Just Me

Yup…I lost 3 balls, broke 3 tees and managed not to avoid 5 bunkers. Got plenty of practice getting out of them, though.

It was supposed to be near 50 today…but no one told the weather about that plan. It actually, tempurature wise, is in the high 40s but the wind was biting. Towards the end of the round, it was really getting chilly.

Not sure it was worth the loss of 3 balls…actually I found 1 but still….it was a nasty, ugly day. Oh hell, sure it was worth it….

I did have several good shots, but I was chunking all over the place…and tearing up huge clods of turf in the process.

But…I was playing golf in January, I was with friends, it wasn’t raining or snowing….so all is right in my world… that is, until I see the neurosurgeon Wednesday about my back. Then we’ll see what will happen to my golf game

Golf is like marriage: If you take yourself too seriously it won’t work , and both are expensive.

December 29th and we got to play on a sunny, crystal clear end of December day. Not a cloud in the sky, temps in the 50s, a little wind to contend with, but a beautiful golf day.

We have a new member of our foursome and she’s going to work out wonderfully. We play on Mondays to enjoy one another’s company, relax and not get too serious. Our last member was too intense and we’re just not. That’s not to say we don’t take our game seriously, because we do…but we enjoy chatting and catching up and we’re not in a hurry. It’s very annoying when someone gives you a putt that’s not really “within the leather” because they want to move on….so it’s better we have the new gal playing with us who’s more like us in attitude.

I didn’t do great but I didn’t do awful (well, I really did but considering I haven’t picked up a golf club in 2 weeks, I can’t complain too loudly). I did par the harderst hole on the course with a chip-in, so that was fun. Last time I got a chip-in on that hole, I birdied it…and that was 2 years ago. It’s a very tough hole to play well at.

So all in all, it was a wonderful day to be out on the golf course with good friends and enjoying the December day. Of course, since the sun never really gets high in the sky, it felt like 5:00 during the entire round….but it was still grand to be out there.

Happy New Year everyone. See ya next year!

The best wood in most amateurs’ bags is the pencil.

We actually got to play today - YIPEE!!!! The weather was amazing. It’s Dec 15 and our temps were in the 60’s. Of course we had a gale wind blowing, but it was even warm! The sun peeked through the clouds several times during the round (which only took us 4 hours) but it was a wonderful day to be on the golf course.

We hadn’t played in so long and we were all out of sync but it felt so good to be outside and moving around. Winter really gives us all cabin fever. It was a lovely day to be outside enjoying the air.

Because the next three months are “freebies” as far as handicaps are concerned (we can’t enter our scores in the handicap computer because this is considered off season for this area), we get an opportunity to practice and try things we normally would be leery of doing in case it doesn’t work. I was working on my putting and my short chips. I’ve been sculling them badly but I really think it’s because my back hurts so much I can’t stay down on the ball.

I spent a good portion of the day talking to myself to ensure I had decent shots. I had many wonderful shots and many crappy ones. Even with all that, I coulda been a contender…but i goofed up two of the last 3 holes. I think I was tired…so I shot a 100 even. I was tearing up the course until the 16th hole. I should have at least gotten a 5 on that hole…but I didn’t. On 17, I screwed up as well….but that’s OK. I’m not unhappy with a 100 considering how much my back is bothering me.

Looks like a little surgery is in my future…but if it fixes this once and for all, then I’ll learn to be happy with this. I’ll see what the surgeon says as soon as I know whether Walter Reed will see me or not.

Hopefully, there will be another golf day in my future this week or if we’ll be able to play Monday, I’d settle for that as well.

And to boot, my sky caddie couldn’t find a satellite today, so there were a lot of educated guesses on distance. They will hear about that!

Like life, one’s golf game is made up by a series of absolute changes which are: Sudden Collapse, Radical Change, Complete Frustration, Slow Improvement, Brief Mastery, and Sudden Collapse.

