FISH

So I looked at my watch at 1:30 today then checked the weather radar and determined that I could squeeze in 9 and get back to work before I was missed.

I’m in the tee box at 1:45 I take two practice swings then smack one about 225 yards down the right side of the fairway in the rough. 6 Iron into the tree in front me of the ball shoots directly right into another tree and comes straight down - net gain, 20 yards. 7 iron to the fringe, putt to within 6 inches, tap in for bogey. Hole 2 (number Handicap), after a phone call from the wife I tee up and hit one about 250 yards into the trees on the left. I pull out my three iron take an easy swing and place the ball dead center 4 feet inside the 150 marker, 7 iron up the hill, lob wedge hit perfectly and the ball slowly rolls into the hole - Birdie!! Hole 3, 275 yard drive into the rough on the right, 9 iron to the back of the green, long putt, 2 short putts Bogey!

Hole four, which turns me facing the oncoming angry golf Gods and with a seven iron in hand I watch a bolt hit the ground which sends electricity through the air. I drop my ball anyway on this 150 yards par three and put it 15 feet from the cup. I look up another lightening strike. Hmmm, I think to myself - “I’m in great shape to be 1 over par after 4 holes and the next hole I traditionally play very well”. So as I walk to putt I call the pro shop and ask about the weather, to which they say we’ll come and get you what hole are you on. Damn - Surely the good lord wouldn’t interrupt what is shaping up be the best round of my life! Well as I hearkened back to the Caddy Shack movie I remembered how that one ended.

So to answer your question, Yes, the golf Gods know when you’re playing well!

So yesterday after watching some of the open at work (lucky me I’ve got a TV in my office) I decided I was going to try and squeeze in a quick nine. So I loaded up and drove over to the club, strapped on my spikes slung my bag over my shoulders and started the trek. I figured Tiger or Rocco would win or loose without me and I would almost always choose playing over watching.

I’ve got to off the back nine because it’s league night. My first hole is a par five, which I boogied, next hole a par four as I start the short walk I hear some rumbling of thunder off in the distance. But one thing I’ve learned is that the weather doesn’t mean anything anymore so I’m gonna keep on playing. Off in the distance I hear a little more thunder and a golf cart speeding towards me I start my swing anyway and proceed to hit what was probably a 300 + drive. The next thing I here is Ron (from the pro shop), get in, I’m getting everybody off the course. Fine!!!

We get back to the shop in time for the 18th hole and watch Tiger push the US Open to a play off. Now granted Rocco collapsed but Tiger! Damn, what the hell is he made of. I really think he’s an android that can swing a club. Seriously, he’s not human.

Okay, in my last post I spoke about the distance and accuracy in which I was striking the ball. I won’t be writing about that anymore! As soon as I finished the post it all went away!?! I don’t know why it went away, it just did. Here’s the thing - it went away so badly I was concerned that my new Cobra Driver was busted!

I had played in the morning with Gorty and couldn’t hit a lick out of the tee box. I didn’t handle my irons too badly and I putted well but the driver presented such a problem I was getting concerned that the club was broken. I check it for a flat spot, I examined the face of the club for a dent, seriously - it went away that badly. And because I have this bulldog nature about me it bothered me all day, so I went to the range to see if I couldn’t work it out.

I grabbed a large bucket with about 100 balls in it and walked up to the range. Out of 100 I maybe hit two balls well - TWO!!! I was topping everything or snapping it all left, extremely frustrating. Well, that obviously didn’t work and now I’ve got it in my head that I can’t hit the ball anymore, so what to do… Sometimes you just need to take a lesson!

I stopped in at the Club the next day and spoke with Eric Sandstrum (our clubs pro), and told him my story and scheduled an appointment. Of course by the time the lesson came around I had begun striking the ball well again but because I didn’t know why it went away or even why it came back I wanted Eric to take a look. You know when your car has been making that funny noise and you being it to the mechanic and it stops, same thing happened with my golf swing.

We couldn’t figure out why the swing went away, but he helped by changing a few things like slowing down, widening my stance and finishing in balance - things that I had gotten away from. By the end of the lesson I was striking ball effortlessly with distance and accuracy. The moral of the story kids - Golf is like a fickle woman - sometimes you just need to buy it something to make it happy.