“I’m surprised it’s not more crowded,” Andrea commented. There were only a few others there hitting balls.

“It’s too nice of a day. People are out on the course. It’s usually busier in the morning.”

“Oh, that makes sense.”

“Okay, so first thing. This is how to hold your club.” Ben demonstrated the proper way to grip and hold the club. He checked Andrea’s positioning and had her move her hands down a bit.

“So, you want to keep your arms straight, but not locked straight, if that makes sense.” He showed her what he meant and then she tried to do the same.

“Good! Okay, now we try to hit the ball.” He hit a few to show her the way to swing and then he had her try it.

“Remember head down, arms straight.” She swung and missed and felt like an idiot.

“Don’t worry about that. Everyone does it. Keep your feet flat. You came up on your toes that time. Did you feel it?”

She hit again and again and again. Just when she thought she had it, her next hit would be awful.

“This is a frustrating game,” she said.

Ben laughed. “It can be. It’s as much a mental game as a physical one. The more you hit, the more you play the game, the easier it will get and the better you’ll play.”

They hit balls for about an hour and by the end of it, Andrea was hitting much better. Her balls didn’t go anywhere near as far as Ben’s did, but they were going straighter, which he said was a good thing.

“Let’s work on our short game now and our putting.” Ben showed her how to hit with her different clubs and how to chip, pitch and putt. It was a lot, but Andrea had fun learning and Ben was encouraging.

When they finished up, Andrea got up her courage to ask if he wanted to grab a bite to eat. “On me, of course. I’d love to thank you for the lesson.”

Ben hesitated for a moment before smiling and agreeing. “How can I say no to that. You did really great today. We’re not far from the club I belong to. Want to go have a drink there?” he suggested.

“Sure.” Andrea had driven by Nantucket’s newest golf club a million times but had never been there. She’d always been curious about what it would be like. She knew it was very expensive to join, something crazy like a million-dollar initiation fee. Way out of her budget. She’d suggested to her grandfather once that he should join for the family and he laughed at the idea. He was a wealthy man but told her that was a ridiculous amount of money and he didn’t like golfing, anyway.