Golf as a drug
Since I started playing golf a lot of people ask me why I like it so much. Tuesday night was the first night of my league and it provides a good example of why I am hooked. It was a miserable night to play. When we started at 5:30 it was 50 degrees and very windy. It got colder with each hole.
I have been working on my driver swing and don’t have much confidence in it yet. It is improving but the change isn’t natural to me yet. That being said, I step up to the first tee without much confidence and too many first tee jitters. The other team hit theirs right of the fairway leaving some tall trees between them and the green. My partner hit his in the fairway but it ended up running off the left side into a tough lie. My turn to tee it up. I stand behind my ball to take the view of the fairway and aim my shot. I swing and hit a decent shot, a little lower than I’d like, but the ball goes straight down the middle and farther than anyone else’s ball other than my partner. On the first hole there is a creek that divides the fairway into two sections. My second shot would have to clear 185 yards to safely cross the creek. I can hit my 4 iron that distance, but it isn’t a very safe shot, so I layup with a 9 iron. My second shot was perfect and comes to rest right before the creek. My third shot was about 155 yards to the green. I hit a nice shot but the wind pushes it left of the green.
Before this post becomes a shot by shot recounting of my round, I’ll explain. My first three shots were not perfect but very good. Even though I chipped on the green and then three putted for a double bogey, those first three swings had me feeling very good and confident. On the second hole I two putted for a bogey. All my shots were decent. On the third hole I started with a good tee shot in to the fairway. For my approach I hit an 8 iron. I had a nice clean lie and good look at the green. My swing was perfect. It felt like I hardly hit the ball and had that great sound when you hit it pure. The ball looked beautiful as it flew and landed on the green. GIR!! Woo-hoo! My 20′ birdie putt came up short and left me with a three footer for par, which I made. On the 4th, a short par 3, my tee shot was very good, landing on the green. I ended up three putting for a bogey, but it still felt good to start with a good shot. Through four holes I was +4. I felt I was playing about as well as I could (maybe not putting) and that gave me a lot of confidence. The next day I still felt great from my round. Imagine that, a few swings that take only a few seconds can make me feel good a day later.
The reverse is also true. If I had played terrible and struggled the entire round, I’d probably feel down the next day. I do think I’ve grown to handle the lows better. It is easier for me to chalk up poor play to having an off night or my general lack of experience. Which is probably the better way to view it. The highs are so good that it keeps me struggling through the lows. So golf is sort of like crack.
This entry was posted on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 11:02 pm and is filed under Golf. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
