Municipal Golf

This morning, I played a round of golf at Minor Park. It was an opportunity to go out with a friend from my MPA program and a friend I've known for a little over a decade, and the old friend's son. This was the son's first round of golf. He's twelve years old, and he shot a 118. I'm 45, and I shot a 102. The others shot in the 80s.

A simple thing, really - a round of golf on an okay course. But there is so much to write about . . .

1) This was Nick's first round of golf. We made him keep the score card. Chances are, he'll have memories of this round for the rest of his life. After Ken, Alex and I are all gone from this world, Nick is going to remember parts of what happened today.

2) Municipal golf courses are an odd thing. Lots of public land, laid out for the use of people who have the time and money to take up a silly hobby like golf. Ken had heard a rumor, false as far as I know, that Minor Park is going to be sold so it can become a subdivision. Economically, that makes a ton of sense, but I don't believe it to be true. Kansas Citians will wind up making an economic sacrifice so that I can go play a round of golf for $22. It's a form of welfare, of course, but I bet the average golfer would deny that s/he gets any real benefit from the taxes we pay.

3) While I was out on the course, Robin was home reading about 4 brave men who broke the color barrier at Swope Memorial, one of the nicest courses in the nation, in my ever-so-humble opinion. It's refreshing to see that golf at the public courses in Kansas City is a multi-ethnic experience now.

4) I suck at golf. My last 3 rounds at Minor Park have been 111, 89, and 102. Maybe I need to work on my consistency.

5) Four hours, outdoors, on a hot day. I was exhausted after the round, but it was splendid to spend that time on a pretty plot of ground, focusing on golf. I think the common thread of hobbies is that they involve complete concentration on something that is ultimately meaningless and apart from your real world. Fishing, stamp collecting, water-color painting, etc. - all my hobbies are absorbing escapes.

6) The Santa Fe trail passed through Minor Park. Wrap your mind around that. Think of the people who passed over that parcel of land, and what became of them.

7) There is something inherently beautiful about golf. There is something I can't explain that happens as you walk up a fairway. It's intense, but calm. I can remember so many such experiences in my relatively short golf career. The best time I can recall with my now-gone friend Bob Blesch was a round at the old Blue River course, and the memory is something I treasure. Better ways undoubtably exist to spend four hours on a weekend, but I'm glad I invested four hours today to be out in the sun with two friends and a young man learning golf.