I’m just a writer, but I’ll do my best to paint you a picture. It’s a modern circus, but with a golf twist. The characters are female athletes who hone their skills in the green landscape of a golf course. Some travel in packs, some travel alone. Anyway, we all follow a parade of vans that arrive at new locations each week. Our lives are packed into a few suitcases, unpacked and repacked. We often eat with our heads resting on different pillows and our feet on the gas. We tune all of this while looking for the perfect performance each week.
The circus is a beast. And you have to pull back the curtain to see its true beauty.
As with any brigade, time on the road is far from enjoyable. Holidays spent in dream destination lakes and other beautiful locations are rarer than most observers know. I once expected to deliver at least one of these epic moments every week, and in my second year, the beastly beauty of this journey outshines any of the pictures I have stored in my camera roll. I learned that it comes in a different form that is much richer, more meaningful, and more valuable in the long run.
It’s images, emotions, and impulses that are burned deep into our souls. It’s a flame that sometimes resembles the slow burning of a candle.
The beauty of the beast is this desire that dwells in our hearts. Over 130 girls join new tournament sites each week. Each endures long days of travel and feels the discomfort of arriving at a new destination. We are either riding at our best from the good week before or rebounding from a few bad days with a sport full of sports. Our lives probably don’t seem all that glamorous compared to our families. I have also seen the world through that lens. It’s fascinating, especially when the pain of loneliness flares up like a recurring illness.
But there are also common ties that most people don’t see.
we are chasing our dreams We give up the easy things now in order to hope for something more rewarding later. Over 100 girls sacrifice their job security for paychecks every week. They’re betting on themselves, investing time, money, energy, and inspiration in monetary return, but more importantly, pride. And if they don’t make it, they can rest in knowing that they gave absolutely everything. Most importantly, the occasional fist pump and a yes.
This image was seen when Ashley Buhai won the AIG Women’s Open. She has spent her fifteen years running through fire and fighting wild beasts. After her four playoff holes, everyone could see her beauty they knew she had been there all along.
She didn’t even know how to react when the last putt fell. Shocked by her and devastated by her emotions, she pulled her hat over her face and vented her emotions. There was a simple beauty in her stillness. After her 221 chances, she realized her first victory.
My husband couldn’t contain his excitement. Dave Buhay threw her hat in the crowd, sprinted to her wife, grabbed her, kissed her, and lifted her into the air.
No words were needed. They tamed the beast and revealed its beauty.
We are the privileged few who can run through this flame and have the passion to overcome the pain. Face the moment in front of you without losing sight of the moment at the end of the tunnel. When we see that light at the end, when we see the distant bonfire that we have so long sought and failed to find, we will see the whole journey.
And when you look at it, you also see the beauty of our beast.
