Golf Found Me at Gulf Harbour: Lidka Washington

When Lidka Washington and her husband toured Gulf Harbour, she noticed something right away.

"People we came across seemed friendly and busy doing things, rushing off to different activities," she recalls. "It felt welcoming and just very cozy."

Golf was on her radar, but nothing too serious. She had taken a handful of lessons years ago and never once played on a course. She had no plans to be a golfer.

That changed.

Three years after joining, Lidka plays golf frequently during the winter season, holds a weekly lesson slot she rarely misses and counts women she met through the Ladies' Nine Hole League as close friends.

She describes the game as "addictive, in a good way."

Something New

Lidka and her husband went back and forth with the membership office for some time before committing in December 2022.

They were drawn to the combination of golf, tennis, the wellness center and the waterfront setting. What sealed it was the atmosphere.

During their tour, Lidka took a tryout lesson with one of the club's golf professionals. "I was really bad," she says, "but I enjoyed it. I thought, I'll give it a try. It's something active to do."

She wasn't promised a fast track to becoming a good golfer. She was simply encouraged to see how it felt.

"I like to be active. I like to be outside doing things, especially with other people," she says. "Golf — you play in a foursome, so you meet other people. It felt like it might work for me."

Patient Progress, Real Improvement

Lidka started taking weekly lessons. "It was very challenging in the beginning, very difficult for me to even make contact with the ball," she says. She leaned on a piece of advice from other members: it takes time, so be patient.

About two months in, her instructor suggested she join the Ladies' Nine Hole League. "Women's league sounds so official," she remembers. "I didn't feel I was good enough."

She joined anyway, and what she found surprised her. The league has over a hundred women of different ages and varying skill levels. Each week she plays with a different group.

"We've all been there," she added. She now passes that same phrase along to newer members herself.

"We are all a work in progress. You can't think that after a few months, you've figured it out."

What the Game Has Become

Three years into it, Lidka plays three times a week: once with the Nine Hole League, once in a foursome with women she met through the league and once with her husband. In between rounds, she continues her weekly lesson.

"I learn one or two things, and then I work on those things throughout the week," she explains. "Then I go back and try to improve."

She and her husband participate in club events like the Sweetheart Scramble and the club championship, which mix players and create opportunities to meet people they wouldn't otherwise encounter.

"Every time I play, it's a different game," she says. "The terrain, where the ball lands, is always a different situation. I need to evaluate the next shot, consider the distance, and choose the right club. It's physical, but it's also very mental, which I really like. It keeps my focus and takes my mind off everything else."

She says golf humbles her, especially when a shot she's hit well before suddenly doesn't go as expected. But then something happens that pulls her back, like the time she holed out from a deep sand trap beside the out-of-sight 18th green.

"When I do get a good shot, it's a wonderful feeling," she says. "It makes me come back for more."

Take the Chance

Lidka fondly recalls her post-round lunches following league play. Players gather, then the golf professional goes over the results and takes questions about rules and situations that came up that day.

"We are not like people who know all the rules," she says, laughing. The pro walks through each scenario, explaining what a player can and can't do with their ball in a given position.

Lidka still considers herself a work in progress. So does her husband. So, she notes, does their golf professional — who says he always has something he's working to improve.

Her advice to anyone thinking about membership who isn't sure about golf: "If you're looking for a new activity and think golf might be it, then you are in the same situation I was in when I joined. You just have to take a chance. I did, and I'm happy."

Ask questions. See if it feels right. That's exactly what Lidka did, and it was the right call.