Today I had time for a quick round of nine (golf) after Symphony Rehearsal (would have done 18, but yesterday I mowed the lawn and somehow ended up with a big blister on the balls of each foot, so there was no way I was walking 18). The round was so so, as I took the opportunity to demo a few drivers (so obviously there are a few more variables in the game when you are playing with clubs you aren't used to). I will eventually need to consider new clubs since I am playing a lot more than I used to (don't worry Honey not planning on anything any time soon, but you always seem to end up at silent auctions or other sales where there are clubs available at a reasonable cost and always turn to me and ask if this would be a good club(s) for me, so I am doing my homework on what good clubs for me are). As I get better the clubs I have (a very nice gift from my wife many Christmases ago) are designed for players with slower swing speeds, and my speed has significantly increased (which doesn't equate to farther distance with my current clubs, but in many cases less distance and definitely less accuracy since my speed is causing the shafts to flex too much so the club head is still open on contact). The drivers were a Ping G10 and a Mizuno MP-600 (the Ping was the winner of the two, but I still have some more soul searching before I figure out what specs make up the ideal driver for me). What I am trying to figure out is the right stiffness of shaft and the correct loft (that would be the angle of the club head face for you non golfers) so I at least have an idea what generally works well for me since in most cases you don't get to try the club before you by it, unless your local pro shop has demo clubs and even then, they don't have demos for all the brands and all the variations that a particular club manufacture has - kinda silly when you consider that the good drivers will typically run in the $200- $500 range (now you know why you don't just run out and buy any old club even if it is a good deal). The smart thing to do would be to find a club fitter who can analyze my swing and recommend a club (or if needed custom build/fit a club for me) but that is way more than I need, as I don't intend on going pro any time in my life.
I digress.
Why is the title of this post "Soooooooo Close?"
My so so round had one spectacular moment, and this is the exact reason why you golf. This is the one game on this planet where even someone like me can have a moment in their game that is right up there with the best of the best (it just happens that they have these moments all the time, and that is why Tiger is Tiger).
After absolutely sucking it up on hole 5 (one of the shorter par 3's) and actually getting mad at myself for massacring one of the easier holes on the course, I decided to let bygones be bygones on the next par three. (that would be hole 8 for those of you who may not know the course at Shoreland)
Hakuna Matata.
Hole 8 is a nice 133 yard par 3, which can be a bit challenging given the way it is oriented to the almost constant wind that we have in St Peter. Today it was calm. The pin was shallow (close to the front edge of the green for the non golfers), so I decided on an 8 iron with an easy swing since all year I have been unable to reach with a Pitching Wedge or 9 for the reasons covered earlier in the post. I had one goal "get on the green in one" since that is what you are supposed to do on a par three.
Swing felt good, trajectory looked good, aim was right on. Half way through the flight it started to have the feeling of being short of the green. Ball lands five yards in front of the green on a bit of a hump in the fairway that rolls down onto the green (gut feeling was right about being a bit short) and starts to roll. Yes! I'm on the green. . . wait a minute. . . no way. . . not now. . .I don't have any witnesses. . . I don't want to explain to Gigi how much a round of drinks for every one on the course costs!
The ball starts to slow down and rolls just to the right of the cup (within a half an inch), stopping about an inch and a half just past it.
SOOOOOOOOOOO CLOSE!!!
I digress.
Why is the title of this post "Soooooooo Close?"
My so so round had one spectacular moment, and this is the exact reason why you golf. This is the one game on this planet where even someone like me can have a moment in their game that is right up there with the best of the best (it just happens that they have these moments all the time, and that is why Tiger is Tiger).
After absolutely sucking it up on hole 5 (one of the shorter par 3's) and actually getting mad at myself for massacring one of the easier holes on the course, I decided to let bygones be bygones on the next par three. (that would be hole 8 for those of you who may not know the course at Shoreland)
Hakuna Matata.
Hole 8 is a nice 133 yard par 3, which can be a bit challenging given the way it is oriented to the almost constant wind that we have in St Peter. Today it was calm. The pin was shallow (close to the front edge of the green for the non golfers), so I decided on an 8 iron with an easy swing since all year I have been unable to reach with a Pitching Wedge or 9 for the reasons covered earlier in the post. I had one goal "get on the green in one" since that is what you are supposed to do on a par three.
Swing felt good, trajectory looked good, aim was right on. Half way through the flight it started to have the feeling of being short of the green. Ball lands five yards in front of the green on a bit of a hump in the fairway that rolls down onto the green (gut feeling was right about being a bit short) and starts to roll. Yes! I'm on the green. . . wait a minute. . . no way. . . not now. . .I don't have any witnesses. . . I don't want to explain to Gigi how much a round of drinks for every one on the course costs!
The ball starts to slow down and rolls just to the right of the cup (within a half an inch), stopping about an inch and a half just past it.SOOOOOOOOOOO CLOSE!!!
4 comments:
Is this the golf version of a big fish story? j/k Good job honey!! How much does a round of drinks cost anyways? I want to be prepared when you do get a witnessed hole in one!! Glad you kept yourself out of trouble while I was at graduation and the boys were with mom and Jim!
Funny you mention drivers...when we went to the driving range a couple of weeks ago with Andee and Bryan, Dave broke his driver and needs a new one. I didn't realize they were so expensive...now he can't get away with showing up with one he buys from the store.
There are drivers available for less, but you get what you pay for. If Dave could at least demo a few so that he knows what's what, you can often find great deals on used equipment (there are those people in life that always need to have the Best, so they trade in perfectly good equipment just because Company X came out with a new version of almost exactly the same thing, but it is a different color and is "better" because they say so).
In looking into this more, Golf Galaxy does Club fitting which makes the service a little more accessible to the masses (although I haven't looked into the cost).
As long as the services isn't outrageous I might consider doing it so as to eliminate some of the guessing considering the investment (a good set of clubs have the potential of lasting a very long time if they are the right clubs for you, and you take good care of them). There is a Golf Galaxy in Bloomington, but no prices online, so next time I'm in the neighborhood I will have to check it out (unless someone else stops in and posts what they find here- Perhaps Dave and Bryan could check into this).
I'm sure Dave and Bryan would be willing to check out Golf Galaxy for you! But you might have trouble getting them to post something. lol.
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