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I Want New Clubs Too…Waaaahhhhh!!

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tantrum1This is a great time of year in the Northeast! The birds are back chirping away and building their nests. All the plants and trees are budding and waking up from their winter dormancy. We replace our snow blowers and snow shovels with lawn mowers and garden rakes. And most importantly, we break out the ol’ sticks!

There’s nothing like swimming your way to the back of the garage and carrying your clubs out over head like a soldier carries his rifle through a river. Who has time to move all the crap out of the way? Plus I wasn’t notified nor received a memo of any “spring cleaning” yet.

Once again my clubs see the beautiful light of day. Even with a coat of dust they still look good and give me that warm fuzzy feeling inside. So, for the next 20 minutes I wash away old man winter’s dust and bring back the shine. I then set my clubs up to dry in the sun and grab my golf bag for a quick sprucing up when a buddy of mine stops by.

We shoot the crap for a few as I finish cleaning the bag and then he tells me he got a new set of clubs for his birthday. “Awesome!! Break’ em out!” I wish I never said that. He walks to his car, pops the trunk and takes out a brand spanking new set of clubs.

WTF! I look over at my clubs and, remember that warm fuzzy feeling? Gone. I felt like I was 3 years old again sitting in the sandbox watching my brother play with his brand new G.I. Joe and He-Man while I had the one-armed Skeletor. Yep, the title says it all. Luckily, I have matured since then (I think) and was able to control myself.

It took a minute but I was able to re-evaluate the situation. I don’t need new clubs. All I need is some free time, a course to hack up and good company. That’s not asking too much, is it?

Hit’em long…yell FORE!!!

 

Is The Masters The Official Kickoff To Golf Season?

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The Masters (by Torrey Wiley via Flickr)
The Masters (by Torrey Wiley via Flickr)

Well, it’s that time of year again – it’s Masters Week.  Is it just me or does this week seem to be when everything golf seems to really get moving.  I mean that from the perspective of the pro tours as well as the hacks like me who don’t have the opportunity to play golf year-round.  It’s like we sit around in hibernation all winter long, but once we begin hearing talk of the most popular golf tournament of the year, we all begin to remember where we spend a portion of our weekends all summer long.

On the pro tour, this is the one that really seems to spark the interest of golf fans.  Sure, there has already been several tournaments so far this year, but let’s face it…the Puerto Rico Open doesn’t quite get the juices flowing like The Masters does, am I right?  As I’ve mentioned many times, I don’t particularly care for watching golf on TV, but I’ll make an exception for The Masters.  But honestly, until this week…I pay little to no attention to pro golf.

But as far as us hacks tearing up our local courses, for those of us up north, we haven’t played golf in roughly five months.  So it’s this week that our golf blood really gets flowing.  It’s like we use Masters week as our official kickoff to golf season.  I haven’t been out on a course yet this year, mainly because this past weekend was the first “golfable” weekend we’ve seen yet…well, according to me anyway.  But prior commitments kept me away from the course.  However, this coming weekend will be a different story…

Even further, the golf media obviously knows what happens this week.  Does anyone seriously think that controversial Golf Digest cover was picked for this past week totally at random?  Of course not.  They knew exactly what they were doing.  Don’t get me wrong, for all of the problems I have with the idea of it in general, if they were going to do it, then it certainly was the right time to release that edition.

So in other parts of the country where golf is a year round sport, maybe this isn’t as big a deal to you as it is here.  But in the northeast, this is somewhat the beginning of golf for us.  It’s like opening day in baseball or the first Thursday night NFL game of the year.  Or maybe opening day in fishing season when the anglers are up at the crack of dawn attempting to get the best spot.  Well, it is for me anyway.  See you on the course this weekend!

Swing ’til you’re happy!

The Youth Is Spreading The Word Of Golf

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Between this past Friday and Saturday, we had some unseasonably warm temperatures here in CT – upper 50’s, maybe even hit 60 on Saturday.  So, naturally, it brought up the golf conversation.  Staring outside through the kitchen window, I said to my oldest “If the ground wouldn’t be practically a mud bog, today would be a great day for golf.”  His reply?  “Yeah it would!”  Just as I had hoped.

However, it wasn’t just that reaction that I was excited about.  He had a friend stay the night and then asked him “Have you ever played golf?”  His friend replied that he had never tried.  So my kid starts to go on about how much fun it is, even if you’re not any good.  This is nice…he’s starting to sound like me.  He tells his friend that when the weather gets nicer, we should go to the range and have him try it out, then get him out on a course.

