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February 10, 2007

That Time I Lost Three Balls Playing Mini-Golf In Palm Springs

This was one of those weeks where I reflected on why I am an idiot for not living in a warmer climate/ Southern California

So I didn't realize how desperately I needed a vacation/ trip to someplace warm and sunny until I stepped off the plane in Palm Springs earlier this week. This winter hasn't been particularly oppressive in C@L, freakish snow- and/ or windstorms notwithstanding. We had a couple cold spells, but the sun has been more involved than it was last year, and the rain hasn't been as consistently dull.

Still, stepping out into the evening desert air at Palm Springs/ Playstation Portable (PSP) airport was a shock. Just the smell of the air was enough to convince me that I was someplace warm and friendly. Wow. Jackets would not be required. And when I saw the sun the next morning, it got that much better. Warm is good.

For the record, we weren't actually staying in Palm Springs. We were in Palm Desert, which was a decidedly more sincere and appropriate name for this odd outpost that was, by all accounts, smack in the middle of a desert. And I mean a real desert, with sand dunes and all that. Hmmm. Let us not reflect on the ecological catastrophe...I mean, engineering marvel that is required to keep that place watered and running, including but not limitied to the golf courses at the resort where we stayed.

The trip was a work-related junket, and a relatively busy one at that. So while we didn't have time for an actual round of golf, we managed to sneak in a quick round of mini-golf. The mini-golf course was pretty legit, in that (a) it was actual grass, (b) instead of windmills and oversized clowns it featured significant dips and bumps, and (c) the guy at the pro shop made us take extra balls "in case we lost one."

In case we lost one? At the mini-golf course? How in the hell was that going to happen? The guy insisted that we'd need them. I scoffed a little bit at him, but dutifully took my three beat-up range balls and headed out to the course.

The first couple holes were pretty mellow, and I remained pretty baffled about the extra balls thing. It was a treat to be playing mini-golf (if only because it meant I was outside in the sun), though, so I wasn't complaining.

Then came the fourth hole. Turns out the dude at the pro shop knew his biznass.

The first three people in the group stuck our first shots in the water; the fourth avoided it by essentially whacking his ball off the putting green. That's right. Three of us -- in a row -- hit the exact same shot into the damn pond. In all fairness, the way the green was banked, there was really no way to avoid it. If you tried to hit the ball along the green, your shot was rolling into the pond. The dude at the pro shop was right. Also, it looked like we weren't the first ones to stick a ball in said pond:

Of course, I have no real excuse for the next two balls I lost: I stuck another one in a pond and thumped the third one into the parking lot (mericfully not striking any parked cars) in a moment of general ramminess near the end of the round. Those were on me.

In summary, tip of the cap to Palm Springs and its goofy mini-golf courses. Also, I need to get me to sunshine more often in these dark winter months.

Posted by thatkid at February 10, 2007 4:22 PM under ThatKid

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