At a weekly competition in Greenville, S.C., strangers become friends, and everybody in the field has a puncher's chance.
Creagh Cross A community that plays together stays together. In his influential book, “Bowling Alone,” the scholar Robert D. Putnam described public gatherings and group activities as fundamental to the greater good.
Without them, he argued, the social fabric frays. Putnam used bowling leagues as a prime example. But golf outings could have worked as well.
That thought occurred to me a few months back when I found myself in Greenville, S.C., playing a short course in a fivesome under the lights.
Music piped from a nearby speaker. There was money on the line but the mood was light. Though I’d just met my partners, they seemed like friends.
“Get in the hole!” one of them shouted when I surprised myself by sending a 9-iron toward the flag. Established in 2000, 3’s Greenville is a come-one, come-all green-grass venue built around good food, good vibes and par-3 fun. A lot of what it offers breaks with golf traditions.
There are no starchy dress codes or tweedy customs. You don’t have to take your hat off when you step inside the “grubhouse.” The only hard-fast rule is what 3’s founder Davis Sezna calls “the Aretha Franklin.
” “We just ask that everybody treat everybody else with respect,” he says. Even as it rolls out alt-golf entertainment, 3’s also revels in the time-worn traits that make golf great: the camaraderie, the exercise.