He then proceeds to explain to his friend how he’s gotten better and better over time and gives an example – he can no longer hit balls into the woods in the backyard.  OK, so I’m a little surprised by this…now I know why my golf balls are disappearing.  Curious now, I ask why.  And without hesitation to express concern that I now am aware of why I seem to be losing golf balls at an alarming rate, he answers “Because now I can reach the houses on the next street.  Well, maybe not when there’s leaves on the trees.”  My answer?  “Well, what do you say we don’t find out?”  I can tell from the look on his face that he gets what I’m saying…both about hitting a house and wasting my golf balls.

Despite this, I am encouraged.  I’m encouraged that he is learning to play the game the right way – by having fun.  Even thought he isn’t a great golfer, he has fun getting out there and playing.  I’m also encouraged that he is spreading the game to his friends and trying to get them to give it a shot as well.  This is reassurance that I am leading him down the right path with this sport.  And it also gives me hope that golf is still alive in the youth and may one day soon see a resurgence.

Swing ’til you’re happy!

A Glimpse Into The New Golf Season

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Almost golf season!
Almost golf season!

Well, we made it.  We went all of last week here in CT without a snowstorm.  That’s the first week without a snowstorm in, I believe, the past seven.  As a matter of fact, this past Saturday, the temps reached up into the low 50’s…golfing weather!  Unfortunately, we dipped back down on Sunday into the mid- to upper-30’s…so golfing is right back out the window again.  But it is a step in the right direction.

With the recent weather slowly giving a glimpse into the upcoming spring, for the first time this off-season, I’m starting to get the golfing itch back.  Slowly but surely, the weather is getting warmer, the days are getting longer and I’m even starting to see some grass as the snow slowly melts away!  Even though they are talking about a little more snow for Tuesday, my optimism cannot be swayed.

The only problem with all of the snow we had now melting is that it’s going to over saturate the courses.  So even though the temperature had reached the 50’s on Saturday, I wouldn’t have played because stepping on the course would have been like playing in quicksand.  Every swing would spray mud fifteen yards out.  Tee boxes would be destroyed, balls would be plugged in the middle of the fairway and greens would have more dimples that the golf ball itself.  And even though I would love to get back out on the course, I still remain one of those golfers who really prefers to play in optimal conditions.  And having your golf cart stuck like you took it out mud-bogging is not what I would call optimal.

My point here is, the weather is improving, it’s light out for a longer period of time and the temperatures are rising.  This all points to the golf season getting closer and it won’t be long now before it’s in full swing (see what I did there).  And that is music to our ears.

Swing ’til you’re happy!

Will This Brutal Winter Delay Golf Season?

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Time for snow golf?
Time for snow golf?

Living in CT all my life, I’m just used to the snow.  Be it three inches or three feet.  When you’re a New Englander, you accept that you’re going to have this kind of weather, so you don’t complain when it happens.  You just accept that your garage or tool shed will include either a snow-shovel, snow-blower or both.  You accept that you will need to carry a snow-brush and ice scraper in your car.  But what you don’t expect is to have to replace these things due to overuse in one season!  So coming off another winter storm, a storm which covered the snow from the last storm which was already covering the snow from two storms ago, you begin to wonder…when exactly is golf season going to begin this year?

I know it’s a bit early still – I normally don’t play my first round of golf until April at the earliest.  But here we are in mid-February.  We’ve had six snowstorms in the past six weeks and talk of a seventh this week.  So when exactly are the courses going to be ready to play?  I mean, if the famous Eisenhower Tree at Augusta National has been lost to ice damage, and that’s down south, what kind of damage are we going to be looking at here in CT?

If old Punxsutawney Phil’s prediction is correct, then we’ll still be seeing snow well into March.  Heck, wasn’t it just last year when we were still getting snow in April?  So who knows what to expect?!  All I know is, for one reason or another, my golf season gets started later and later every year.  I was hoping to put an end to that trend this season, but with no end in sight to the winter combined with the groundhogs input, it’s anyone’s guess as to whether or not that will actually happen.

So what to do?  Wait it out until the conditions are optimal?  This would be preferred.  Or do I head out to the course and play on a wet, muddy, sloppy course where my ball is going to get plugged after every iron shot and a divot as deep as the abyss will be left after each stroke?  I hate playing when the course is like this.  Not to mention, it does too much damage when the course probably has enough problems already.  Maybe I’ll just take an early golf trip until conditions here are better suited for a round?  Now that sounds like a plan…if finances allow.

Swing ’til you’re happy!

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