I had a rather amusing little adventure at the driving range this week.

I arrived earlier than usual one morning and immediately found a free bay, so I set myself up. After a fairly long warm-up without balls, I started hitting a few shots with my pitching wedge, as usual. Then I moved up the club order : a pitch wedge shot, a 7-iron, a pitch wedge, a 5-iron, a pitch wedge, a 4-iron, and so on.

As this was a session where I’d decided to get my driver out again to try and improve that shot a little – one I still struggle with quite a bit – after a while I picked up the driver, started my backswing, and then disaster struck !

At the top of my backswing, I literally smashed the fan mounted on the pillar behind me.

Of course, it made a terrible noise. Everyone turned round. Some smiled, others laughed, but I was really embarrassed.

The driving range manager came over straight away and explained what had happened : in the afternoon, when the sun is directly in front of you, some users tend to move the mats back to get into the shade.

That morning, the gentleman who runs the driving range so well arrived a little later and didn’t have time to put all the mats back in their proper places before the users arrived. Quite simply, the mat was very poorly positioned, far too close to the pillar supporting the fan, and I hadn’t noticed.

So the head of my driver smashed the plastic propeller.

It’s worth mentioning that my driver’s shaft is the maximum length, and at 1.93 metres tall, that gives me quite a swing.

I wasn’t really to blame for what happened.

Nevertheless, this gentleman came up to me and said, ‘You have to pay for the damage – that’s the rule.’

I simply asked how much I owed, and he asked for 400 baht, adding, ‘I’ll go to the market later to buy another propeller. ”

400 baht is a bit over ten euros.

I didn’t go back to the practice range for four days – not because I was particularly ashamed, but simply because I had other things to do.

This morning I was back at the driving range quite early. Before heading over to a free mat, I made sure it was pushed as far forward as possible, well clear of the fan.

Just as I was starting to warm up, the manager of the driving range came over to me, smiling as usual, and pointed to the fan a little further away, opposite another mat, saying : ‘I’ve fixed it ; I found a friend at the market who supplied me with a cheap propeller. It only cost me 100 baht, so I’ll give you 300 baht back.’

He handed me my notes, bowed and walked back to his little reception desk.
This time, I was able to get back to my practice session with peace of mind.

It’s also these little details that make golf in Thailand so charming.