Taking the Plunge ~ Ali Bacon!

Today I have with me uber-talented author Ali Bacon!

~ Take it away, Ali!! ~

Taking the plunge: my Tiger Woods moment. 

 

Now pay attention at the back, please. You may think that golf is the dullest game on earth, but for anyone (like me!) who gets hooked it is totally riveting and also Awesomely Difficult. Let’s face it even the pros muck up sometimes (quite a lot actually) and the famously cool Tiger Woods has been known to shank* one off the first tee (* shank: a completely awful shot that goes off at an embarrassingly stupid angle usually into a tree or a spectators head. You see I’m even helping you with the vocabulary.)

 

In fact the first tee is where it notoriously does go wrong, because whereas Tiger will have practised for two hours before hand, amateurs are likely to have fallen straight out of bed, jumped in the car and turn up still tying the laces on their shoes. Then they get up on the tee, swing a club and slash at the ball with as much strength as they can muster with predictably dire results. Yes, yes, I will get on with it but I just have to give you the feeling of barely suppressed tension that surrounds playing your first shot, even if it’s quiet and you’re among friends.

So picture me a few years ago when in a journalistic moment (long story) I ended up on a golf day run by Golf Monthly Magazine (arguably the most prestigious golf mag in the UK). Nice idea but a little daunting because a) I was the only lady golfer taking part b) I had never met any of the other golfers, amongst whom were the magazine’s national editor, consultant golf pro etc etc.  

So, on the day it began with an early start driving up from Bristol to the Royal Ascot golf club where the event took place and then a long wait for others to arrive, i.e. plenty of time to get the jitters. After a bit of putting practice designed to  settle my nerves (it didn’t) I walked up to watch the first groups *teeing off  (*starting their game) to find that not only was an official photographer in attendance (gulp) but he was in the process of setting up an enormous video camera. Oh, yes, we would all have our tee-shots captured on film. Yikes! I wasn’t the only one who looked faintly sick. Like I say, it’s bad enough teeing off, but being filmed? At that point it all felt like a fate worse than death.  My legs turned to jelly, and believe me that’s a very bad feeling to have when attempting to hit a small white ball.

I’ve just discovered that my inelegant performance is still in the archives – (but don’t feel you have to look!)

At least it doesn’t show where my ball landed, but you can tell from the body language, it was a pretty rubbish shot. Ouch!

But things could only get better. My playing partners turned out tot be a lot of fun and we eventually all got over our nerves. Best of all, That Photographer, when he came out from behind his equipment, was, let’s say, rather easy on the eye,  and happened to be watching when I sank a magnificently long putt. (That’s the getting the ball in the hole part). So here’s his photo of me taking a belated bow.

In the end there was a slap up meal, lots of good prizes and I came third! 

Well worth that moment on the first tee? Yes, definitely, but with five more years of golf under my belt, I’m still not sure I’d want to do it again!

 

Ali’s novel A Kettle of Fish is a rollercoaster family drama set in Scotland and published by Thornberry Publishing (www.thornberrypublishing.com)

Buy it from Amazon UK (Kindle and paperback)

 

 

 

 

 

Where to find Ali

Ali on Facebook

Ali’s Website and blog.

Ali’s Loveahappyending Featured author page