Farm Rec, or the Simple Pleasures of the Poor

    There’s always work to be done on the farm.  It’s possible to work all the time, but we all know that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.  So, a rule for the past few years, quit at six.

    Other cultures don’t pay so much attention to the clock.  So a 9 a. m. meeting may be 10 or 11 or maybe even tomorrow.  You might have noticed, though, that those cultures adhere strictly to the clock for one thing—quitting time.

     And so we try to honor quitting time here.  Watch Jeopardy! at 6, at 6:30, hit the golf course!

      Golf course! Real cow pasture pool. You only need one club, like a 9-iron. No putting, no driving, only approaching.  All holes are par 3, par 27 for the round.

So here we go. Hole 1 tees off in front of the garage and goes south.

  

    Ignore the old tire in the right foreground and focus on the one in the right-center, to the right of the spruce sapling.  That’s goal one.  Object: hit the tire with the ball.  You don’t have to get it into the tire, just hit the tire.  If you should get the ball in the tire, you don’t count that stroke.  So, it’s possible to get a hole-in-zero.  It has happened once or twice, but quite rare.

     Hole 2   There are no penalties EXCEPT for going into the garden on the left.  Throw out the ball and take a one stroke penalty if you land in the garden.  Otherwise, you may take the ball out of any rough or any hazard without a penalty.  No penalty for a lost ball. No penalty for going into the neighbor's field on the right.

      Winter rules prevail all year around (improve your lie with the club, within a club’s length of the original lie.)

  Hole 3   Hazards from left to right, machine shed with current bushes, tumblebug, and ’57 Chevrolet pickup.

   Hole 4   Wide open spaces with tall (sometimes) grass rough.  No penalty for throwing out of the rough.  The real penalty is looking for your ball.

    Hole 5   Head north, north towards Alaska.  Really rough grass on the right.

  Hole 6    Still going north.  Hazards:  machinery row on the right and behind the hole.

 

    Hole 7  Hazards:  Ponderosa pines on the left, tall grass on the right.  Mosquito alley in the wet times.  (The usual stiff south breeze keeps the buggers at bay until you get out of the wind on the north side of the pines.)  And the relaxed snow fence in the background.

    Hole 8   Hazards:   Still the pines on the left with tall grass on the right, the sage bush center left.

    Hole 9  Back to where you come from.  Hazards:  All over the place, pines cedars and elms on the left, not to mention house and garage (pretty well protected by trees) behind and left of hole with tall grass on the right.

    And here we are again, back in front of the garage where we started.  You can see the forest better in this shot, the one that protects garage and house from errant golf balls on Hole 9.

     We can make two or three rounds before sunset.  It’s not always relaxing (frustrating at times) but guaranteed to take your mind off the daily cares and woes.  It provides exercise for those who need it, and often it is a pretty time of day when the wind subsides and the temperature cools.

     Green fees are inordinately inexpensive.