Golf in the midst of a Pandemic: 5 ' 20

I haven't always been the most enthusiastic fan of playing golf, but my appreciation for the game has improved considerably since the Onset of COVID19. We played a round at our home course of Pawleys Plantation last week, and another at Tupelo Bay today. Even though there were a lot of people on the course, we were spaced out enough

that felt like it was just us and the Canada Geese.

The new rules for playing golf at our home course of Pawleys Plantation (and most other courses in the area) have made it one of the safest group sport activities to participate in during this pandemic (and provided us with some much needed out of door exercise) . Except for married couples living in the same house, each person must have their own golf cart. The golf bag drop off crew sanitize all the carts before any golfer can take them out. When you arrive at the bag drop, you are pointed to a cart and told to load your bags onto the cart yourself. The bag drop crew holds out a box with the score cards and pens and ask someone in each cart to take a set. Flags are left in the putting range holes and in the greens' holes. Golfers are asked not to remove the flags to prevent potentially passing on the virus. Golfers also unload their a bags from the carts when the game is finished . Some pub are open for food and drink orders but golfers are asked to take their food/drinks to the out of door patio. Overall, other than the 1 person per cart rule and un/loading your own bags and leaving the flag in the hole, I don't think most golfers would notice a lot of differences in the game. But there is a distinct feeling of safety on the course, that we don't have when we are elsewhere beyond the sanctuary of our home walls.

Gershon Deli: 5 '20

Well Governor McMaster's may wish to open South Carolina, but that doesn't mean its residents are anxious to rush out and mingle with the crowds again. A lot of places are remaining closed, and even those that are open are seeing very few customers. After we left a doctor's appointment in Murrell's Inlet, Bruce and I went over to our favorite Jewish deli to pick up a couple of sandwiches to go. It was lunch time and the place was open for sit-down dining in their high backed indoor booths and at their well spaced outdoor tables, but there was only one customer eating at what used to be one of the busiest places in town. I didn't even see any other take out customers.

Nine-hole Belated Birthday Game: 5 ' 20

I had promised Bruce to play a  nine-hole round of golf  to celebrate his birthday.  Unfortunately  we were locked indoors on April 30th by a  strong thunder-storm and a soaking rain.  The wet stuff stuck around for another two days.  Today was the first day that the greens were dry enough to play one and that we had clear skies.   Bruce woke up to sunshine,  and  promptly grabbed a phone to  check on  start times.  He came back with a big smile on his face,  and  announced that he had booked us a 9:20 am game to play the back nine on our home course,  Pawley's Plantation.

His smile got even wider when  we  tee'd off  on the  tenth fairway.  

 And then Bruce broke into an out-right grin when landed his ball on the signature course's 13th  hole which is surrounded by 3000 degrees of marsh.  For someone who has only been able to  play golf  one or twice in the past year, he was playing really well today.

Two of the nine holes we were playing have sand hazards.  Seven of the nine holes  have serious water hazards (they are bordered by marshes and /or have large retaining ponds).   Some have both, and almost all of them have enormous heritage oaks that have to be played around.  

The Pro-Shop had  paired us with a young, lone-player from upstate SC.

On our first tee-off, it was obvious this young man would  out-drive us septuagenarians,

no matter how skillfully  we played. 

Initially,  we were not happy, but since our new partner was walking the course, we set him up to tee off first,   then had him start walking on the cart toward his next ball. 

By the time he had walked to his ball,  we  had finished our second shots to catch up.

As the game progressed we learned that  our new golf partner had a technical background similar to our  own.   After that ,we found that common-ground, the differences in our skill level seemed a lot less intimidating.

Bruce was exhausted but was so happy that
 he made it to the 18th hole in good form.

It's been months since  either of us have played, so  neither Bruce nor I kept score. 

My impression is that neither of us have lost muscle memory for  how and where to drive the ball,

 but both  of us have lost muscle strength,

and that we need to spend more time at the driving range to rebuild our muscles.

Now that the weather has finally turned a bit warmer, 

the driving range may prove an ideal way to get a bit of 

safe-distancing exercise. 

Long awaited cat- tower has arrived: 5 '20

When the boys first arrived  we expected  them to be jumping onto counters and climbing atop furniture  as they explored their new home and we had prepared  the house  accordingly by moving anything breakable out of reach.  What we were not prepared for was quite how much energy,  endurance and enthusiasm they had  for the adventure.  The last few kitties we'd adopted were senior citizens by the time they moved in with us.  By comparison ,the  bros are still  teenagers.  It  only took a few days for the boys to convince us that they are far too young and active  to  be confined inside our home without some serious cat exercise equipment.  So Bruce went online and ordered the biggest baddest cat tower he could find.

It finally arrived today.

When packed, it weighs a ton.   I could barely  drag it indoors.

Which,  of course, caught the attention of the boys.

One of them  immediately took responsibility for  being the shipping  and delivery inspector.

  

To lighten the load, I decided to open the box 

 and  to remove some of the  components

 before carrying the rest of the box to the back-room where it would be installed.  

Of course.  I had help from the packing inspector,

who was quick to remove one of the cat toys from the container.

Once I began laying the components out  in the room where the tower was to be set up, 

both brothers helped with the inventory count.

 

They also did an environmental study of the proposed site for the structure,

and supervised  every step of the construction the workers made. 

They even insisted upon checking that the dimensions of the sleeping lofts,

matched the specs, before they would allow us to move onto building the next level of the tower. 

When everything  finally met with their approval,

The  Bros gave us permission to set  the tower in place.

It seems to have passed their preliminary inspection,

but final approval is still pending.

Now the question is: 

 Which new cat toy do they like best?

Their new cat-tower ??? or 

or the box it was shipped-in???.