Welcome

I like Golf. I lied, I love Golf. I think about Golf almost as much as I do my girlfriend and trust me, she is perfect for me. I began playing at the age of twelve and ever since that time have had serious periods of Golf addiction. I am in fact not the best golfer in the world. Neither am I in the top ten percent. I am a guy that grew up playing sports and loved every minute of it. I played basketball, Golf, ran some track and bowled a little bit. I have retired from any sport that remotely looks like I could have a heart attack after the first two minutes of the game. Golf lets me compete while doing another thing I really like to do and that is drink beer. The combination is simply unbeatable for fun, competition and personal humiliation.

Golf is an individual game in every conceivable manner. Because of its individuality, Golf lends itself to all levels for much more than sport. In fact some have called it life in a microcosm. I have heard its good to go golfing with your team from work. One learns a great deal about not only themselves while playing Golf; its in fact a very clear revelation of all who play. Some players have a relaxed temperament while others have ridiculous levels of anger (less and less these days) when things aren't going so well.

What it comes down to for me is the passion Golf engenders within me. If I have a Sunday tee time, by Friday night of that week I can hardly sleep. Saturday night I finally drink enough beer to get something resembling sleep only to wake up at 5:45 a.m, already having first tee jitters prior to my first cup of coffee and bloody mary.

I get to the Golf course about an hour before the tee time, check-in, hit a bucket, order beer and the first bloody mary. I also occasionally hit a few putts to "check the speed" of the greens. One has to actually be a good putter for speed to matter and I should know, I can four jack with the best of them. As my tee time draws near, my focus on the range is crisp as I work to slow my tempo and stay behind the ball. My drives are straight with a slight draw, iron shots are fairly good and there is no wind.

It's interesting to me how one can warm up like Fred Couples on the range. My swing is natural, free flowing and the sound of purity as the ball rockets off the club face intoxicates me with thoughts of breaking 80. I can sadly remember one similar day in the Fred Couples mode on the range. Big Cat, Big Easy and I were playing one of our favorite courses. The fantasy of breaking 80 fills my head as I stride over to tee up my first drive. The first drive is all important to my ego, so much so that our group gives a first hole mullie as one of the very few rules we alter. My guess is Big Cat and Big Easy have the same ego requirements I admit to. (For a complete list of rule alterations, you will have to read future posts). I will skip the play by play of the round and simply state, by the fourth, I was 9 over with both my mullies gone and leaking so much oil I blacked out the remaining 14 holes and remember nothing. Fred Couples I am not. Golf it seems, is not happy just with passion.

I have matured a bit since my rambunctious days and slowly but surely have realized that passion alone is not enough for Golf. Actually, not by a long and straight shot as Golf demands discipline and that really sucks. Hitting a drive 300 yards down the middle is the most fun this side of my girlfriend. Hitting it 300 yards into the pond on the left after deliberately and pain stakingly setting up to avoid it is like running out of gas on your way to the job of a life time interview. Because of poor planning, I have lost what I wanted most, a birdie. I truly can't explain what the loss of control feels like as I watch the ball go into the water. Trying to explain that moment and what it feels like eludes me.

Of all the things to demand, Golf co-selects self discipline with passion for a player to be successful. I remember my father mentioning something about that kind of stuff when I was about eleven or so but I digress. WORK demands passion and self discipline for success and so that is what we do. When one picks up a Golf club for the first time and begins to play they really have no idea Golf requires more passion and self discipline than anything they have ever done. They also have no idea that Golf will be teaching them a great deal about themselves and those they play with if they are open to it.

I am now in one of my addiction stages and at this point in my life I believe I am finally up for the challenge Golf has presented to me personally. If I can physically stay at this game long enough, perhaps it will teach me much more than I can imagine. Golf is the single best hobby, sport or game ever played.