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First Tournament
With the first tournament of the season under my belt, I
guess that the golf season is in swing. Speaking of the first tournament, what
a hoot. It was a best ball put on by Fosters, a local restaurant. I was hooked
up with a friend from work, and a couple of people whom I didn?t know, one of
which is a fairly good golfer, the other, well, he talked the talk, but was
pretty well soused by the time the bus left for the course so was next to
useless for most of the tourney! It started out early, we all met, about 40 or so, of us at
the restaurant and had Baileys & coffee for breakfast (souse boy is already
into the beer & won?t shut up). Onto a bus hired for the occasion & off
we go to Ironwood golf course. We get there & amid mass confusion finally
get to tee off. I brought my new driver with me ?just in case?. As this is a
best ball, I can afford to make a few shots with it & see what happens. The first hole I use my old driver & aim left guarding
against a fade. How was I to know I?d hit it straight? Fortunately, it careened
off a tree & ended up in the middle of the fairway, the longest ball &
the drive we used. Go figure! Anyway, we play on & my drives continue to be
used as I?m actually striking the ball fairly well off the tee. Around the 5th
hole or so I?m convinced to take my new beast out of the bag & give it a
try. I SPANK it down the middle of the fairway! MAN?WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN! This
is awesome! Straight & long! The happiness continues as hole after hole I manage to poke
some really good shots out there. My confidence level increases & I
actually look forward to long fairways. Of the 14 driving holes, we used my
drives on 12 of them. Nice. Unfortunately, we didn?t do to well in the tourney, we came
in at ?3 or ?4 something like that, I think ?8 or ?10 won. We were handicapped
though. I was able to play, another guy was able to play, my colleague from
work had a back problem after 9 holes so was limited in his play, and souse
boy, well, need I say more? Anyway, it was a fun day, I was impressed with my new club,
and a good time was had by all. Filed under Golf, Apr 23, 2006
 First Round
I played the first round of golf this year a few days ago,
April 2. It dawned pretty cold, below zero actually, but warmed up a bit by the
time we teed off. By the time we were finished the 18 holes it was quite
pleasant. There was a frost delay of about ? an hour. I spent a few minutes on the range with my new driver?ppphhht!
What a disaster! I only hit one ball out of an entire bucket that didn?t slice
like a banana, or worse! Even after adjusting the weights to ?full hook? mode,
it still sliced. I guess it?s gonna take some range work to figure it out. I
played with my old driver, which quite frankly, still works fairly well. My first hit of the year was with a 5 wood as the hole was a
90o dogleg left about 170-200 yards out. It was perfect. Straight as an arrow
& the perfect length. A nice pitch onto the green & 2 putts for a par.
Nice way to start. The next hole wasn?t so good, I sliced one into the rough
then shanked one across a river into another fairway! ?Double bogie! Overall it wasn?t bad, I managed one birdie a bunch of pars
and managed to hit 50% of the greens, but had 2 three putts! 6 over on the front 9 and 5 over on the
back 9, for an 11 over 83 on this par 72 course. I?m fairly pleased with the
results I must say. I went home afterwards & then fatigue set in. We had to
walk the course as it was still a bit wet for carts & it was rather hilly.
