Chris Yoder

My name is Chris and I picked up golf in mid-March towards the start of quarantine because I was working at a golf course and had nothing better to do. I had never swung a golf club before, even though I had been working at Towne Lake Hills Golf Club for close to a year at that point. Every time a member would try and make small talk with me about how they played that day, it was always really awkward because they just assumed I was a golfer and knew what they were talking about, but I absolutely did not.

In order to golf, you need clubs, and I did not have any, so I asked a couple of my rich friends who did actually golf if they had any spare clubs lying around, and luckily I was given a set. I played for the first time about 36 hours after my first time swinging a club ever, and it went about how you’d expect, but I was still having fun.

Just like that, I was hooked over the rest of spring and through the summer, there were only a handful of days where I wasn’t at Towne Lake Hills either working, playing golf, or practicing. I only missed days when it rained or I had some other commitment, but even that sometimes didn’t stop me.

Now that I live in Athens I picked up a job doing the same thing at a different golf club, this one called The Georgia Club, and I still golf all the time. I have a whole new set of clubs that I was either given by generous friends or I bought myself, and all new clothes and accessories. I play constantly, and even have started to watch professional golf.

The best part? I am still an objectively terrible golfer, with a swing lacking any kind of rhythm and no idea what I’m doing out there. But hey, I'll probably be out there again tomorrow.