SIGHTS
A parking lot filled with vehicles and golfers (swapping street shoes for golf shoes, loading and unloading golf bags from the car’s trunk, setting up carts, organizing tees and golf balls, slathering on sunscreen, stowing water bottles in one’s bag, tugging on a golf glove), off-white carts buzzing along paths and queuing by the pro shop, greenery and well-tended landscaping, a driving range (stalls with rubber tees and baskets of balls, a field pocked with range balls, distance markers and targets, an employee driving a motorized ball collector), a putting green (golfers practicing using one of the holes placed at intervals on a small green), a pro shop (selling golf clothing, brand name golfing equipment and supplies, rulebooks and handbooks, giftware and items with the golf course’s name and logo on them), a clubhouse locker room (a changing area with lockers and benches), a lounge for after-round gatherings (often decorated with retro golf paraphernalia, trophies and framed pictures from past tournaments, the course’s flag or emblem), a patio area with umbrellas and chairs, course marshals in golf carts keeping tabs on the place, golfers carrying their bags to the first hole (tee-off areas marked with sand-filled divots, broken tees lying in the grass, a sign displaying the hole’s yardage and placement of hazards, distant flags marking the holes), carts buzzing along the fairway, freestanding bathrooms, reed-ensconced water hazards, ducks and other waterfowl, sand traps of various depths and sizes, frustrated golfers searching through the rough to find their ball, a deer bounding across the course and into the tree line, a concession cart pulling up to offer snacks and cold beverages
SOUNDS
The electronic whir of a golf cart, players talking as they walk the fairway, the tock of a ball hitting a tree, swearing and muttering, a golfer overdriving his shot and yelling “fore!” to the group ahead, a shout going up as someone in one’s group makes eagle, the rattle of clubs hitting one another as a bag is jostled on a cart, the tab popping on a soda or beer can, the drag of a rake through a sand trap, a golfer tromping around in the tree line in his spiked shoes, maintenance equipment (mowers, leaf blowers, etc.), the patterned spritzing of automatic sprinklers
SMELLS
Fresh-mown grass, cologne, sweat, body odor and deodorant, stale beer breath, freshness after a rainfall, exhaust near the parking lot or maintenance shed area, cooking smells (steak, pizza, burgers) from the lounge kitchen
TASTES
Cold beer, fizzy pop, water, hot dogs and chips from the concession cart, food ordered in the lounge (pizza, fries, calamari, chicken wings, steak, and other clubhouse fare)
TEXTURES AND SENSATIONS
A golf glove fitted snugly to one’s hand, shoes sinking into the spongy turf, pulling knitted head covers from a set of clubs, playing with a ball while waiting to tee off, fitting one’s hand firmly around the club’s grip, widening one’s stance when readying for a shot, the back and forth motion of a practice swing, pressing the ball and tee into the turf, slapping at mosquitoes, the bumpiness of a fast golf cart zipping down the fairway, being scratched by branches while making a shot along the tree line, using a GPS device to check the distance to the hole, lifting a flag from its placement so others can finish their shots, sand from a trap getting into one’s shoes and pant cuffs
POSSIBLE SOURCES OF CONFLICT
A golf partner with poor etiquette (playing out of turn, talking while others shoot, cheating, etc.)
Alcohol-fueled cart driving that ends in injury or property damage
Being struck by lightning
Coming across a mother bear and her cub when retrieving a ball from the woods
Friction between neighbors or office workers spilling over to the golf course
Overhearing a golfer in the locker room bragging about conquests and discovering that the woman involved is one’s own wife
PEOPLE COMMONLY FOUND HERE
Course marshals, golf pros, golfers, greenkeepers, maintenance workers, pro shop staff and administration
RELATED SETTINGS THAT MAY TIE IN WITH THIS ONE
Rural Volume: Forest, lake, pond
Urban Volume: Parking lot, sporting event stands
SETTING NOTES AND TIPS
Most golf courses have eighteen holes of varying lengths and difficulty, but there are also simpler par-three courses more suited to families and amateur golfers, as well as courses with twenty-seven holes. Most are open to the public, but some are private; the latter are generally better kept as the membership dues pay for newer equipment. The clubhouse may be sparse, no more than a functional meet-up place before and after a game, or it could be an opulent rec center acting as a symbol of the financial status of its members.
SETTING DESCRIPTION EXAMPLE
Argo, my co-worker and best-ball partner, strutted up to the first hole, his blindingly yellow and pink tartan sweater vest and red pants bleaching out the lush turf. We traded friendly hellos, but it was all I could do not to cry. Someone back at the office was having a good laugh, pairing us together for this tournament. When our turn came, I motioned for Argo to tee off first so I’d know what I was dealing with. Please let him be a bad dresser and a good golfer. But when he drew out his sand wedge instead of his driver, I knew it would be a very long eighteen holes.
Techniques and Devices Used: Contrast
Resulting Effects: Characterization, foreshadowing