Golf ain't so bad.

Often people ridicule me for playing golf. 

"What an old man's sport! Do you like old people? Are you, like, the age opposite to a paedophile? Are you a geriophile with your golf sticks?" say my friends. "There couldn't be a more unsexy sport in the world than golf" says my girlfriend. 

And a part of me agrees with their reason. Not the geriophile part, but they do talk some sense about golf being a lame sport, with little action, no drama or thrills to mention. These were my thoughts as I set off to play a game on Wednesday with three retirees: Dave, John and Tom. 

Dave barely possessed any teeth, had a leathery face due to excessive drinking and had already lit up a cigarette before playing his first shot. Trying to start the day off with a bit of chit chat, Dave told me that he had just retired from a business he owned which manufactured fire sprinkler systems. What a thrilling venture I thought, and then that thought finished and I went back to thinking Dave was quite an unremarkable chap. 

We plodded along in the windy conditions, walking and golfing. What was the point in all of this? At least if I had gone for a walk in a national park then I wouldn't have felt obliged to talk to fellow walkers. But somehow, because I was hitting a little white ball around, I was locked in a social nightmare of awkward chit-chat. "Nice shot John", "unlucky there Tom". My friends were right, I was a young man playing an old man's game. What was I doing?

And then I saw something that changed it all. Playing behind us was a husband and wife, and I had noticed something peculiar about them. With every shot the woman would hand her husband a golf club, walk him over to the spot, place the ball down for him and then stand close-by. After he had hit the ball, she went back over, took his hand and then they walked onward. 

The husband was blind. He couldn't even see the golf ball or the grass in front of him. His wife was helping him to play a sport which he obviously loved playing. He couldn't even see where his shot was going, whether it was good or bad, he could only rely on the descriptions and help from his wife. 

In no other sport have I witnessed that level of compassion and desire to play. It was truly touching to see and made me look at the game in a whole new light. 

Dave smoked a lot, but he wasn't too shabby a golfer, and he seemed to be enjoying his retirement. Tom had just gone to part-time in his work as a councillor, and we had a bit of a chat about snooker. Mild-mannered John worked in the marketing department for cereal giant Kellogs, so I had a good chat with him about what brands really make the Kellogs machine turn. If you were interested, Special K, thanks to some nifty advertising, forms at least 40% of their business. John was apathetic about it thought, saying that he preferred coco pops.

So, to all those that think golf is a game for old people, you'd be dead right, it is. But there is nothing wrong with that. Just ask Dave, John and Tom - three very nice chaps who I enjoyed a good walk with on Wednesday. 

To Do: Play more golf.