The weather has been terribly cold…far too cold for golf. Today, we’re at 61 (from a high Monday in the 20’s). But, now it’s raining! We just can’t seem to cut a break! AND…by Friday, we could get snow!

Golf and basketball are two games where the object is to get the ball into a hole. A golf hole is 4 1/2 inches in diameter. The hole in a basketball hoop is 18 inches in diameter. Using the size of the golf hole and a basketball hoop for scale, a 12 foot putt is like sinking a 50 foot hoop!

And went out and played yesterday. Actually, it wasn’t too bad…the sun was out so it was kinda warm.

There were just 2 of us and we only planned to play 9 holes, but ended up playing 12. Then we got tired and silly. Since I live up north, they shut the handicap computers down for Dec-Feb, so you can’t record your score. That made us just play for the heck of it and we didn’t even keep score (OK…I cheated and started keeping score) but that’s only because I wanted to.

Considering I hadn’t played in 2 weeks, I didn’t do too badly. My back was really bothering me so I couldn’t take a full swing. That turned out to be a good thing…all my balls with one exception went perfectly straight. I only had one, on the 10th hole, that had a little fade to it. I wasn’t unhappy with how I played. Even my putting wasn’t awful. Of course, since my eyeballs are crooked, I tend to slide by the edge of the cup and probably did it 4 or 5 times, but I have a mantra I say when I play: If you can’t get it in, get it close! I did a pretty good job of doing that, so I’m OK with it.

All in all, it was good to get out and do something physical. Today was really the day to play though. Yesterday was a bit cooler and the frost never totally melted in a bunker on the 12th hole…but today it was 55 and sunny for 1/2 the day. Even when the sun went it, it was nice.

Unfortunately, I had to drive 60 miles one way to pick up my computer that was in the hospital. So now, I have a tee time for tomorrow morning. It rained this evening (probably still is) and we’re suppoed to get some cold weather (flurries possible Saturday), so tomorrow’s round might be out. Depends on what it’s like in the morning temp wise and whether or not it’s cart path only.

So…we’ll see!!!

If I don’t play…I may just share some acronyms we use on the course. They’re always good for a laugh!!

Could it be I’m hitting up on the ball instead of swinging through? You betcha!!

We actually played today. The temp was 33 with a wind chill of 27 when I turned the computer off at 8:30 this morning. It was a tad chilly when we got out there, but it really wasn’t too bad. It did start getting ugly near the end, but definitely not unbearable.

I had way too many clothes on today…I never wear long sleeve shirts, but I had one on today plus a tee shirt and a sweatshirt. I also wore my down vest but that came off when we started playing.

I actually didn’t do too badly. My back was killing me and got worse as the game progressed. The cold didn’t help it, nor did the fact we moved furniture into a newly finished room last night….but it wasn’t good before that, so that’s no excuse.

The season is ending…after the 30th of the month, no more score recording until March…so if you can play in the winter, it’s the time to work out the kinks without having to enter your score for handicap. Having a decent score, in line with my handicap, certainly helped before things shut off for the winter.

I parred 2 of the 4 par 3s and bogeyed the last one, which for me, is OK. Given I was wearing all those clothes, I did OK. I would have loved to have broken 100…close but no kewpie doll.

We finished before the snow that’s supposed to come tonight…just flurries but snow is snow. It is, after all, almost winter here.

If you find you do not mind playing golf in the rain, the snow, even during a hurricane, here’s a valuable tip: your life is in trouble.

It was a tad chilly today…3 of us played…my friend’s husband joined us as there was only going to be the two of us.

It was supposed to be in the mid 50s but I don’t think it ever got that warm. The wind was cool until about the last 3-4 holes and it must have changed direction because it got downright cold. On some holes we were protected but on others…that wind cut right through us.

It was a bad arthritis day, even though I had a decent score. I even got a couple of pars and a birdie. I guess hurting makes me slow everthing down so I do somewhat better. I must say, with a few exceptions, my putting wasn’t too bad. If I can only learn to take my time all the time, I’m sure I’d do better more consistently.

