Rewards

I played golf the other day at Red Mountain Ranch Country Club. It is a tough course, one that some players describe as “a Pete Dye course, in his bitter years.”

To compound the difficulty, the greens were playing fast (about 12), and the pins were placed in the very toughest positions on the greens, at the tops of peaks, on the sides of the steepest slopes, at the very front of a green with a big front drop-off,  or buried behind water hazards.   One of the holes was nearly unplayable.  Any ball not in the cup would roll downhill 20 feet, from any approach angle and any speed.

Even while considering all the interesting nuanced challenges presented by the game of golf, it occurred to me that playing such a course is, on the whole, unrewarding.  Undoubtedly, this relates to my skill level as a golfer, but I’ve seen even the PGA pros complain aloud when the course and especially the greens are in a condition that is so difficult that it drastically hinders playability.

Such is the nature of golf, and I like the game despite its faults.   However, it also occurred to me that cycling, by comparison, is nearly always rewarding.  In fact, day in and day out, cycling is one of the most consistently rewarding activities I can think of, and on a number of levels.   The ONLY time when it’s not is when you can’t do it, i.e. when weather or an injury or a mechanical failure intervenes.

So next time I get frustrated during some futile attempt to play golf, I’ll just have to remember that my next ride is not that far off.