Kiss My Putt (Summersweet Island 1)

Golf Glossary

Apron: The short grass that separates the putting green from rough or fairway.

Back Nine: The last nine holes of an 18-hole golf course. Playing the “back nine” is referred to as “heading in” (towards the clubhouse).

Birdie: A hole played one stroke under par.

Bogey: A hole played one stroke over par.

Caddie: A person hired to carry clubs and provide other assistance.

Cart Girls: A golf course beverage cart attendant, delivering drinks and snacks to golfers on the course.

Cart Path: The route around a golf course, usually paved, which the golf carts should follow.

Clubhouse: The main building or structure of a golf facility which can, but does not necessarily, include the pro shop, food service, locker rooms, bar, offices, and more.

Driver: A type of club generally used to strike the ball the farthest. The club is usually used off of a tee, but is occasionally used in the fairway.

Fairway: The closely mown area between the tee and green.

Green: The closely mown putting area around the hole.

Par: The score a player is expected to make on a hole, either a three, four or five.

Picker: A caged utility vehicle with a front-end contraption to scoop up balls. Rotating discs are pushed into motion as the vehicle moves, acting as a broom that sweeps the balls off the ground and places them into collecting baskets.

Pin: The tall marker, usually a metal pole with a flag at the top, to indicate the position of a hole on the green.

Pitching Wedge: This club has a face angle of more than 50 degrees and is used for short, arcing shots.

Purse: A sum of money offered as a prize at golf tournaments.

Rough: An area outside of the Fairway. The grass is longer making it harder to hit the golf ball cleanly.

Starter: An employee of a golf course who controls pace of play by directing players to the first tee at appropriate times. Other responsibilities include providing course information and helping players with any other golf-related issues.

Tee Box: The area where players hit the ball from at the start of a hole.

Water Hazard: Any kind of open water source, from lakes to streams to ocean to sea or even drainage ditches on the course are termed as water hazard.

“Palmer ‘Pal’ Campbell has epic breakdown on the 18th hole of the Bermuda Open! Video at 11.”

After spending my entire pro golfing career being known as the quiet, controlled, no-nonsense golfer on the tour, there’s nothing more humiliating than throwing all of that down the drain—or into a water hazard—on national television. Needing some place to hide, to lick my wounds and figure out what I even want to do with my life once this blows over, I can only think of one place I need to be. Summersweet Island, where everyone treats me like one of their own, and they’ll all be happy to have me home again.

Well, except maybe one person. It’s been two years since I last set foot on Summersweet Island or spoke to anyone there. But I’m sure Birdie Bennett, my best friend since I was 15 and the clubhouse manager of my favorite golf course, has had plenty of time to forgive me for that tiny little misunderstanding where I blocked her on social media and blocked her in my phone. Oh, and I guess I kind of, sort of accused her of being a stalker. It’s fine!

Once my sexy, spunky, former best friend gets over the shock of seeing me again and stops trying to drive a 9-iron into my skull, I can finally let her know I’ve also kind of, sort of always been in love with her…

For James.

You can stop bugging me for a golf book now.

CHAPTER 1

Palmer

“It takes a lot of balls to golf the way I do.”

“You look like shit, Pal.”

From the 18th hole tee box, I turn my head away from the view of the turquoise water in Bermuda that stretches out as far as the eye can see and find my best friend standing next to my parked golf cart. I’ve been sitting here behind the wheel for the last few hours. I take in Bodhi Armbruster’s flip-flops, khaki cargo shorts, old faded baseball cap on backward over his shaggy, sandy blond hair he hasn’t cut in years, and a T-shirt that says Golf Sucks in big, bold letters across his chest. Which is just wonderful, seeing as we’re on the 18th hole of one of the most exclusive and prestigious golf courses in the world.

“You are literally the most unprofessional caddie ever,” I mutter, staring at his shirt.

Bodhi laughs and slides into the front seat of the cart with me, kicking his feet up on the dashboard and crossing them at the ankles right next to where I have my own feet resting.

“My unprofessional yet comfortable attire is not why I trekked all the way out here to find you. You couldn’t have sat around feeling sorry for yourself on the 2nd hole, could you? God, why do golf courses have to be so large? It’s bullshit. No one needs that much cardio.” Bodhi pauses, picking a piece of lint off the front of his shirt. “Besides, I had this shirt on under the pretentious polo I have to wear during tournaments. I still have to stand in solidarity with my people—my golf-hating people. They depend on me to keep the hate alive.”