7.10.06

the non-golf day

Saturdays are designated Date Day. Husband and I had the idea to go try out the golf course that is an hour north of us. It's billed as one of the highest and oldest golf courses in the world, so of course we had to try that out before probably never having that chance again.

Now I should mention today was going to
be my first ever time to play real golf. Upon arriving, we were told immediately that since we didn't bring any balls with us, all used balls would cost over a dollar a piece. (!) We almost turned around when we heard that, but kept going because we really wanted to play, or in my case, try. After walking up a steep hill to get to the center, we were shown a sign saying that as foreigners we would pay twice as much to play as the locals. That really didn't upset us, even though in principle it should, but we're so used to it already. However, we were told that even though we were only playing 9 holes, we had to pay the 18 hole price. I asked the guy why, thinking he could enlighten me, but he only said, "Those are just the rules." Alright. Then the man told husband, "This is a 10 handicap maximum course," which in golf terms means you're really really good. He was insinuating to us that neither of us were good enough to golf there; he was half right.

Realizing we would be paying double what the locals pay, and then double for 9 holes, we concluded it was actually 4 times the real amount. Then add on to that the fact that it cost an arm and a leg to play at a course that wasn't well maintained and we'd have to fork over more than a dollar per ball, we decided to just take a couple of pictures and then leave. But of course not before I told the man that just because we're white doesn't mean we have a lot of money, and that we weren't going to return. I ended with a flustered, "That's not right," which I for some reason blurted out in half French. Even though he probably didn't understand what I was saying, I felt like the Rosa Parks of foreigners in South Asia. And I'm sure that guy felt like...oh who am I kidding, he didn't care one bit.

The date wasn't entirely lost though. We had a good lunch and the hour ride gave us plenty of good conversation time. We'll just have to save our golfing for the Capital.

2 comments:

SouthAsiaRocks said...

nice :) See ya soon :)

Anonymous said...

Awww sorry you couldn't golf. At least you didn't have to embarass yourself in front of all those "pro golfers" :). Just kidding. I'm sure you would have done great...maybe next time!