Today was a good day. I think I’m finally over being tentative about my knee and back and I started playing the game pretty much the way it should be. I finally realized I could play without hurting myself so I relaxed.
I’d started hitting about 2 inches behind the ball last time I played and it was awful! Today I figured out what I was doing. My drives went long and straight. My chipping was decent but my putts still need some work
I had 6 pars so that’s a damn good start and my first score of the season in the mid 90s. I should have had a birdie on the par 5 12th, but I left it about an inch and a half short on an uphill putt to the downhill hole from about 30 feet. Even with the par, I was happy with both the score and the putt!
Now…I have to keep this up to keep improving. I’m hoping this will be the year I break 90. Not sure how many years I’ll have left to play with this back, so I need to take advantage every time I go out.
First time I wore shorts (in the middle of March in Virginia!). It’s 73 right now….so it was an amazing day. Supposed to get cooler next week, so we all took advantage of it today.
The Laws of Golf
LAW 1: No matter how bad your last shot was, you should have Inner peace knowing that a shittier one is yet to come. (This law does not expire on the 18th hole, since it has the supernatural tendency to extend over the course of a tournament, a summer and, eventually, a lifetime.)
Temps in the low 70s and sun. Not a cloud in the beautiful sky. Golf with my usual group. Life is good.
Working on the personal ringer board for this year. Starting off slowly but that’s OK. I’m in no hurry…I have all season.
Got a shot last week and that helped but I’ve been planning a big birthday party for this Saturday for a special birthday so I’ve definitely been overdoing it a bit. My back was not happy with me today, but it’ll get over it.
Finally got fed up with several stupid things I’ve started doing so I’m taking a lesson next week to try to figure out what I’m doing and fix it. Corrective action is the only way to go.
Decent day today…but it was just fun being out there with my friends on anothr gorgeous day…after 4 days of clouds, cold and rain. It was fantastic!
Did I play great? Nope…but the season is young and we’re all just getting back into it. This is the first winter since I’ve been back playing (5 years now) that no one was able to play at all during December, January or February. Believe it or not, there are still a few places, even with our warm weather, where the snow is still not fully melted.
Some useful reminders to use when playing golf is that when another foursome is on the green, please remember that “Fore!” is not an excuse, “So what?” is not an apology, and “Up yours” is not an explanation.
WOW!! 3 days ion a row! It doesn’t get any better than this, considering I wasn’t sure I’d ever play again. Got my first few pars and birdies for this season so it appears I might be able to play OK, even though the leg isn’t 100% yet.
Yesterday, I had an interesting bit of luck on the 4th hole. My ball was heading directly for a pond beside the second fairway. Just as it headed on the downturn for the water, it hit a stone retaining wall and bounced about 15 feet in the air, landing just off the fairway. It was quite a lot of fun to see, if I do say so. So, today, one of the gals I was playing with had her ball heading for the stream that cuts between the tee box and the fairway on the second hole. Her ball hit a stone retaining wall and bounced not only on the middle of the fairway, but got a decent amount of roll as well. Of course, none of this kind of thing ever happens when we’re playing in our league events, or even in tournaments…but it is fun to watch it happen.
It was overcast although the sun did peek out periodically through the clouds. Temps were in the 60s and it didn’t rain on us, so it couldn’t have been better. I lowered by score from yesterday, so all is well with the world.
I am debating whether or not to continue with this blog. This is the third year I’ve been doing this and, although I find it sometimes very cathartic to write, especially after a particularly frustrating day on the course, I wonder at the necessity of keep this up. I’m still thinking about it, so we’ll see.
We had our league meeting today so we’re all set for the season. Then a large number of the ladies headed out on the course. THIS is what it’s all about! Golf…golf and more golf!
How is golf like fishing? -Both mysteriously encourage exaggeration.
What a beautiful day to be out on the course. Today was warmer than yesterday and there was no wind. It was easy to feel that spring is, indeed in the air.
I went the full 18 and it sure did feel good to be back out there swinging the club. For the first time coming off surgery, I fared pretty well. I think this might be a good year.
