Nah, Joni, don’t settle for 85. Keep your head down, your swing easy, and your eye on the ball. GO for it!!! And what the hell is this bs about the LPGA insisting on English only????? Sigh. I’m proud of you, Missy!

Don’t groove your waggle. Have fun.

I used to play golf like a fiend. My husband’s cousin was the gol-pro at the Mauna Kea Resort where I learned. At home would go practice at a driving range before going to work. After work friends and I would be on the course when the automatic sprinklers were coming on and the sun was going down. To me it’s like moveable chess. Sounds like it’ll be a lot of fun. I love golf courses, beautiful, serene and manicured.

You forgot to add, Joni, that most country clubs have very high membership fees and require investment in an appropriate wardrobe of clothes, as well as, often, an obligation to eat a certain number of over-priced meals at the club house. Country club membership is beyond the means of most average Americans and represents a lifestyle of which they can only dream. There are a few public golf courses left but, by and large, golf is a game for the elite and country-club golf is a game for the rich. Join the rest of us, Joni, and walk for your health without hitting a ball occasionally and following it from hole to hole. Any vision of a golf course includes huge amounts of green space and few people. That’s what the rich pay for - to get away from the rest of us. Compare a country-club green at tee-off time with the subway at rush hour. That should show you how much golf impacts the general public.

I used to play golf at a country club in my other life. Not once did I wonder about membership regulations, etc. It’s amazing to me how cozy and comfortable we can get in our own manicured lawn environs trying to get a hole in one and missing over and over.

I want to play golf with Joni Evans and Marlo Thomas. I love the game, but only played thrice this summer.

Joni… You. Are. Good! 95, 91 and 88? Most of us recreational golfers would be very pleased - perhaps joyful is a better word - to get those scores. Despite my way high handicap, I’m passionate about golf and write about it for a living. The thing is; Country Club Culture is not Golf Culture. The game itself is not exclusionary, it’s pure and beautiful. Admittedly, golf has an image problem due to its history of segregation and sexism…not to mention fashion faux-pas like plaid plus fours and argyle overdose. As you mention, segregation and sexism still exist in the lush, leafy country club bastions of affluent suburbs, however now we have friendly public courses all over the country, in every town and city, and we have first tee programs to introduce kids from all backgrounds to the game and support them in their pursuit of it. Finally, we have more and more evangelists for the fun game. The open, inclusive, magical game that everyone can be a part of. And guess what? Plaid and argyle are on all the runways this season. :o) So, go hit ‘em straight this weekend and keep it in the short grass…and may all your lies be white or playable. — Patricia http://thegolfgirl.blogspot.com

Brava, Joni Evans. As a child I played golf at the club my parents had joined……perhaps the least exclusive club in Fort Worth, notable more for the fact that Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan caddied there when they were boys. For the past 36 years of married life, my husband and I are ‘muni-players’ as my mom would say except that we leave our shirts on and know the rules. We of the ‘lousy lumbars’ play when we are able to sit up and take nourishment, at a local course which charges $11 a week day plus cart for all the golf you can play AND whoever wants to play. It’s not exactly a level playing field, but then who wants a golf course without some rolling hills? This is the time you can afford to get teed off. Enjoy. Peace and grace

The club we belong to in Westchester County, NY has white, black, jewish, asian, female, and male members, as well as quite a few members of the clergy. When it comes to married couples, however, one must decide who will be “the member” because only “the member” is permitted to play golf on Saturday mornings, keeping this heavily trafficked day down to a manageable numbers of golfers. Recently, a “member” woman, who married a “member” man, wanted to be able to continue to play on Saturday mornings without being subjected to a duplicate amount of dues, minimums, and capital expenses. She and her husband sued and lost, but not before every fellow member was charged for the legal expenses incurred by the club to defend its policy. They still show up on the course, the bar, and in the dining room, but we don’t socialize with them. This certainly was not a question of sexism