As the day wore on, I became more and more tired. Finally, after an afternoon
nap, I went to bed early, every muscle in my body aching. Getting old sucks, doesn?t it? Filed under Golf, Apr 4, 2006
New Driver
So I decide on the spur of the moment to buy a new driver. I
mean, I was there, it looked nice, so I went for it. Remembering the trouble I
had near the end of the season last year with my old driver, and even though it
worked fine later on (go figure?had to be the swing not the club right?) I
thought why not give it a try. It?s a BUTLER T-700. Now Butler golf it seems has been
around for a while (I discovered this after a little research) and is likened
by golf columnists to be akin to Ping and Taylor Made. In fact, this particular
driver is the Butler version of the Taylor made R-7. If you don?t know what
that is, its all the rage these days. It?s a club where you have several brass
screws that you can move around on the back of the club head to create a draw,
hook, fade, slice, high or low trajectory shot by where these screws are placed
in the head. I don?t know if this will actually work, but the reports are
that this is a great technology that can improve your game. We?ll see I guess! It?ll
be a month or so until I get to use it, so stay tuned for further developments! Filed under Golf, Mar 18, 2006
November
November? It?s a time of change. Seasons are changing,
leaves are falling, it?s getting colder, and it?s getting windy. Usually, at
least in this part of the world, it?s not really a time for golf. HOWEVER,
today the weather was nice, up to 17 Celsius (that?s about 63 for all you non
metric folks). For November, temperatures like that are unheard of. Luckily, I
was able to hit the golf course, perhaps (hopefully not) for the last time this
season. It was a bit breezy, about a 2-club wind I?d say, but I was
relaxed and just being on the golf course was fun enough for me. I arrived and
was met by a throng of people at the first tee. All the weekday regulars were
there, mostly seniors, a lot of familiar faces. As a long time member you get
to know pretty well everybody. They knew I was a single so let me go ahead.
Nice. I tee off by myself & bang one down the middle a sweet ?ping? sounds
as my club meets the ball. I race down the fairway & smack a 3 wood towards
the green. A bit short as it?s a 2 club wind in my face, but pitch a 30-yard
shot on & nail the 10-foot putt for a par. Hmmm?could this be an omen? I hit a sweet 6 iron on the next par three, hit the green
& come up just short for a tap in par. Nice. What going on? This is
EASY! I bang another one straight as a die down the middle. What?s up with
this? It?s effortless! I?m 3 over after 9 holes, with 7 pars. I missed a couple of
easy putts, but so what. My irons are working like they have a homing beacon to
the green. My drives are splitting the fairway! It?s ethereal, unreal almost.
I?m ?In The Zone? again!!! I meet up with some familiar faces on the back & same
thing BAM I can do no evil. A few bogies, but mostly regulation pars, or I make
the up and downs. This is great! A nice day, windy, but I?m picking the right
clubs & playing the cross wind perfectly. Man O man, I sure wish I could do
this every time I play. Anyway, the end result for the 18 holes is a 6 over 76, not
the best round of the year, but pretty close. My handicap drops to single
digits for the first time in 2 years. I?m now the proud owner of an 8.9 index,
9 handicap. I doubt if it will last, but at least I finished the year on a
positive note. Now THAT feels good! All smiles, and looking forward to the next
time I can wield a club on the course. Filed under Golf, Nov 4, 2005
In The Zone
You know when you can do no evil, when even errant shots
catch a good bounce, when even if your ball gets a bunker you get an up &
down, when long putts drop or get so close it?s a tap in?THAT?S ?in the zone? Today, I had my first ?in the zone? game in a while. I shot a 5 over par 75 for 18 holes,
equaling my best score ever. It was easy. It felt effortless. I was relaxed, no one to
impress, no cares, just Zen: The pure joy of being on a golf course. I started
as a single, but joined up with a threesome on the third hole. One of which I
know, one I recognized, and another whom I have never met. It quickly became
apparent that although some had better tee shots, the second shot is the money
shot. :-)
My game today was better than some, & managed after bogeying the
first three holes (two of which I played as a single) to come in at one over
for the next 6. On the back, I again started as a single, but met up with a guy
I?ve played with before earlier in the year on the 5th hole. He was
lamenting the fact that he was having a bad game & that I was showing him up.
LOL Even though I wasn?t driving the ball particularly well, I
did hit 14 of 14 fairways. I didn?t hit it far, 230 at most, an average of 212
or so, but it was in the fairway & I had a shot at the green. Well, that
tells you something! I was SPANKING my fairway woods (I only hit a 3 wood; 5
times, a 5 wood never) & my irons were on target for the most part. I hit
50% of the greens?YIKES?& had a high up & down %. Nice. My putting was
OK, 28 I think for the 18; I missed a few, but made
some impossible ones. The ones I missed were tap-ins. & I hit 3 Bunkers! So what?s up with that? I mean being ?IN THE ZONE?. It?s nice that it happened, I sure as hell wished it
happened more often. Filed under Golf, Oct 5, 2005
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