The Allure of Golf

My name is Gary Berman and I’m a golf addict. No, I’m not confessing. I’m bragging. Since retiring from my job at the U.S. Dept. of HUD in 2003, I have been on a whirlwind adventure pursuing my golf dreams in Connecticut, New England and all across the country. In this blog I will be sharing my stories of golf trips with you and hopefully give you insights on courses to play and golf destinations to explore.

I have played nearly 400 courses in 28 different states, the majority in New England, including every public access course in Connecticut. We are fortunate to have two terrific courses in Simsbury (Simsbury Farms and Tower Ridge) and several others in the area in general with Gillette Ridge and Wintonbury Hills in Bloomfield and Rockledge in West Hartford. Golfers are extremely fortunate in having the great state of Massachusetts to our immediate north where there are scores of terrific courses, which you may not have played or heard about. I’ll be reporting on these in future blogs. In addition to day trips, I like to expand the range of my golf by doing an occasional overnight or two night stay in slightly more distant venues like upstate New York or the coast of Maine. Hopefully I can give you some new ideas on where to play.

I am often asked what it is that I love about golf. The easy answer is EVERYTHING. Most notable is the playing field. To me, there are few things more beautiful than a well-designed and maintained golf course. I have played desert courses, mountain courses, links and parkland courses and they all have their own unique look and beauty. The sense of exhilaration I get standing on the first tee at the Princeville course in Kauai (Hawaii) or Tobacco Road (North Carolina) or Red Tail (Massachusetts) or Ballybunion in Ireland (boy, what a name dropper) is one of the more exciting moments in life. I fairly pulse with anticipation knowing I am about to spend four hours on a brilliantly designed course matching wits with the course architect (and invariably coming up short) and trying to control my emotions and expectations.

Golf is also a great way to get some moderate exercise, assuming you don’t take an electric/gas cart. Carrying or pulling a cart certainly adds to the joy of the game, gives you time to look around and enjoy the view (and, of course, more easily locate lost golf balls). Most importantly, golf gives you insights into human nature, makes you sexier and a better lover. (Okay, my wife doesn’t buy that either!)

I have just returned from my sixth trip to Pinehurst, North Carolina and will be telling you about some of the great courses in this wonderful resort area in my next posting.