I must admit there were times, during my recuperation, that I wasn’t sure I’d be able to play again…not so much because of the knee but because of the stress on my back. I’m desperately trying not to have surgery on it so I can continue to play this game that I love so much.
Another good thing happened today…I finally got rid of a pain in the ass, negative person who was never happy and drove me absolutely nuts. She has more chutzpah than anyone I know, thinking she was perfect and never the problem. It was such a pleasant good riddance…not that she affected my golf game, but it’s one less negative asshole I have to deal with.
Anyway…the rain might hold off tomorrow so we can get another round in. It will definitely be the last of the week….rain through at least Saturday is predicted and they seem pretty sure it’ll happen. I am so looking forward to it… We’re playing after our league sign-up and Spring meeting. Hard to believe it’s finally here. We had so much snow this winter, I didn’t expect the course to defrost and melt until May. These last couple of weeks with temps above freezing have certainly helped.
The only sure way to find a drive sliced deep into the woods is to hit a provisional ball 260 yards down the middle.
After knee replacement surgery and 3 hard months of winters and record snowfalls for this area for the winter (we broke a record held since 1899), I played my first round of golf today
I only played 9 since the knee is taking much longer to heal than the first one did and it’s still a bit sore, but just being out there and still being able to swing the club was glorious! It’s 60° and sunny with a stronger wind then they said, but just to be out there was beyond description. All the sitting definitely put some hurt on my back issues, but it felt good to be out and getting back into it.
Apparently everyone else felt the same as lots of folks were out this weekend and today. Most are starting slow, but some hopped right in. I would have loved to play 18 today, but I have to admit, I’m tired. I’m playing again tomorrow and Wednesday after our Spring League meeting and sign-up (rain is predicted so that might not happen anyway) so 9 was a good start.
It was odd going out to play with snow piles still lining the roads and in patches on the grassy spots, but odd was fine as long as we were out there.
More tomorrow…as it’s supposed to be another lovely day!
That was me today. If I could shank the ball, I did!
I started out stupendously! We started on hole #15, which is the #2 handicap hole for the women. I parred it. I had 4 amazing shots, especially for 8am! I had another opportunity on #16. My putt missed the hole by millimeters, so I got a 5. I had a little trouble on #17…nothing new there, but parred #18. I mean it really felt good. I did fine until the real Donna showed up on #5 and the good player disappeared. I was heading for an amazing round until the real me showed up. Such is life…or such is golf!
I hit 6 GIR, which for me, is amazing! I did break my prior record, set last week when I broke 5 tees in a round! Today, I broke 7. It’s starting to get expensive!!
As poorly as I played, I still shot under 100, with my handicap. It’s just when I think of what score I could have had. I coulda been a contender!!
I had a shot on #14, our last hole (I hate ending on a par 5). The only thing anyone saw was my tee flying off to the left. Of course the ball must have stayed in the clods because we never saw it. 4 people looking for the ball and it never came down. My theory…since the tee went left, so should have the ball…so it must have gone into the creek on a fly. I scanned the fairway and never saw it come down!
You can’t lose an old golf ball.
You’re noticed I’m not talking about the Mets this year. Between the injuries and the losses, my heart has been breaking all Spring…and now into the summer. They lost all the games in last weekend’s Subway Series…so there’s notmuch to write about except disappointment after disappointment!
Yup…today was my day for the 300 yard drives. Did it on several holes. Of course that’s 100yards up, 100 yards out and 100 yards down
I only lost one ball, but totally decapitated 4 tees while hitting those 300 yard drives.
I had 4 of the suckiest holes in a row you’d ever want to see, then one I won’t even talk about that I parred yesterday. I did birdie #17, which is the hole I usually get in trouble on (like everyone else), but today the golf gods were shining on me for that hole. One shot to the edge, one shot onto the green and one putt. Thats the way you want to play it!.
