The Parasol Gang

Last Sunday, Debbie Harry and her hubby joined me and mine to play Waverly Woods, a rather nice public course not too far afield in Howard County. We had a 2pm tee time, and when we arrived, the Golf Channel Amateur Tour had just wrapped up its tee times for the day. Not that we knew this course was a stop on that tour, though it didn't surprise me, since Waverly Woods seemed like a rather upscale venue with 5 sets of tees and a well-manicured appearance.

Yardage is 4834 from the red tees, but as you know, shorter does not always mean easier. There was lots of trouble lurking on each hole, such as...

...elevated greens protected by hidden bands of rough...

...optical illusions created by stands of trees that could easily make you aim right into another fairway...

...lots of rolling hills and tough decisions about whether to lay up or go for it and risk losing your ball in a creek...

...not to mention the added pressure of a skilled  foursome of Korean women golfers marching closely behind you at every shot...

It inspired me to sketch this portrait of "the Parasol Gang." Instead of motorcycles, they strode along with their three-wheeled push-carts.

They really reminded me of some kind of gang, these women. All very petite, yet lethally good at golf. They were walking with giant umbrellas affixed to their push-carts, to shield their sensitive skin against the sun. They were outfitted in colorful and no doubt expensive high-tech gear, including arm "pantyhose." (Seri told me that it looks like those thin, nylon sleeves are shirts, but actually, they make them in a sleeves-only style that you wear like leggings, except on your arms.)

No matter how fast we played (and we were riding carts, mind you), we just couldn't shake the Parasol Gang. In my peripheral vision, I'd see them filing along the fairways to their next perfect shots, and I'd try and hurry up, but they must have known all the shortcuts between holes because as soon as we'd tee off at a hole, I'd look back and there they were, waiting for us to get far enough away so they could hit. I think they must have been magically teleporting themselves, or at least cutting through the lawns of people's houses.

I never play that well on any course I'm playing for the first time, but I didn't blow up too badly. I shot a 103, despite feeling the pressure of the parasols.