I did have one ball that tried to climb a tree. I thought I was aiming for the tree and should have altered my position, but didn’t (of course, I wanted to go between the big one and the little ones, but my stupid ball went right at the tree. It climbed up about 3 feet before sliding off to the left and landing about 4 feet from the tree. SHEESH!!!

Anyway…I wasn’t unhappy with how I played except on the par 5s which I totally tanked. It’s wearing layers that makes it hard for me. I want my arms bare so I have a full, free, unencumbered swing. I only play in the winter to keep my hand in….

So another opportunity to excel may come Friday…but it’s possible it will rain…so we’ll see.

The shortest distance between any two points on a golf course is a straight line that passes directly through the center of a very large tree.

Today was a great golf day. We played on a course I’ve played before…not our course. It’s one of my favorite courses, but I don’t get to play it very often.

I took this little camera I bought specifically for carting around the golf course to take pictures. Of course, the cheap piece of crap didn’t work today. I can’t tell you how beautiful this course was with all the beautiful colors of fall everywhere. We were at the base of the mountains and it was glorious. I so wanted to share with you.

Didn’t play as well as I did the last time i played there…when I shot a 95, but my score was respectable. Could have been better…my putting was non-existent. Oh yeah….if there was a tree anywhere for me to hit, I did. I must have hit 5 of them…went through them and had several hit the 10% that wasn’t air. It was definitely a challenging day.

Temps were in the 50s so that made it worth being out there. The sun popped out several times diring the round. It was OK. I had a good time, trees and all.

You can hit a two acre fairway 10% of the time and a two inch branch 90% of the time.

What a bummer…the last day of league and it was so cold yesterday and ungodly windy, with predictions of ever colder weather today, they cancelled the Halloween festivities

Folks were going to dress up, each hole was to be decorated, some of the husbands were going to camp out on several holes and pass out goodies…but they figured (rightly so) that folks wouldn’t show up if it was cold, so they cancelled.

I just came in from the store and it is cold out there…low 40s with wind chills in the 30s. I think, since no one probably showed up, everything, including just going out to play, was cancelled. It’s a shame…I was so looking forward to the festivities. Each hole was to be a different or fun format….but now we have to wait until next year as no one followed up with the pro shop for a rain date (which would have been tomorrow when the temps will warm up) so there’s already a substantial tee sheet….so we wait until next year to try again.

I’m supposed to play in the last tournament of the year on Friday…but I’m still debating whether to do that. My back is really hurting and I’m just not swinging the club well….but it’s supposed to be in the 60s and since we quit Monday and didn’t play today, I need to take advantage of my opportunities as they are, as you can see, dwindling as we move into November. I suspect we have another 2 months of many good golf days (if past times are any indication) but once January rolls around, they will be few and far between until mid-March. So I’ll wait until tomorrow to see what’s predicted.

So no golf news today…just frustration at not being able to play

The inevitable result of any golf lesson is the instant elimination of the one critical unconscious motion that allowed you to compensate for all of your many other errors.

We played 6 holes. It was cloudy, extremely windy and that wind was nasty cold, and it was awful playing. It seeemed that none of had our heads in the game as we were all playing abysmally. I even tore up the score card after 4 holes.

It was not a pretty day to be out there. Too many clothes hinders preformance and I’ve got too much going on in my head to really concentrate. And, even though my friends wussed out, I wasn’t unhappy and went along without hesitation.

We went across the street for coffe and good talk. Sat there for about an hour (but I spent about 20-30 minutes chatting with the pro who is just too cute) and chatted and enjoyed the warmth.

So Wednesday is our last league day. It’s the annual Halloween golfing event so it will be a lot of fun, even if it’s going to be frigid out there. It being the last day, I will be there.

Enjoy another sight of our beautiful community….

Never try to keep more than 300 separate thoughts in your mind during your swing.