Go....Go....Golf !

There could not have been a better time for my initiation into this "gentleman's game"....with the US Open Golf tourney underway at Pebble Beach Calif. (incidentally very near to my first home in the States), I thought this is it...lets go golfing. So there I was....up at 5:30 AM on a Saturday morning, after a verry late Friday night, all geared up for my first "putt". It was a brisk 20 minutes drive to Tara Greens Golfing Center at Somerset NJ (Had my breakfast at McDonalds en route after a long long time....). Me and my friend Ambareesh rented a Golf Cart (my first experience at driving a golf cart too :-)) and at 7:30 in the morning, we were ready for our first tee-off. So here I go, my first shot (drive?) and I manage to scrape some soil off the neatly maintained "green". Did that again on my second shot....that made my partner a bit nervous...as people were queuing up behind us, he took some quick decisions in letting them go first :-)...but then that was that. After that it was either me hitting the ball nicely or completely missing it (fewer occasions though)....all it took was some advice from Ambareesh about forgetting cricket and changing my stance. For a rank outsider for the game whose golf knowledge was limited to Tiger Woods and his feats on and off the green, I was quick enough to understand the different types of irons (it always made me curious when people spoke about a 3 iron and a 9 iron), the driver and what it does and of course the putting iron. And did I forget about the Par and the Handicap ? Oh well, I know 'em all now....I was also made aware that since this was a "gentleman's game", there are many more "don'ts" than "do's" so as to be able to remain a perfect gentleman throughout the course of the game (Thanks again Ambareesh :-)). Anyways, I enjoyed it a lot today and hope to go back to the course soon.....will let y'all know how it goes the next time. Cheers, and BFN