Neat story

[deafheaven]

Heard this on good 'ol CBC radio today. They had a half hour long feature on golf.

A Japanese gentleman was booked to play golf at St. Andrews. He had to provide documentation of his handicap index which he did... a 4 if I remember correctly.

So he gets to the first tee and just starts weeping uncontrollably. It takes him a few moments to compose himself and even though he could not do so completely, he finds the strength to tee off and begin his round. Nice straight drive down the middle.

Throughout the round there are many more tears. It continues for all 18 holes. The guy actually manages to play to his handicap.

At the end of it all his caddy tells him it was a bit unusual for someone to be that emotional and to have it continue throughout the entire round. The guy says it was his lifelong dream to play there.

Then he tells the caddy this was his first time to ever play on a golf course. All he had known was a driving range/practice facility and it was they who provided documentation for his handicap.

[twinke masta]

Tell this man to join the PGA Tour!!

[pherg]

Really cool story. Apparently a lot of Japanese golfers are like that, only ever play at the range because it's too hard and expensive to get on one of the courses there.

Imagine if you played your first round ever at St. Andrews and you shot 4 over. I'd be quite happy to never play another round again.

[kevin0807]

wow
seriously, must be very emotional

[microcrayfish]

That's a really cool story. I've heard the stories of how expensive golf is in places like Japan and Korea. One of the courses near me has a little golf academy with accommodation that gets a lot of Koreans because it's cheaper for them to fly here to learn and play for a week or two than to play at home. Really makes you appreciate being able to just drive up to a course, pop down your money and play.