Season of Love is here! While everyone is busy in preparation for the big day or shall I say, special date with their loved ones, I thought it would be nice if we wrote about something different. Something more personal. Something that fits the theme of Valentines Day which we rarely see on a golf site.
As the account manager, I get to meet a lot of our members first hand. And although the majority of our members have significant others, very rarely do I see them both out on the golf course at the same time.
This intrigued me?
Why is that?
Do couples that golf together stay together?
Is this really just a mans game?
To find out, I have decided to contact one of our favorite couples Mr. Soc Bautista and Mrs. Jhen Bautista, to see what they have to say.
Grace: Hi Soc, thank you for this opportunity! I hope that this interview will help and inspire our readers, that golf is more fun if you are playing with the person you love most.
Soc: I would like to start off by saying that taking up golf as a common activity for me and my wife is probably one of the best decisions we have ever made for our marriage and I highly encourage all couples (new and not so new) to consider it as it truly adds to all of the spices needed to make a union very, very interesting. Just be ready for the minor consequences – which mainly deals with shots to your ego as the husband.
Grace: How did each of you start playing golf? Is this a common family sport?
Soc: The short answer is ‘no’, it isn’t a common family sport. We took up golfing in Q4 of 2012 with me starting by joining a neighbor at the driving range. I found that I really liked the sport but I later realized that hitting balls on your own wasn’t any fun so I immediately bought my wife her own, brand-new Mizuno ladies set. My argument then was since I paid so much for it, she might as well try it out and make the most of the expense. We engaged the services of a local Pro in Angeles City and we started on our journey of learning the basics. This went on for a few more months until we decided that we wanted to hit a few courses. That’s when the magic really happened. We just fell in love with the game like you can’t even imagine and we never looked back!
We would drive off for hours to go and play courses in the North and South. It didn’t really matter if we were losing dozens of balls or if our scores were through the roof. What mattered was that we discovered an activity that we could share and that we both loved doing. Today, any family vacation we plan, here and abroad, always has that extra consideration – Is there a nearby golf course that we can play?
Grace:Have you played against each other? Who usually wins and how’s the experience?
Soc: We play each other ALL THE TIME! I know for a fact that my wife secretly keeps track of who’s been winning and losing since we started so I can’t really make up a story here. Forget the fact that I am just now coming back from nursing a broken wrist for a couple of months and that I work nights so when we play in the early morning, I would have been up for at least 15 hours already. Ok, all those factors considered (read – excuses!), here are the facts. She now has 2 Champion trophies to her name, I have one ‘runner up’ plaque. My friends often tell me to give up the game and just consider caddying for my wife (they are no longer my friends).
There was a point in time that my wife kept beating me that I had to do the only course of action that any honest husband could do – I got her pregnant!!! Grace probably remembers this as I asked her to suspend my wife’s GolfPH account during this period. I thought I was able to buy myself some time to improve my game but sadly, that really didn’t help much. Our little girl Kara Louise, is now 14 months old, my wife’s back to her old ways of beating me when we play. Special note to husbands: If you do decide to take on golf with your wife, you need to keep this mantra handy, “A happy wife equals a happy life.”, ‘Nuf said!
Grace Which partner is the better golfer? What are each one’s strengths and weaknesses?
Soc:For the record, I refuse to answer this question after all that I revealed above!
Jhem has a very consistent swing. Her backswing maintains a certain lag regardless of what club she’s swinging. After starting off with the ladies’ set I bought her, she has moved on to Men’s sets and she refuses to go back. She mainly struggles with her approach shots. I’ll tell you her secret. There’s this chipper that we bought off Amazon for $20 and she uses that club non-stop. Anywhere from 10 to 120 Yards! That said, if this chipper was to have a “mysterious disappearing accident”, her game would suffer immensely. Her most unused clubs? Her irons!
I, on the other hand, use all my clubs (using them well is another matter but I use them all nonetheless). I have a pretty decent short game and I out-putt her 9 times out of 10.
Grace: How do you manage your time playing golf and other personal stuff regarding your relationship? Any kids into the game?
Soc: I will not lie, scheduling a round can be very challenging. We have to make do with weekends and on rare occasions, we get to sneak in a weekday round. But then when we miss playing for a couple of weeks, we just drop everything and go play. We have 2 of our boys taking lessons now Santino and Xander (Aged 6 and 4) as we would like them to discover whether they enjoy the game as much as we do. I would like to think of it as my retirement plan.
Grace: How has playing golf helped you in maintaining a healthy relationship?
Soc: At the very start of this article, I said that taking on golf as a couple adds spice to a relationship and it is the truth. When my wife and I play we encourage each other, give each other tips, heckle non-stop and keep each other honest (that practice swing you too hit the ball so it’s counted!). It also gives us some time for ‘us’, away from the kids. We use this time to talk about things that tend to get covered in the details of the daily grind. Things that we would normally forget to discuss as we’re busy attending to the kids at home. Simply put, golfing gives us an extra avenue to be a couple and I think that is a very important aspect in keeping any relationship healthy. Unless, of course, you’re really bad at golf then you’re always cranky. Hehehe …
Grace: What are other benefits that golf has given you?
Soc: Aside from what I mentioned, it allows some form of physical activity for the two of us while having fun. As with any sport you enjoy, you get to work out without actually thinking about it. It is also a great way to meet new friends and broaden your network. Business-related conversations are just so much easier on the course. If you haven’t discovered that yet, you need to get on it, ASAP.
Grace Will you keep playing golf until you’re 60?
Soc: Abso-friggin’-lutely! My wife and I LOVE the game. While the love is not always reciprocal, we enjoy it nonetheless and we will play as a couple even if the only club we can swing is the putter!
Grace: What’s your message to the other golf couples out there who, like you, share common interests in golf?
Soc: No different from any relationship, keep your love and passion for the game burning and alive! Shake things up and keep things interesting all the time. Let your wives win every now and then (I did not just say that!). Seriously though, make your common activity a means to getting to know each other better, at a different level as this will facilitate a better appreciation of the person you love.
Drive it straight!
