The idea first came to us in Portugal. We were on a golf vacation with a Pro and 8 very new golf players. The mornings were spent on the driving range, and then we played the course after lunch. And when we were finished some of us went out to play as many holes as we could until it suddenly got dark, as it does in Portugal in November.

However, we kept playing and went in the direction that the sound of the ball indicated. As a matter of fact we often found it. So, the dream was to play a round in the dark, or at least without much sunlight.

It is now one year later and December back in Germany. Yesterday we started playing at 16.30, and someone told us that it would only be enough light for about half an hours play. He was right. Even the first ball sort of disappeared on us. But we guessed where it was and found it again. After having played four holes the two of us decided it was time to take out my special ball and play it alternately.

This ball lights up when you hit it. Whack! It disappears with a pulsating red light and appears-disappears-appears-disappears across the sky, lands on the grass and rolls into a position far away where it sends out its light in our direction. Wow! That was fun. The two of us were just standing at the tee off, looking in the direction of the ball.

We were able to play all of the last 9 holes that evening and came into the club house at least 1,5 hours after every one else.

Next time though, I think we will bring two balls. The shop told me that the ball stops blinking after 5 minutes, and sometimes those 5 minutes were very short. In addition, it did not seem that hitting the ball while it was blinking extended the time. This meant that we twice hit the ball into the rough just as the ball decided to turn itself off. We found it though after having stamped around for a while. So, next time the game will be played with two balls that get whacked alternately. And if we can find balls that give out different lights, we can play against each other.

Golf is a strange and wonderful game!