In the summer of 2020, when we were fully immersed in quarantine life, I got the good news that our Club’s course was opening up again and my friend wanted to make a tee time. We agreed to meet on the course, promising each other a safe distance or whatever we had to do to play the game. Little did I know that the game of golf that day would help me and so many others heal from one of the most difficult times in our life.

Now knowing what we know about COVID-19, looking back, it sounds strange that during the pandemic we had to wait for the course to re-open. New rules were created, like taking separate carts, keeping a safe distance, using hand sanitizer, not touching the pins, and many other things. At that point, COVID-19 had spread around the world and we were uncertain about its lasting effects. Our children had been in remote school since March 2020 and most of us were now working from home. Quarantine life had been settling in and its effects were just starting to show.

I remember vividly the feeling of seeing my friend in person for the first time that summer. For how long we had all been isolated that winter, it was terrifying and also incredibly freeing to finally be able to see each other and enjoy some much-needed social time outdoors.  At this time in the pandemic, golf and tennis were considered the safest sports to play.  On the course, we compared how the kids were dealing with online life and admitted how remote work was taking over ours. It was like two long-lost friends seeing each other for the first time after years of being apart but in reality, it was just a few months of quarantine.   I wanted to give her a hug but kept a safe distance so our germs would not cross. I didn’t realize how much I needed human connection outside my immediate family until that moment. We laughed, we cried, we made fun of each other’s shots, and even came up with a new nickname for our twosome.It was exactly what I needed on that day back in 2020 that has since stuck with me.  Who knew golf would be the much-needed escape from our current COVID reality?

I met with that friend one day every week for 12 weeks on that course that year. We even played in the freezing tempsof a Northern Illinois December just to swing the club and have some laughs to break away from the mundane days of pandemic life. I will always be grateful for the time we had on the course together. It not only lifted my spirits to have a standing tee time each week, but it was also refreshing to be outdoors exercising along with some friendly competition. It was never just about the game, it was about the connection, conversation, and sharing of experiences during quarantine.

But it was also about something else for me that pandemic year. I wondered why I turned to the game of golf in the first place. I had never played, always sending my family out on the course for some time to relax as a busy working Mom, but this year was different. With all the challenges the pandemic brought that year, why would I add another insurmountable task to my plate?

Emerging from the pandemic two years later, I reflected on what the game of golf taught me. It’s a humbling game for most of us. As I thought about what brought me back round after round, it was the sense of failure, so raw and tangible in the game, more than the triumphs. From the quadruple bogies on hole 4 that we could never seem to par or the pond on hole 6 that took too many of my drives, I needed to prove to myself I could fail and rise again. The failure every day on the course was actually how I began to heal from the pandemic. Facing failure gave me hope. If I could learn the game and succeed at learning the game, I could do anything. The small positive changes in my game over time gave me confidence and the ability to find control in my newly quarantined life. It didn’t take long before I was birding hole 5 and finally got over that pond.

It all started that day back in 2020 when a friend reached out and invited me to play. I not only learned the game that year but more importantly, I am now able to play 9 holes with my husband and two sons, aged 10 and 7. That one friend has grown into 10 women who meet every week on the course for 9 holes and great conversation. Golf is so much more than a game.  It’s about overcoming challenges, making new friendships, and having fun.  As long as we encourage each other, even through the failures, is what golf and life are all about.