Golfing is a Challenge at the Best of Times

/ The Grateful Golfer

With three 9 hole rounds under my belt, I completely understand why golf is a challenge. For the most part, I am playing poorly with some glimmering shots of hope. And to make things worse, I did hurt my elbow and have to take a few days off to let it heal. So what else could go wrong, I mean really! Does any of this sound familiar? If it does, perhaps I need to revisit why I play golf.

All joking aside, golf does present many challenges during any one round. My round yesterday was a perfect example. I would play several holes poorly and several well and then a couple poorly. I was the perfect example of being inconsistent golfer. But, I choose to focus on the brighter aspects of my game.

I like to set high standards, even at the beginning of the year; it is how I keep focused on success during a the year.

After playing a smooth 6 over for the first 4 holes (2 doubles and 2 bogeys), I realized that I was not hitting my ball with any consistency; I was all over the place. And I found out the cause, I was standing too close to the ball. With all the chipping I did in the off season, I unintentionally crept closer to the ball on address. After the fourth hole, I realized my issue and made the adjustment.

My next 3 holes went par, birdie, par. These three holes were akin to my play a few years ago. On each hole, I made a great shot. The first hole I was down the middle, GIR for sure (7 iron from 155 past the hole by 10 feet) and 2 easy putts for par. The second hole I hit my two best shot with a gap wedge from a 100 yards to with in 6 feet and made the putt for birdie. The next hole was a par 5. My best shot was from the fairway with my 3 hybrid to 100 yards in the middle of the fairway; three solid shots later, I tapped in for par.

So you can see that not everything was bad. I actually had a good time and played well for part of the time. However, my golfing exploits were not the focus of my day. It was to assess my physical conditioning moving forward. Well, I am not doing too bad, but still get tired while walking. I am not sure I am ready for walking 18 holes yet, but I am hoping that time will fix that. Unfortunately, I did hurt my right elbow. So, it is time to take care of this issue before it becomes a real issue.

Yesterdays round was not all bad. I do not like to complain about poor play, but that in itself does not mean golf is challenging. What it means is that my game has peaks and valleys just like everyone else. How can I be disappointed so soon in my golf season…..the truth is I just can’t because I am a grateful golfer!

12 thoughts on “Golfing is a Challenge at the Best of Times”

  2. I think I will be with Kevin on the pin in issue. Will take some getting used to but I think it will help sink more puts or at least keep the ones that were hit to hard closer to the hole

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  3. You are doing great – why – you are trying and very intune to the game you love, and your physical well being I am so proud of you – if Tiger can make a come back so can you love ya.

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  5. I did ok today, but had a few holes where I wished I had thought more before playing them. A couple of mental mistakes and some sloppy iron shots give me a 6 over round. I say sloppy irons, but they really weren’t horrible. I just didn’t seem to be able to get the ball on target well enough when I had the distance right and when I hit on the right line, my distance was a bit off. Either long or short, so I didn’t end up with any really good chances at birdie. I had lots of long putts to try for one, but failed to make any of them. Out of the 25 holes I got in, I had just four drives miss the fairway and one of those was on the extra holes and one was just a bad club choice. I drove that one through the turn in a dogleg with a 3 wood when I guess I should have hit an iron. Of the other two, one I hit with a fade when I didn’t mean to and when it landed on the right side of the fairway it took a really bad bounce farther right and ended in a ditch. And the other was a pull that landed in someone’s back yard. That one was also one of my mental mistakes. I had hit a provisional because I couldn’t follow the ball all the way so I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to find it and I striped the provisional to about 40 yards from the green. I should have played that ball. But I found the pulled drive and took a drop from the closest point there. But that left me with a shot I had to punch under a tree. It was only maybe 60 yards, I knew I could do it, but I didn’t quite get it on the green and left it in a really bad spot leaving me a long putt from the first cut and sideways across a raised area of the green. The flag was at the bottom of the rise so distance control on that putt was really tough. Had I played the provisional instead, I would have had a much easier chance to save bogie at least, but I ended up having to take a double on that hole because I didn’t think it through well enough. All in all though, it was a fun day.

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      • I like the pin in, though I will check to make sure the pin is sitting straight in the hole and leaving room for the ball to fall. Sometimes it isn’t due to damage or players not making sure to place it all the way down and wind speed and direction can leave too little room to fit the ball. But in general I find I can hit my putt harder taking out some of the break with the pin in and sink more putts. So far, I’ve not had a single putt hit the stick and not fall.

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      • Kevin

        That is good to know. I am still experimenting. For long putts it seems to be a winner to leave the pin in. Not sure about the short ones yet. Still very early.

        Cheers Jim

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