Golf—a microwave for relationships.

It speeds things up.

There’s a line I haven’t been able to shake. I heard it during a trip to Ohoopee earlier this year, and I’m still thinking about it. Not sure who said it, but the second I heard it, I knew it was true:

“Golf is like a microwave for relationships.”

It speeds things up. Brings people to a boil fast. Not in a dramatic way, but in a revealing one. You really see someone after a round of golf. How they handle pressure. How they respond to a bad break. How they carry themselves through frustration. You learn whether they listen, whether they laugh easily, whether they take joy in your good shots or only care about their own.

I met Lily Walker at St Andrews last year. She caddied 36 holes for me in 24 hours, but we became fast friends after just one hole.

You don’t get that depth from a coffee date. Or a quick work meeting. Or even a long dinner. But 18 holes? That’s a four-hour window into someone’s wiring.

I played a round on Friday with someone I’d only briefly met last summer. I had a hunch s…