Does it count if I shot an 84 on a par 58 (+26)? I did technically break 100 and earned a certificate from the Golf Digest Challenge. It counts like a 6 foot gimme.

Slice.

Lost ball.

Chunk dropped ball.

Decent PW on or near the green.

2 or 3 putt.

Repeat 18 times.

I shot a friggen 113 today at a charity tournament. Terrible.

I went to a wedding in Alabama this past weekend and had a chance to play an amazingly hard golf course - rated in the top 30 I believe by Golf Digest in fact. Alabama’s Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail features the Shoals - Fighting Joe Golf Course. We didn’t play from the blacks (I suck, remember!) which is 8,092 yards long. Instead we played from the white tees which are a mere 6,154 yards long - and quite difficult.

Playing with rental clubs is always interesting, but the King Cobra’s they gave me where in good shape and quite similar in feel to my Taylormade Irons. The driver however had a graphite shaft, and I never really did manage to get a feel for it.



I played OK - shot a 105 in total thanks to losing a ton of balls and taking penalties left and right. If I had been able to keep my drives in play, I’m sure I would have broken 100, or come close.

I did manage to stun the guy I was playing with by sinking a 30 foot putt for a bogey (whew), and even managed to par the 10th hole.

The guy I played with shot an 89 and really, really picked it up on the back 9 shooting +3. Unreal.

Played my first round of the 2007 golf season in chilly weather this morning at Tashua Knolls. We had a delayed 7:30 AM start time and finally tee’d it up at 9:30 as a shotgun start. Teeing off on 18 to start the round was odd, but gave us a short walk. I started the season with a decent drive, but tripled the hole for an 8.

I’ve mentioned how much I love my new hybrid before, and the club continues to perform as I hit it from just about anywhere on the golf course. I had 3 solid pars on the day and shot a 102 - not terrible. I would have saved a few strokes but continue to slice most every drive. I also need to shake the rust off, as I chunked at least 4 shots that most certainly hurt my score.

It was a GREAT day though - I’m so glad golf is back!

Meanwhile, the Masters is terrific - I’m just now watching the end of the 3rd round and loving every second.

The Golf Launchpad :)

http://www.electricspin.com/

This is too cool. Wonder if it works well…

Sunday was gorgeous out so I hit a couple of buckets of balls at the local range. The weather was unreal and there was only 2 or 3 other guys there with me.

I have the notion that I should learn how to draw the ball, if nothing else than to help me fight off my natural slice. I worked on that a bit, with some success but should most certainly invest in a lesson or two shortly. Maybe I’ll even have to rename this blog (doubtful).

I also tried out my new irons (Taylormade RAC OS) that I bought a few weeks ago. I like em a lot, I hit the ball very consistently with the 5 iron but can’t seem to control the 3 iron at all.

Meanwhile, my girls are taking golf lessons in Norwalk so they won’t grow up to “suck” - Julia hit a driver in the simulator 90 yards - improving from 71 which was her previous best distance. It’s fun to see them learn so quickly. I can’t wait to see what happens when we get out on the course.

I’m sick for golf season to come back. I’ve been putting in my basement and messing around online with mygolfrecord.com and meez.com.

Oh my god, I also suck at Playstation Golf. I couldn’t sleep last night so I teed up Tiger Wood 2005 on the PS2. Playing in Tour Difficulty mode I totally stunk it up shooting 13 over at Harbor Town. I played in regular mode and shot 6 under and missed the cut. So sad, so pathetic.

Tour difficult mode removes the caddy tip - without which the game suddenly becomes very, very hard.

How pathetic. If I’m not even good at video game golf, what chance do I have in the real world?

I managed to hit a few balls at the Norwalk Golf center and set up a mini-putting area in my basement so far - but basically winter stinks worse than I am at golf.

The Norwalk golf center is pretty amazing however - they have a simulator, a ton of bays with computers and cameras and a full bunker. My girls are doing a girl scouts/LPGA thing so they can learn to stink at golf too - and while they were getting lessons I hit a bunch of balls on my own.

Seeing yourself on video is odd - my swing really isn’t that bad but I have literally no power - something to work on for next spring. It would be nice to be able to hit the ball another 30 yards or so - there’s no reason why I shouldn’t be able to hit the ball 250 yards with a driver (or more to be honest). I’m capping out at around 225/230 and think it has to do with my hips not opening soon enough.

Maybe I should get some real lessons!

I did a little talk at American Cancer Society (don’t worry, I wasn’t talking about Golf!) and they gave a me a goodie bag filled with Titlest balls, tees and a brush. Blogging really does pay off!