It’s summer, finally, and our thoughts have turned to outdoor activities. So why not combine sports with a little romance? If you like baseball, specifically the Red Sox, and golf, you’re in luck. Romance seems to be in the air at the ballpark and on the links this summer.

Maybe I’m a little biased because I cover sports for the Bangor Daily News, but an athletic event is a great way for a couple to determine compatibility and chemistry.

A person’s true colors can come out on a play date. If you’re playing golf, for example, does the male in the couple get jealous if his female partner’s drive off the tee is longer than his? Does one partner get frustrated if the other spends a lot of time looking for a ball in the rough? Not a recipe for success. On the other hand, if everyone can smile if the cart has a flat tire or a hole in one doesn’t elicit jealousy, you might be on to something.

Golf also can reveal problems in a relationship, however, as I learned in ninth grade when I got creamed in a game of putt-putt by my then-boyfriend. My ultracompetitive side came out and I was mad, which was the beginning of the end for us. I like to think I’ve matured since ninth grade, but I still avoid minigolf dates. Because, I’ve learned, I must win at putt-putt.

Watching sports together can be a barometer of compatibility, too. If you’re a Red Sox fan and your date is a Yankees fan, and if you can get along and have fun watching, say, Roger Clemens pitch at Fenway Park, you might have a keeper.

But if you’re a fan of the New England Patriots and your date likes the Indianapolis Colts, and you couldn’t be in the same room during the past football season, there may be a problem.

Going to live games is a blast. Not that anyone can get Red Sox tickets anymore – but think of the major dating points you’d earn by snagging two for a game! – and baseball is a perfect game for a date. It’s slow-moving, so you can have a conversation.

It’s a warm-weather sport so there usually aren’t any worries about rain or low temperatures. The food and drinks come to you, so you can relax. And the people-watching is great.

Sports also provide ways to meet people. People always seem to linger around the driving range or practice green at a golf course. And during my only trip to Fenway, my sister and I got to talking to two very nice young men next us and we all went out for a friendly beer after the game.

If baseball and golf sound like good dates, or at least good ways to meet potential dates, here are two ideas that recently came my way.

The New England Sports Network, which broadcasts most of the Sox games, and a production company called Scout have teamed up for a TV show called Sox Appeal, which will start airing next month.

Each episode will feature a single fan, male or female, who has three blind dates, each of which will last two innings, during the course of a Red Sox home game. At the seventh-inning stretch, the single fan will choose which of his or her dates gets to come back for the final two innings.

NESN has started teasing the show by showing camera shots of some of the couples on their dates, and it looks like a lot of fun. In fact, in the last shot I saw while I was watching a recent game, the couple was definitely into each other. They weren’t even watching the game.

The show is still looking for single men, so if you’re ready to put yourself out there in Fenway, go to sox-appeal.com or NESN.com. They’re looking for guys between the ages of 30 and 50. And presumably, no Yankees fans allowed.

Meanwhile, for love on the links or even friendship on the fairways, try DateAGolfer.com.

Based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and founded by two men who wanted to find ways to meet people other than the traditional bar scene, DateAGolfer’s mission is to help people expand their golf network and share their passion for golf.

And the Web site also has some pictures from a singles golf tournament that some of the site’s members played in Myrtle Beach, S.C. How bad can that be?

Some of the random profiles showed members from all over the country, but no such luck on getting a potential partner’s golf handicap.

Then again, how well someone plays shouldn’t matter unless it’s minigolf. In which case, I always win.

Jessica Bloch can be reached at jbloch@bangordailynews.net