A few weeks ago I promised myself I would play a round of golf before August ended. But then my schedule became rather crazy, and each time I made a tentative tee time with myself it fell through. I began to doubt me.
The weather today was absolutely spectacular. As I sat in the lab looking at fungi and fungal-like organisms under a microscope I began to scheme. My scheming led to a quick bike ride home, a hasty lunch, and a trip to the PSU golf courses.
I chipped and putted for 30 minutes, then drove a few ball balls. I’ve been working on the mechanics of my swing lately (using foam golf balls) and the results are mixed. On the positive side, I now hit approximately 70% of my drives straight. On the negative side, the other 30% is a mix of slices and hooks. My old swing was a slice every time. The other negative is that my straight drives often tend to be struck in a poor direction (often on the line I would want if the ball was going to slice).
My goal in this round was to stay under 100 strokes. That didn’t happen. I knew I was due to revert a bit with my score and today it happened. I shot a 111.
The Good
- I had my best day putting ever (5 one putts and 13 two putts = 31 total putts).
- I strung together three consecutive pars on holes 15, 16, and 17 (par 4, 3, 4).
The Bad
- My score was not <100.
- I only hit two fairways.
- I only reached two greens in regulation.
The Ugly
- I lost three golf balls. Though none of them were hit far from the fairway, they were struck over rises out of sight and I could not find them. Having three wasted strokes for drops was frustrating.
- I registered an 11 on hole 11. This was not cool. I have a strict zero tolerance policy for double digit scores.
- I hit a 3 wood solidly against a tree trunk, the ricochet resulted in a net loss of yardage (though it did move toward the fairway).
All in all it was a good day. I was not about to let a few bad drives and iron shots ruin a beautiful afternoon. If I ever reach the point where I can’t maintain a positive attitude on the golf course I’ll give the game up.
I’ve promised myself a September tee time.
