Golf blogging
When the season's change so does ones focus on leisure activities. During the winter, I have a one track mind, focused on the next day I'll be able to make it up to Jay Peak.
But in the spring and summer, my thoughts start to wain a bit. Instead of boards, bindings, and boots, my thoughts turn to clubs, carts and cold ones (and, uh, balls, but that didn't sound as alliterative. And honestly, I prefer to walk and I only drink one or two per round.) Yes...the sport of golf. The once elitist sport of elites, but has become as everyman as NASCAR in recent years. It's quite convenient that the two sports seasons only overlap for a few weeks in the Northeast. Most golf courses are just starting to cut the greens when the last of the lifts are stopping.
And in an ironic twist of synergy, the Masters usually is on TV during my last few hours in the SS Jay every season. Really makes my mind start thinking about golf rather than snowboarding.
Let's get on with the highlights (and lowlights).
It's Easter weekend, which means I am at home to see the 'rents and spend the festive days with family and friends. Whenever I make it home during the spring, summer, fall I usually end up playing golf. On Saturday, we had a good crew going - Brad, me, Chaz, and the Rookie. (We need a nickname for Brad). We decided to only play 9 because...I don't know, we usually only play nine. We began the season at the Locust Tree (New Paltz Golf Course).
I'm not gonna go hole by hole, but to start off, I was horrible. Every ball I hit was a worm burner with a wicked hook. Actually it wasn't even a hook, just straight left (I hit righty). And I wasn't getting any yardage. I was looking for "space between the trees" right away (heh!). I ended hitting a our max shot count for that hole (9). The 2nd hole was not any better. Another wormburner off the tee and a couple flub shots before getting near the green. But my the fun was not over. Apparently over the winter I totally forgot how to putt because I was rolling putts 10 to 15 feet past the holes. Oh, and my chipping! Gawd damn...pretty fuckin' bad. Another 9.
The third hole things started to improve. My drive was straighter (but not higher) and I actually put a full pitching wedge onto the green. I think I ended up with a 6 on the hole, though. BTW, I really not a good golfer. I just really enjoy the stupid game.
So the round continued on like this for most the holes. My drives didn't improve much, but my irons started to get pretty solid while my putting and chipping continued to be atrocious. My best shots in the middle holes included my drive and second shot on the long Par 5 6th and my tee shot on the par 3 8th where the 5 iron was as straight as an arrow and ended up about 20ft below the hole. John actually had the better tee shot on that hole, just wanted to mention that and to give him props.
I think the best part of the day was watching Brad play. He's not a very experienced golfer. I think he started playing five years ago when his cousin Tommy gave him an old set of clubs. But right away, he had an natural swing. He still struggles with it a lot, but when he hits it right, it will be a perfect shot. The other part of it is that he doesn't take the game to seriously, On the short 3rd, he ended up in the bunker on the fourth green. Now, I think most of us, on our first day out, would take the drop. Not Brad. He tries to blast it right out of the bunker, only it hits a tree about twenty yards away. And lands right back in the bunker next to him. High-larious.
But the best part of the day was on the 9th. The order went John, Me, Charlie, Brad. We all got up and hit spectacular tee shots (for us). I honestly felt that I had hit the farthest shot as did everybody else. When we walked up to the balls, there were a cluster of three in a 10 yard radius - mine, John's, and Brad's. There were two right next to each other, about 5 ft apart and I walked up to the front one totally expecting it to be mine. I don't remember who it was, but someone said, "Nah, Weasel, that's your's back there."
Damn. Brad outdrove me.
So, whatever. I walk up to the ball, say "This shots gonna suck, anyway," just to psych myself out. I end up hitting a beatiful 5 iron (or 6, I can't remember) right on the green. It was 15 to 20 feet out, but still. Nice freakin' shot that was acknowledged by all. Felt good.
Brad steps right up to his ball. BAM! Hits a beauty of a shot RIGHT at the pin. It lands, oh, 3 feet away. All I could do was shake my head.
Kudos to Brad on his motherfuckin' bird.
And I 3-putt for a Bogart.
One last thing...Congrats to Chaz for winning cupcakes. Here's the link to the actual comment entry that he won with (do a page search for "chaz" if you don't want to read all the other posts. It's way down). I can't believe I just linked to a cupcake page.
