Well, we are in mid season up north and it is time to take stock of our golf games. If you are playing better this year than last, then congrats and keep going. If you are struggling a bit…..well, keeping working at your game. With such a short golf season, it is a challenge for most players to balance the life, work, golf thing in order to satisfy all aspects of their lives. Personally, I am luck as I have struck a great balance and with the support of my loving wife, I get to play lots of golf. To accomplish the itch to play more, I generally head to the course for early birds (before 7 am) in order to play 18 holes and still have accomplish other life events. Overall, all is going fairly well.

This year I decided to focus as much on my modern clubs as with my hickory sticks. With the Northern Hickory Golf Tour (more on that in a later post) and the Ontario Open Hickory Championship (Ontario Open Hickory Golf Championship, 2-day hickory golf event, Whirpool GC (Saturday, Oct 3 – Sunday, Oct 4); 9-hole hickory event at Niagara-on-the-Lake GC (Friday, Oct 2 or Monday, Oct 5)– contact George Supol (supolconsultancy@gmail.com), I felt I needed to dedicate more time to playing with my hickories in order to be able to compete with the other golf enthusiasts. This does not mean to say I am not playing with my modern clubs, but that I am sharing the time between the two.

My mid season game is improving. I am hitting the ball better and I am putting well. I still need work on my approach shots, but how does not….right? My current challenges are the same for both sets and I am working through everything. Regardless of the results, I am truly grateful to be able to play as much as I do and with some amazing friends.

A couple of days ago, I hit the links early with my hickories. It was quite foggy and cool. I enjoyed my round and hit some wonderful shots. I also hit some stinkers, but that is the way with my hickories. The leading edge of all my irons is very sharp and I have a tendency to dig in to the ground if I mishit the ball. Yet, another thing to work on.

In the picture below, you can see how foggy the conditions were early in my round. I am standing on the third green about 50 feet from the pin. You can also see the amount of due on the green and that posed a bit of putting challenge as I had to hit the ball quite hard to reach the hole.

Having suggested that the due was a challenge, the image below shows how to track the ball into the hole from 40 feet away. It was a great putt and it saved my par! I guess there is some learning value to plenty of dew on the green.

My golf season is going as expected. As I play and practice more, my game is getting sharper. To test my progress, I am playing in a few more tournaments in August and September. This is quite normal and I am looking forward to the competition. As for now, it is steady as it goes.

Additionally, I am planning to write more articles as I have slacked off due to life things. So stay tuned for some more musing and tips in the future.

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