Hampton & Rabbit: Zen Golf

Hamish frisbees throw his Ray-Bans off and squints his eyes, much like Henry Fonda in dry western desert, as he looks outside to the scene of Rabbit kneeling over his surfboard, and framed by the sand dunes behind him.

Taking this as a cue, Alexa deftly opens a kitchen drawer and flips him a golf ball. With lightning-quick reflexes, Hamish catches it back-handed, first baser style. As he twists the ball in his hand, he sees the inscription, “Pebble Beach Pro-Am 2018.”

Hamish tells her, “Not quite what I was hoping for, but it’ll do.”

Alexa responds with a teasing smile, “Somewhat like your golf swing?”

He smirks and fires back, “Somewhat like my assistant.”

Alexa kicks back, “Oh, that was well played!”

Hamish, matching her wit, quips back, “Ditto.”

Alexa stands before him, holding a driver in each hand, offering one for him to take and the other held. A reserve.

Hamish chooses the driver she is handing to him, a non-conforming Japanese PRGR Super Egg Driver. They don’t allow play with that club at Shinnecock Hills, which is why Hamish does not play there.

Now Alexa is having fun with his mocking her as she scurries ahead of him to the patio. She slides open one wing of door, holds her arm out and points the way forward, gracefully bending into a short bow.

Hamish quietly mutters, “Easy easy”, as he passes her while rolling his eyes.

In response, Alexa replies, “Too easy, sir,” as she tosses Hamish a tee and then steps into a sliver of shadow at the front of the house.

Hamish places the ball on the tee in the grass, positioned inches away from a path that runs along the fence line, above the grasses and dunes leading to the beach and vast Atlantic Ocean.

Now a ritual begins: Hamish quietens his thoughts, drowning out the ambient sounds of wave meeting water, and focuses on his interconnectedness to the ball and the intended trajectory.

This zen-like state lasts for no time before a wild thought breaks through, “A remake of Enter the Dragon?”

Dashed that he cannot seem to hold a meditation, he reassures himself that it is only a swing, and just like that, the ball is flying soothingly straight over the break of waves.

Rabbit’s voice carries over, “Dad, I like the sound of your ‘ping’.”

Hamish re-twists toward him and calls back, “Thanks, I thought it was more of a ‘whack’.”

As he returns to some interim business in the house, Hamish points his driver toward Rabbit and adds, “Hey Rabbit, wait there for me, I’ll be right back.”