Chipping for the first time in 4 months; time to knock off the rust!

After 6 months of treatment, I am finally back on the golf course. Albeit only chipping and putting, but I am back. I must say that this health imposed break from golf was challenging on many levels. Yet, I never realized the impact golf has on my mental state towards life. Golf really is a large part of my summer and I really missed playing this year.

Of course, I need to keep my perspective because golf is important, but not as important as doing daily activities with my wife and best friend. It is in this area I missed doing the fun things like kayaking, hiking, and day trips to explore our area. Now that I am back, we can pick up where we left off.

Yesterday, I showed up at Osprey Links Golf Course and the first person I met was Jeff Rogerson, Owner/General Manager. It was wonderful to catch up and his positive attitude made it felt like I was never gone. Jeff and his team are fantastic and if you are in the North Bay Area, I recommend you drop by and play a round. You will not be disappointed.

Bending down was more difficult than expected; reading the greens was even more difficult!

After our chat, I grabbed a cart and met Blair, Rick, and Darin (my usual crew) on the 7th tee box. As I drove up, they greeted my with smiles and heartfelt waves. Avoiding hand shake at this time for health reasons, we went through some virtual knuckles and greetings all around. I watched them hit off of the 8th tee (par 3) and we made our way to the green.

As I approached each green, I picked a ball no farther than 50 yards out and challenged one of them to a closest to the pin shot. After 10 shots, I was closest only twice. I was quite happy with my results because I was on the green 9 out of 10 times. Considering the layers of rust on my short game, that was a bit feat. Anywhere on the green was a good thing.

I lipped this putt out on the high side. Overall, happy with the day on the greens.

My putting was a different story. Except for my first putt, the rest were suspect at best. My first putt was a 20 footer right in the heart! The boys all laughed and shook their heads at my good fortune, however that changed very quickly on the next hole. I can say that putting in my basement or on a putting mat is infinitely easier than putting on the green. But, I still need to practice. Overall, I have zero complaints; I was playing golf!

Moving forward, I plan to visit the course as much as possible. I am aware that doing too much too soon can cause me health challenges. Yesterday, I chipped and putted around 6 holes and was on the course for just over an hour. That was plenty for my first time out. I hope to extend my time on the links, but that will be driven by how I feel and the weather.

Next week, I will start to incorporate swinging my clubs without hitting any golf balls. My Oncologist and medical team advised me to take things slow and not rush into over doing things. I can see how that could happen with respect to golf, but I plan to turtle my way to playing a round before the end of the season. For now, I am excited that I was able to get out on the links with my friends.

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!