But in the spring and summer, my thoughts start to wain a bit. Instead of boards, bindings, and boots, my thoughts turn to clubs, carts and cold ones (and, uh, balls, but that didn't sound as alliterative. And honestly, I prefer to walk and I only drink one or two per round.) Yes...the sport of golf. The once elitist sport of elites, but has become as everyman as NASCAR in recent years. It's quite convenient that the two sports seasons only overlap for a few weeks in the Northeast. Most golf courses are just starting to cut the greens when the last of the lifts are stopping.
And in an ironic twist of synergy, the Masters usually is on TV during my last few hours in the SS Jay every season. Really makes my mind start thinking about golf rather than snowboarding.
Let's get on with the highlights (and lowlights).
It's Easter weekend, which means I am at home to see the 'rents and spend the festive days with family and friends. Whenever I make it home during the spring, summer, fall I usually end up playing golf. On Saturday, we had a good crew going - Brad, me, Chaz, and the Rookie. (We need a nickname for Brad). We decided to only play 9 because...I don't know, we usually only play nine. We began the season at the Locust Tree (New Paltz Golf Course).
I'm not gonna go hole by hole, but to start off, I was horrible. Every ball I hit was a worm burner with a wicked hook. Actually it wasn't even a hook, just straight left (I hit righty). And I wasn't getting any yardage. I was looking for "space between the trees" right away (heh!). I ended hitting a our max shot count for that hole (9). The 2nd hole was not any better. Another wormburner off the tee and a couple flub shots before getting near the green. But my the fun was not over. Apparently over the winter I totally forgot how to putt because I was rolling putts 10 to 15 feet past the holes. Oh, and my chipping! Gawd damn...pretty fuckin' bad. Another 9.
The third hole things started to improve. My drive was straighter (but not higher) and I actually put a full pitching wedge onto the green. I think I ended up with a 6 on the hole, though. BTW, I really not a good golfer. I just really enjoy the stupid game.
So the round continued on like this for most the holes. My drives didn't improve much, but my irons started to get pretty solid while my putting and chipping continued to be atrocious. My best shots in the middle holes included my drive and second shot on the long Par 5 6th and my tee shot on the par 3 8th where the 5 iron was as straight as an arrow and ended up about 20ft below the hole. John actually had the better tee shot on that hole, just wanted to mention that and to give him props.
I think the best part of the day was watching Brad play. He's not a very experienced golfer. I think he started playing five years ago when his cousin Tommy gave him an old set of clubs. But right away, he had an natural swing. He still struggles with it a lot, but when he hits it right, it will be a perfect shot. The other part of it is that he doesn't take the game to seriously, On the short 3rd, he ended up in the bunker on the fourth green. Now, I think most of us, on our first day out, would take the drop. Not Brad. He tries to blast it right out of the bunker, only it hits a tree about twenty yards away. And lands right back in the bunker next to him. High-larious.
But the best part of the day was on the 9th. The order went John, Me, Charlie, Brad. We all got up and hit spectacular tee shots (for us). I honestly felt that I had hit the farthest shot as did everybody else. When we walked up to the balls, there were a cluster of three in a 10 yard radius - mine, John's, and Brad's. There were two right next to each other, about 5 ft apart and I walked up to the front one totally expecting it to be mine. I don't remember who it was, but someone said, "Nah, Weasel, that's your's back there."
Damn. Brad outdrove me.
So, whatever. I walk up to the ball, say "This shots gonna suck, anyway," just to psych myself out. I end up hitting a beatiful 5 iron (or 6, I can't remember) right on the green. It was 15 to 20 feet out, but still. Nice freakin' shot that was acknowledged by all. Felt good.
Brad steps right up to his ball. BAM! Hits a beauty of a shot RIGHT at the pin. It lands, oh, 3 feet away. All I could do was shake my head.
Kudos to Brad on his motherfuckin' bird.
And I 3-putt for a Bogart.
One last thing...Congrats to Chaz for winning cupcakes. Here's the link to the actual comment entry that he won with (do a page search for "chaz" if you don't want to read all the other posts. It's way down). I can't believe I just linked to a cupcake page.
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