And to boot, I did something I so rarely do that I should bronze the score card. I parred all 4 Par 3s. Even my nemisis #11 was good to me today. I shot 2 strokes less than I did yesterday. We’ll see what I do tomorrow.
My mantra today was keep your head down. I picked up and peeked on too many shots today and it ends up costing you. I have to talk more to myself!
It was another beautiful golf day. It was hard to believe when I woke up this morning and saw the sun that it was actually Wednesday. What a pleasant change from most of the Wednesday’s we’ve had since the league started in April. Again there was low humidity…almost negligible. There was a pleasant breeze, so it wan’t terrible out there. Tomorrow, the humidity is suppoed to come back and the temps are supposed to be in the 90s. Hopefully, we’ll finish before it gets too brutal. Early morning tee time.
Willis’ Rule of Golf: You can’t lose an old golf ball.
We didn’t play until 1:40pm so it started out a bit hotter than I like, but there was a nice breeze and no humidity. Tuesday is the men’s league day so we couldn’t get on until after they were finished. The only problem for me playing this late is that I sit too much at home and by the time I get out to play, I’m stiff.
Considering I haven’t played since last Monday (we got screwed out of playing yesterday…long story) I did OK. I had a couple of sloppy shots and one that I just threw away, but for the most part, I did fine…broke 100 again.
I hit 5 greens in regulation which is always a good thing. Unfortunately, I didn’t capitalize on any of them. Managed 3 pars…one being on the #1 handicap hole…our #4. I was quite pleased with that.
Except for one hole, my bunker play as decent, I didn’t skull the ball once – which is a record. So, all in all, it was a good day. It was really a beautiful summer day and a great day to be on the golf course. We’ve had so few days like this…it’s nice to enjoy them while they last.
I can airmail the golf ball, but sometimes I don’t put the right address on it.
Our greens are tediously slow…so today they’re doing something about it. This forced us to start on the back 9 as they were doing their thing on the front first.
So, we started on 10. I love the back nine, but it’s somewhat easier than the front so playing it first isn’t always a good thing because it leaves the harder front nine to play when you’re starting to get tired (yes, I’m old, I get tired especially in the heat…get over it!). I was just looking for a better outing than I had last Wednesday (of course on league day I fall to pieces). I did. I was absolutely crushing the ball on my drives. They were going straight and flying out there. I use a step tee (one less thing to think about) but they’re no longer working for me as they’re too short. I’ve got the same driver, but I must be hitting the ball differently. Today, I barely put that tee in the ground and I was crushing my drives. That made me feel good.
Of course, I made some mistakes. It wouldn’t be my golf game without them…but for the most part I was striking the ball well. I only skulled one chip shot the entire round (a record for me) and although my putting wasn’t spectacular, it’s getting better.
The interesting part of today’s round was, starting on the back first, the first 9 greens were slow. We adjusted for that. When we got to the front 9, where the greens had been dressed to speed them up, they flew. It took almost the entire nine to get the pace.
I hit 3 greens in regulation and capitalized on 2 of them with pars. That’s a great feeling. So I feel like I’m back on track, but on any given day, you never know what player is coming out…the A player or the D player. So far, the A player has come out more often….
It takes hundreds of good shots to gain confidence, but only one bad one to lose it.
I seemed to have lost my sorts because I’ve been out of sorts all week. Today it came to a head. I could do absolutely nothing right. The funniest part of all this is I parred 2 of the 4 Par 3s. Everything else went to crap!
For the first 9 holes I kept getting angrier and angrier at myself. Usually, once I take the shot, good, bad or indifferent, it’s over and all I can do is move on. Today, for some reason, I couldn’t do that and just let it continue to build up. I finally snapped myself out of it and started playing golf, but I just didn’t feel like I had any business being on the course today. It was just one of those days.
To visually express how I felt today, the photo shows storm clouds outside my front door last evening. They were so angry looking, I had to have a photo as I’ve never seen clouds look quite like that (when I had access to a camera). They pretty much sum up how I felt today on the course.
My clubs are well used, but unfortunately not used well.