Okay, here’s my nightmare golf story. I once worked as a P.R. rep for a legal service business. I had to learn to golf. Now, I’m very athletic, but golf is not my thing. Off I went. Bought the khaki pants, polo shirt with collar, golf shoes, etc. Sorry, Tim Gunn. I had the lessons. I’m all set. My first game was to play with the Teamsters in Las Vegas. I tell my boyfriend, come with me, bring your mom and brother, and we’ll make a weekend out of it. It’ll be fun. - - The evening before the game, we start out in my boyfriend’s car. We barely get out of our neighborhood, and he has car trouble. Back we go to the house. We take my car. An old, old Mercedes at the time. We pick up his mom and brother. We’re on the road about an hour, when I get a flat tire. It’s dark. I’m on the phone with AAA. How the H do I know where I am; it’s dark; it’s either the 10 or the 90 Fwy; I don’t remember. I don’t know where we are. I can’t see any landmarks, and my boyfriend’s mother needs a restroom. Come quick. What a nightmare. Finally, we get into Vegas at about two in the morning. My boyfriend’s mother doesn’t like the fact that her room is on a floor that is too high up for her comfort level. So, to make a long story short, we have to get her into a completely different hotel. I think I finally got to bed at 3:00 am, and I had a 6:00 am tee time. The next morning, I somehow got up, got in the shower, got into my khakis, got a cab to the golf course, and connected with my Teamsters, Local whatever. I’m finally in the cart with them, and we are off. First it hails, then it rains. I forgot my weather proof parka. I am cold; I am drenched. We get through the first few holes. I’m hitting more grass than balls. What can I say. Total humiliation. I’m tall enough, and I have a good swing. I’m checking my form, my butt, my arms. I’m doing all the right things, yet everything is going wrong. The Teamsters are being so nice to me. Just wonderful. “Hey, little lady” they say to me. “Good try.”, etc, etc. I just want to go home. The beer cart girl comes by and they buy me a cold beer. It is raining, and I’m drinking a cold beer in the rain. And they lend me one of their rain parkas. What great guys. Then, when the next hole is to hit over water and sand, I just want to stick my head in the sand. I’m up. I get in position. My stance is correct. I stick my butt out in that awful position; I make sure my arms are straight. I swear. I am thinking, please, God, please spirits, whatever, just don’t let me hit into the water, please. I pivot, turn my body, bring my arms back, swing and connect and hear that sound, and follow through. All the Teamsters guys are yelling. I open my eyes and look up. And I’ve hit a hole in one! I kid you not. - - I have long since retired my golf clubs. Never again. But I will always love the Teamsters.

country clubs are SEGREGATED? I feel like some sort of out of touch moron. I had no idea! I grew up poor and even after I wasn’t poor… never ever thought about picking up a golf club or joining a country club. seriously… I’m shocked. But happy to hear Joni doesn’t belong to one of those clubs. Since it’s labor day and this is a labor day post… it might be the only appropriate place for me to do this. I just had the best labor day vacation in years. My husband and I stayed at a dude ranch in far northern Washington state. Just a few miles from the canadian border. I can’t describe how great it was so I’d like to give it a little plug on this website if it’s okay. it’s www.bullhill.com I’ve never done the dude ranch thing before. But my ladies motorcycle group found it and stayed there a couple weeks ago. I loved it so much I made my husband go with me this weekend! It’s super unique. it’s pretty rustic. the cabins are not heated or cooled. They have wood stoves and fans. But they are very clean and very “western”. The price is ridiculous… we paid 190$ for both of us per night. that included all the food, alcohol and activities. I told them they’re super underpriced. I don’t think they cared lol. I just can’t describe what a cool feeling this place has. If i were someone famous and wanted to be left the hell alone I’d book out this entire place. Ther’es only 8 cabins anyway though… so worst case scenario you’re hanging out with maybe 30 other people.