BLOGS

club championship day was yesterday - although i probably couldn't have beaten the winner's 69, with the state of my game as it is, i would have preferred a better outing on my part. had a closie on the island green par 3 to 2' which was nice, (plus some skin money) and played the par 5s and the entire back 9 well (36), but early on had trouble with one member of the foursome who i don't think i'd played with before.

he was slow, especially on the putting green, talked alot, and at one point actually walked behind my as i was starting my backswing on an approach over water, pulled a club from his bag on his cart, then was surprised that i stopped my swing to restart my routine.

"did i distract you? sorry!"  says he..

in my mind the answer was clear "no, you didn't distract me, in fact i enjoyed that so much that i stepped away from my shot in the hopes that you would do the same thing to me again"

YOU FREAKIN MAROON!

toughest thing is that it's mainly a social group,  so our championship is often a big reunion type event where you just kind of have to have fun and forget the winning is everything mentality and just wait for next year...

so, of course, i just mumbled "no problem," got back in there, and proceeded to cut a lovely 7 iron in there to 12 feet.

so the foursome just put up with the antics with eye-rolling and murmured asides, and, by the back nine, i had reached a groove and hit some sweet shots and made a lot of great rolls that just wouldn't go in the hole.

not having played much competitive golf this year at all, it was impressive that i got into the groove after nine holes. 

the fact that i'm on the committee and can't really warm up properly, and the attendant distractions of a mainly social league and the feeling of not wanting to go off on a slow, inconsiderate fellow competitor all combine to give me a pretty good feeling about the state of my game -

the biggest trick, especially after watching the Woods/Williams show for the better part of last week and the first part of this, is acknowledging how important it is, when we don't have caddies to set us straight, to be our own caddy. (A great primer for this is the chapter "Fire Your Evil Caddy" in Dr. Joe Parent's ZEN GOLF)

at one point i rushed to the next tee, of my own volition, as i saw we had dropped a hole and a half behind (after three holes!). i quickly yanked the drive way left into the trees never to be seen again.

later, while approaching a long greenside bunker shot, i heard some chatting, politely said i'd be glad to hit, (as we were now two full holes behind on six), and then just butchered the next three shots - irate at having to ask for some peace and quiet out there.

a good caddy would have never let me hit either of those shots in that state of mind, and that's one place where you really see the talent and teamwork of Tiger and Steve.

Not many caddies would walk into the best player in history's face as he's about to hit a tough approach shot and suggest that the wind had changed A COUPLE OF MILES AN HOUR, chat about a change, then walk away, trusting that their guy would 1. do the right thing, 2. take responsibility for the shot, and most important 3. thank the caddy either way.

so, as usual, finding the good rather than the bad in the round is always the best way to start - but focusing on the ways to be better is the true challenge and the reason we all love the great game. which, by the way, if you hadn't noticed, IS NOT FOR SISSIES - (just ask the dude who just won our Nation's Championship with a broken leg...)