Jimmy, owner of the Finch Golf Club, raced his cart over to hole 5. After getting off the phone with an angry club member, he needed to check on the state of the hole. Sure enough, as he arrived, a big sign on the tee box stated that the hole was closed for redecorating.
Marty and Marla were halfway down the fairway, disassembling a 15-foot-high college football helmet. The pair headed the Decorating Committee. The organization held evening functions on the course after golf was over for the day.
Jimmy noted that all around the course, members of the organization took down college football decorations that could only have been up for a couple of weeks after they replaced the Labor Day decorations.
Marty whispered something to Marla as Jimmy approached, and then they both stood ready.
“Listen, we’ve talked about this,” Jimmy started.
“Jimmy, we’re really sorry, but a decorating emergency occurred,” Marla said.
“Which was?”
“The Southgate Tea Club had to move their fall equinox party because of flooding at the art museum,” Marty said, “So we got the call. It’s a huge deal to have such an important gathering.”
“What is a fall equinox party?” Jimmy asked. This change of scenery was not in the normal decorating schedule.
“It’s a party to celebrate the end of summer,” Marla said. “The truth is that we are a bit lost for decoration ideas.”
“How about golf course themed?” Jimmy suggested sarcastically. “Then we don’t have to continue the rest of this conversation.”
“We kind of have a fall theme, and we’re also using some giant scales to represent balance. We’ll have lighting that simulates sunsets.”
“You can’t close a hole. It’s a golf course.” Jimmy said.
“But no one will miss one hole,” Marty said. “There are 18 of them.”
“And you need all of them to figure out your handicap,” Jimmy said. “It’s in the rules for you to adopt the golf hole. You have to keep the hole playable at all times.”
“And we usually can keep the course open, but we only have a few hours until this party.”
“Can’t the golfers play around you?” Jimmy suggested. “They’ll yell fore.”
“Decorating is an art,” Marty said. “You need to be able to concentrate on the task at hand.”
“Sounds like golf,” Jimmy said. “Either you reopen the golf hole, or I turn on the sprinklers. It’s your call.”
“How about this,” Marla said, “We’ll decorate the clubhouse for a year—every holiday. You hate decorating.”
“That’s true.”
“What do you say, Jimmy? Just today?” Marty and Marla smiled at him.
“We need a new sign,” Jimmy said. He really did hate decorating. “It needs to go on the tee, and it needs to say: Hole 5—Free Birdies today, to celebrate the start of fall.”
The Finch Golf Club is part of a series, you can read other entries here.