Somewhere in a past post I mentioned that the Cuff Links at Boyne Highlands will be offering night golf under the lights- free to resort guests Fridays and Saturdays in June. It sounds like a good opportunity to really turn the screws on buddies after a long day of doing the same. Might be a fun way for families to enjoy the game together too. It may even be fun date material…
Whatever the pretext, I can’t wait.
The only other time I have played night golf- other than stretching a twilight round too far- was at Big Sky Resort a couple summers ago. I was out there for a week of doing something workish during the days and then spending afternoons and a weekend really eating up a Montana August.
The saying out there is “I came out for the winters and stayed for the summers.” If you’ve been there you’re nodding your head right now in agreement. If you haven’t, get crackin! Summer in Big Sky country is as fleeting and sweet as a wild berry.
The hiking, biking, fishing, rafting and sight seeing are all of the sensory overload variety. Couple that with a golf course approximately 7,000 feet above see level and you have the makings of an extremely heady experience. (Note the "heady experience" for later.)
I noticed my shots easily flew a club and a half further than at home. It’s fun to play golf with your irons dropping in at PGA Tour distances.
“Come on? An 8 iron 165-170? I am Tiger Woods!”
Yes, until the ball blows off the back of the greens into a seemingly ever-present bend of the Gallatin River.
“I don’t even care…Did you see how far that 8 iron went?!”
So, back to the night golf thing…
While I was there the resort had a golf outing for the staff. It was a nine-hole scramble at night using glow balls with glow sticks on the pins marking each hole. The night was moonless with clear skies. There were more stars than I’ve ever seen at once- all of them impossibly bright. The Perseid Meteor Shower was helping me conceal my tourist identity by providing an excuse for my constant “Ooohs” and “Aaaahs”. Things were so clear and close that it felt like you could reach up and grab one.
As close and clear as the sky was, the ground was impossible to gauge. In the moonless light everything was as dark as ink. Trusting the bottom of your swing without the use of eyesight can be a real leap of faith…at first.
The unusual playing circumstances and a festive atmosphere meant play was a little slower and more relaxed than usual. I savored every opportunity to breathe the cool mountain air and watch the sky while waiting for the green to clear.
While waiting to hit onto the 6th I noticed a really low, bright meteor streaking through my peripheral vision. Before I could react, the streak ricocheted off the head of one of my teammates, Big Sky’s I.T. manager Dan. He hit the ground speaking in foreign tongues while I marveled at the Nike-like swoosh that was burned into my retinas.
”Ooooh, Ahhhh”
“Ouch...HELLO?”
“Oh yeah. Are you o.k.? Let me help you up.”
In case you didn’t figure it out. Dan was nailed in the head by a glow ball. He was fine. Glow balls are really soft-(easy for me to say). He toughed out the last of the round holding an ice cold beverage to his head.
I am the only one showing any lasting effects of that event. I still have the streak of that glow ball and that Montana nightscape burnt into the eyes of my soul.
-JJ
