both did very well,” Deshaies said, sounding like a proud father. “You're way above average for sure.”
He could have been feeding us lines, but I didn't care. I had long ago given up on the sport after watching small children lap me in mini golf.
After talking to Deshaies, I learned that there's good reason why the kiddies are better than me: They don't take golf too seriously.
“With kids, I really enjoy (instructing) because they know how to play and aren't so socially conscious. They don't worry about what people think.
“You get some parents who come out with their kids and you hear them saying, 'We're not out here to have fun – we're here to golf!' ” Deshaies said. “That's not the right way to go about it.”
