GolfStinks

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No Loitering. No Skateboarding. No Golfing?

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So I was at my son’s soccer game this past weekend – a playoff game which they won on their way to a win in the league championship game, thank you.  But upon entry to the field, I walk past the sign to the left.  Take a look at #2 on the list under “Prohibited.”  Yup…golfing.

Where have I been?  When did it become criminal to practice your golf game?  I mean, I can understand that this is school grounds.  But the fact that they have gone out of the way to specify golf seems a little funny to me.  What I’m saying is, according to this sign, I can bring in guns, knives and fireworks…but I can’t practice my short game.

OK, I understand that they don’t want golf balls being left laying around a football or soccer field due to the risk of injury.  And of course they don’t want divots in the field or any windows broken in the building.  Further, I’m sure they obviously don’t want any errant projectiles being rocketed in all directions. But to specify golf in particular still strikes me as a little odd. 

Has anyone else ever seen these signs anywhere?  I don’t mean just at a school.., I mean anywhere.  The bad news here is that this is one fewer place where your golf game can be practiced for free. Everything about this game costs money.  If I can’t practice my game in an open field, then I’m becoming even more limited to going only to driving ranges and indoor facilities which, of course, cost money. 

That’s an advantage to some other sports.  I can go play or practice basketball at any outdoor court.  I can go hit baseballs at just about any field.  But golf?  Unless I pay, then there aren’t alot of places I can just go practice. 

But hey, I guess if it’s a game you enjoy then you do whatever you have to do.  Even if that includes going broke.

Swing ’til you’re happy!                  

Chip Shots: Golf In The Fall

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Don’t get me wrong, I’m no world traveler, but I’ve golfed in a few different places.  I’ve played courses up north, and down south.  I’ve golfed in the cold weather and in the tropics.  But for my money, nothing beats a nice, rural New England course in the fall. 

The fall is my favorite time of year, and if I can play a sport I enjoy while taking in the autumn splendor, how can that be passed up? 

The cool, crisp air.  Comfortable temperatures.  And of course, the vibrant colors of the changing leaves.  The beautiful reds, oranges and yellows blended with the greens of the pine trees and bright blue skies – there’s a reason tourists flock to New England this time of year.  But we New England residents enjoy it just as much.  And if we can mix golf in with the scenery, then how can that be beat?       

What Happens If Your Golf Group Breaks Up?

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Do you have that same group of golfers that you tend to golf with all the time?  I guess alot of us do.  The same group of friends meeting at the course for their regular round.  It just becomes second nature.  You get to the point where you always know who’s going to be there. 

My group is more like a threesome with the fourth being on somewhat of a rotation.  We check to see if one guy can join us, and if not we move on to the next guy. 

But now, it looks like there may be a bit of an interruption in our group.  It’s starting to look like there may be some relocating going on.  It looks like the regular group could be no more.  So what to do?  Do we just replace ’em and forget ’em?  Of course not!  Instead, where there is loss there is opportunity. 

See, my regular golf buddies and I like to try to squeeze in a golf trip once a year.  But that doesn’t always seem to happen.  Sometimes it’s just hard to get all of us on the same schedule.  Between jobs, families, commitments and such, there’s been several years where the trip just never came to fruition.  And recently, when we have gotten the opportunity, we’ve been relatively limited to a trip that was somewhat local.  But that could be coming to an end.

See, now that some golfing buddies may be moving to different locations around the country, I’m looking forward to some destination golf trips.  Obviously, I think we would start out with a trip to the new locations of our golfing buds.  But after that, who knows?  With our regular group now spread throughout the country, there’s no excuse for not traveling to destinations that we didn’t get to before.

Maybe we’d like to hit some of those fantastic Oregon courses that have been getting rave reviews for several years now.  Or maybe we’ll choose to head to Alabama and take a trip around the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail.  Maybe we’ll finally make that trip to California for the iconic Pebble Beach trip.  Either way, the point being that when we’re spread out, all of us meeting in a central location seems to make sense. 

So as much as I would miss the guys when they’ve gone to other parts of the country, I’d also find the silver lining.  That being the chance to travel to different locations and spend some time with the guys who I had gotten used to playing this great sport with.  And that’s what it’s all about, right?  Spending time with your friends, playing the sport you love.  If a bit of travel is required, then so be it.  It’s well worth it.

Swing ’til you’re happy!               

My Golf Routine…Or Lack Thereof

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Despite what people may think, I do have a routine when it comes to golf.  As a matter of fact, I’ll share it with you just to prove it – I oversleep, waste too much time and then show up to the course with barely a moment to spare. 

OK, so that’s not much of a routine.  Plus, I’m exaggerating also, but this does happen quite often, just ask the rest of the stinky golfers.  It’s very rare that I give myself enough time to do anything other than get to the course.  Is that a problem?  Do I need to develop some type of routine?  Is that what golfers do?  

I have a regular workday routine.  I have a specific order in which I do things every morning, or even the night before for that matter.  But when it comes to golf, I got nothin’.  Many times, as mentioned earlier, I show up last minute.  But there has been occasions, though few and far between, where I have done otherwise.  Sometimes I’ve shown up early enough to have breakfast at the course rather than scarfing something down on the way out the door or in the car.  There’s been times where I’ve arrived at the course early enough to hit a few balls at the range or play around on the putting green.  Every once in a while, I may have a beer or two before a round. 

What I wonder is, would doing any of these things routinely make me a better player just through some type of consistency?  If I wasn’t always rushing to get to the course, would that help simply by causing less stress?  If I took the time to sit down and eat a good breakfast before each round, would that improve my energy?  If I had a beer or two each time, would that help me relax? 

I suppose having a routine in anything you do can be helpful.  But I’ve just never really considered doing something routinely for golf.  But maybe a routine might be worth looking into.  Maybe I should start hitting the range before each round.  Maybe a good breakfast each time.  Or…maybe I’ll just keep showing up last minute.

Swing ’til you’re happy!        

Going To Work vs. Playing Golf

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So I have this dilemma and I’m not sure what to do.  It sounds simple enough – play golf vs. go to work.  But it’s never really that simple is it?

See, at work we’re experiencing a “busy time” like nothing we have ever seen.  While that’s great for the company as a whole, as well as for me and my paycheck, at the same time it’s terrible for playing hooky. 

If I’m not at work during this busy time, then I have to rely on other people to handle things in my absence.  And too many times that leads to things simply not being done right, or being done half-assed.  But at the same time, why should I care about that?  If things fall apart that much when I’m not there, then they’re obviously not paying me enough.  But I do care, and that’s part of the problem. 

So what I’ll have to do is weigh the options.  What are the advantages of going to work vs. taking the day off to play golf.  Let’s see:

If I go to work I don’t have to worry about anything being done wrong.  I don’t have to worry about cleaning up anyone else’s mess.  I don’t have to worry about the work being done half-assed.  And most importantly, I won’t have to fix all of these things while still having my own job to do. 

Now, if I play golf, I get to enjoy a day out on the links which I would normally spend at work where I’ve been under a good amount of stress lately.  Of course, I no doubt will return to work to find a disaster making me question whether or not taking the time off was worth it.  Further, I could avoid all of this by simply golfing on the weekend instead of during the week.

Well, I think with these points in mind it’s pretty self-explanatory.  It just doesn’t make sense for me to take a day off from work to play golf.  And with that being said, I will be sure to set my out-of-office reply. 

See, golf always out-weighs work.  I have time off to use, I should use it to do something I enjoy, and that would be golf.  So is it worth a potential hard day at the office in exchange for a day of golf when I would normally be at work?  Silly question.

Swing ’til you’re happy!               

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