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My Nemesis
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines nemesis as a formidable and usually victorious rival or opponent; a source of harm or ruin; a curse. And, of all the many rounds of golf; on countless courses, including innumerable holes, only one hole, without a doubt, in my 50 plus years of playing golf matches this description. It did not start out that way. Although, it has been over fifty years ago, I don’t think I gave much thought to what I was seeing the first time I stepped up to the tee. The scorecard listed it as a par four, 341 yards, number eight handicap hole, a sharp 90 degree dogleg left. And, yes,…
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WITB – What’s in the Bag
If you Google “WITB” you will find over 11,000,000 results detailing what golfers have in their bags. However, as anyone knows who has played this game for any period of time, what’s in the bag today may be gone tomorrow. Different courses sometimes requires a different setup to play your best against “Ole Man Par”, such as, hybrids instead of fairway woods (windy conditions), change in wedge setup depending on how tight the lies (bounce), one length irons, or perhaps, a set of irons from the 1990s’ as a benchmark of where my game really is. Therefore, I have two or three “go to” setups that will see time in…
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Keeping Score – One Shot at a Time
If you have played for any length of time, chances are, you have experienced “getting ahead of yourself” i.e. counting your score before you finished the round, then all of a sudden something happens to derail what could / should have been. You are not alone. Golf journals are full of stories of touring pros momentary lost of focus and losing the lead or worst the tournament. Conventional wisdom indicates that staying in the moment improves the chances of playing our best. But, how do you develop a ONE SHOT AT A TIME mindset? When I first started getting serious about beating “Old Man Par”, the way I was taught…
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Willow Lakes at PAFB
This is the first of the “Courses Lost” posts, which I share, and invite others to share, memories of courses that have closed. Willow Lakes Golf Course opened in the Fall of 1968 on Pope Air Force base but it was not until the following October, upon my return from Mildenhall RAF, England to start my discharge from service process, that I played the course. As it was, the USAF allocated 30 to 45 days for an airman to complete the procedure, so there was a lot of “hurry up and wait” downtime while waiting for one office to send my records to another one involved in the process. Therefore,…
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A Friendly Wager
“ Want to play the last three holes for lunch? ”, my playing partner asked as we finished 15th hole during my first round at Stryker Golf Course in the Spring of 1967. Being fairly new at golf and first time playing a regulation, par 70 plus, 18 hole course, I was not sure how to reply. Was this part of the game? Was this normal? In essence, wanting to make a good first impression, and, since I had enjoyed playing with the “old sarge”, I agreed; telling myself it was not that much money, two or three dollars, besides it could be a free lunch. While, knowing deep down,…
