Golfing with My Son (and Saving the Day by Going to Five Guys Burgers)

Golf is a humbling game. I mean, the ball doesn't move, does it? My kids played baseball and fastpitch softball this spring, and the ball moves, and the hitters and pitchers don't always know where it's going. But with golf, see, the ball is there. At your feet. You get to choose your stance, your club and when you're ready to hit. Should be a piece of cake, right? Replicate your swing, learn how to hit the ball with a metal wood, chip and putt, and, voila, you'l break par.

If only. . .

My son just took up the game. He's ten, he's enthusiastic, but he's not always the most patient. He doesn't take time to line up his putts or his shots, but, then again, he's only been out on the course three times and he's had some success at the driving range after taking lessons from an encouraging young pro. So, we went to our local chip and putt course with our wedges, seven irons and putters mid-morning today and tried to give it a go.

Suffice it to say we had our moments. I confess that I was slightly annoying, trying to teach him to take the time to line up his shots, particularly his putts. He wanted to get up there and smash it, but had I let him do that my homeowners' insurance company might have received a claim or two for damage to windshields of other patrons. It was also (at least) 95 degrees outside (when we returned to my car, the thermometer said 106 and there wasn't any water on the course, only our bottles of water that turned lukewarm pretty quickly). Still, we hit a few wedges, a few ships, a few puts, but by the end of the 9th hole we were gassed. It was that hot, and we were at it for over an hour.

So, how to make a fun day of it. We went to Five Guys Burgers. The franchises are relatively new to the northeast, but the burgers are cooked while you wait (as opposed to sitting there when you arrive), they put whatever toppings on for you, the sell the best french fries, they give you free peanuts, and you can get all sorts of iced tea to drink. All that was missing was the peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream. We transformed ourselves from sweaty, somewhat frustrated golfers to sated post-golf fun people in about 20 minutes. The whole family made the trip, and we had a great time. Okay, so you can't eat the burgers and fries all the time, but every now and then you can indulge and savor.

And savor we did!

Golfing with my son.

Hitting a few good shots.

Blasting the air conditioning after playing golf.

Going to Five Guys for a good lunch!

Good day!