Plus size lady golfers are a forgotten demographic.

Karon Speed

Plus size  lady golfers are a forgotten demographic when it comes to clothing in most pro shops and specialty golf stores in the Toronto area.  Why is that???  (Yes we golf and some of us even break 90 on those rare occasions when the golf gods are smiling.)

Good thing that doesn’t stop us from playing all the courses from the prestigious Auckland Golf Club in New Zealand to Hawaii’s big island course Waikoloa, Ontario’s Wooden Sticks or Club Link courses like Glen Abbey, Angus Glen, Bond Head etc. etc. etc. or as my son says yadda yadda yadda.  As long as you have the price of membership or green fees anyone can play.  I’ve played those and lots of others in my 63 yrs.

Yes Dad, you were right when I quit golf at 15 years of age in Winnipeg after playing for 6 years at Rossmere and hating the fact that I couldn’t control my emotions on all those little city tournaments.  You said I would thank you one day for those lessons, winter and summer, from the terrific and ever so patient Jerry Morrissey. I fell in love with the game 30 years later when I found out you didn’t have to compete but could go out and just have fun.   Wish you could have lived long enough so I could have seen your face 18 years ago when I said “Thank you Dad!”

Of course all the courses mentioned so far are gorgeous.  They charge the huge green fees that keep the greens keepers busy manicuring fairways, greens and tee boxes.  Who wouldn’t enjoy playing any of those.  They are mostly in tip top condition, challenging and well marshalled with elegant club houses.

But it doesn’t take all that for me to have a great day on the links.  Just give me a buddy or three and  a sunny day and I’m off to any course where we can get a reasonable deal and 18 holes of golf.

Our ”home” club is Ayren Links Golf Club in Bowmanville.   I knew I would fit in perfectly 7 years ago when I checked into the pro shop and the owner Mau told me to go home and do my housework!   He is a real character and I love his wicked sense of humour.   His wife Betty and daughters-in-law Maureen and Brenda are salt of the earth and keep everything running smoothly in the pro shop/club house.  Most of the staff are family or friends and they all really make you feel at home.

The course has come a long way in the 7 years I have played there.  In the last year in particular as the ownership is gently passing from father to sons the sons are making their presence known in a gradual reconfiguration of the course.  Where fairways were once cut so close it was almost impossible to lose a ball, there is now a change of mower heights creating a little more rough and more interesting look and challenge to the holes.

The size of some of the greens are being pared down and reshaped to offer more challenge to the elusive arts of pitching and putting.  The pin placements sometimes show that wicked sense of humour being passed down from father to son.  But we old gals love the new challenge.  However the thing we love most of all are the new ladies tees which have moved down the fairway on many of the longer holes cutting them down from par 5’s to par 4’s.  Bravo!  (There is an ongoing family battle on the ladies tee placement on #12.  Although my vote counts for nothing  puhleeze keep it in the middle of the fairway and not at the fence . )

The signature 13th hole is a little par 3 where you are shooting from the tree tops down to one of 2 greens forward or back.  On many days you will find Larry the gardener/wizard landscaper there patiently working his magic.  If you are lucky enough to encounter him ask him about his friend Fred.

The views from the 3rd  and 6th tees are breathtaking.  So many happy memories are found there of friends old and new staring out over the pastoral views proclaiming how lucky we are to be alive and able to indulge ourselves immersed in the wonderful game of golf.

The older I get the better I was.  Karon