Hole In Eight!

Got a care package from my wife yesterday, I think it took almost three weeks to get here. It looked like it was kicked half way around the world. The strange thing is I’m not sure how the Chinese postal service knew how to get it to me since all of the writing was in English. Now I’ve never been one that really loves greeting cards but, they are really nice when you haven’t seen someone in a long time. Since I’ve been here, almost two months, I’ve had my birthday, wedding anniversary and last Sunday was father’s day. So there were quite a few very nice cards in my box. Also some great pictures of my family and some scented candles to cover up the occasional sewer smell that comes uninvited to my room. DON’T DRINK THE WATER! My wife also threw in a couple of magazines. One is a golf magazine with lots of great tips for improving your game but, the way I have played here I don’t think they could help me no matter how many times I read it.

Now that I’ve gotten on the subject of golf allow me to elaborate. Golf in China is very different than back home, unless you’re a member of an elite private country club or a pro. A round here will cost somewhere around $110 to $175. Usually back home you make a tee time, or not, pay your forty or fifty bucks grab a cart and off you go. Here when you pull up to a country club sometimes there is a row of Chinese people greeting you with a bow. (Bowing is not really done here much anymore) Once you get out of the car you never touch your bag, they have people to do that for you. They give you a little leather book that has a key and a number, then you go to the locker room and find your locker, where all I have to do is change my shoes but there are plenty of Chinese guys that take full advantage of all the facilities and none are shy at all, even though it would better for my eyes and memory if they were. After shaking of the sights you come out of the clubhouse and there are several people escorting you to a cart with your bag on it. They drive you up to the driving range for some warming up and then drive you back to the clubhouse where you meet your caddie. All of the caddies I’ve had were young ladies that hardly speak any English. Which it’s a good thing I have sort of learned to count in Chinese, I can tell them which club I want after they tell me how many yards to the green. They say “yibaiyishi” which is 110 and I know to say “jiu” for a nine iron, but trust me I get confused all the time, I really only feel comfortable with the numbers one to twenty. When you get to the green the caddies mark your ball, clean it and even line up your putt for you. The downside to this is I feel bad when the caddie has to chase me all over the course due to my errant shots. It's not unusual to have several par fives well over six hundred yards and par threes over two hundred yards. As I’ve said, it’s not like playing back home at all.

I’ve been fortunate enough to play three times here. Once at a course called Silport in Shanghai which has hosted the China open several times. Once at a course in Suzhou called sun island and once at another course in Suzhou called Jinji lake Golf club. Jinji Lake golf club hosted the China open this year right before I got here in April. It’s a very exclusive private club that is the most beautiful golf course I’ve ever seen, much less got to play. As for my scores, I’ll just say add 15 strokes to the way I play back home and leave it at that.