I sometimes go play golf alone. As one fellow golfer once asked me, "your boyfriend doesn't play golf"?. Yes he does, but sometimes I go out and play on my own when he's busy or doesn't want to come... Welcome to the 21st century western world, where women can do things on their own :)

Now a woman playing golf on her own is a very rare sight and I get the following reactions:

1- The daddy: Older men usually love my presence and take me under their wing. They act like surrogate dads and are really nice to me, even nicer when they see that I can play. I love it :)

2- The flirt: Ohhh, a woman... Maybe she'll want to have sex with me? I get the phone numbers of the bravests and the others merely flirt with me during the round. They're usually harmless and sweet, but can sometimes be a bit agressive and become a hassle (when you're stuck with someone who's hitting on you for 5 hours and you're not interested, it can be a bit long...)

3- The couple: Now the guy could fall into the flirt category, but wife is right beside him. So he has to be nice to me while at the same time making sure not to be too nice to me... This guy should never, ever compliment me too much in front of his wife, especially, as it's often the case, if I play better than her. I remember one who had the nerve to tell his wife: "Do like Sylvie does, honey". Oh boy... Poor guy :)

4- The macho: Now that's the type of man I can't stand. It's the type of guy who might start by barely noticing my presence and making sure only to talk to his buddies. Then he might act frustrated and humiliated when I'm playing better than him. He might make me feel that I shouldn't be there and that he's annoyed to see a woman on the course. These guys are rare. But believe me, when I get paired with one of them, it makes for the longest 5 hours...

5- The nice guy: Now that's the majority and they're the reason why I still play on my own, because most often I meet really nice people :)

Today though I played with a guy from the macho/jerk category and he almost made me want to stop my round after 3 holes. He started by ignoring me and only talking to his buddy. 5 minutes after we had done the presentations, he finally looked at me and said "What's your name again? Diane?". I corrected him gently. We then proceeded to hit our tee shots and he yelled loudly "Nice shot, Isabelle! Or is it Sarah?? hahaha". Yeah, very funny. I felt my heart pounding in reaction to his agressive tone. I asked him to mind his own game and that I'd do the same, but he did it again once on the green, yelling at me after my sand shot. At this point, I was really annoyed and I made it very clear. Would he have had the same attitude if I had been a 5.10", 220lb. guy with a tatoo? I don't think so... He was all over the place, talking on his cellphone all the time, cheating like crazy (I'm not counting all the mulligans he and his buddy took), playing unbelievably slow by taking 30 seconds to 1 minute to prepare each shot (while shooting close to 120), stopping play to run to the clubhouse to get a beer, etc, etc. The result: I shot my worst score in 3 months, hated every minute of my game with this guy, ruining an otherwise beautiful day... I wish I could just have forgotten about him and played my game, but he and his buddy were so all over the place that I could hardly concentrate.

Oh well, better luck next time I guess. When I meet this type of guy I understand why some people only play with their buddies. But at the same time, I've met many wonderful people on the golf course and I'm not going to let a few jerks ruin it. I just needed to vent, that's all... I wish I could play with all my Stracka buddies, really, and feel safe and secure, being able to concentrate on my game while having fun :/ Sigh...