Golfing Gone Wild

As one of my major goals this year, I have previously mentioned that I wanted to join a men's club, get an official handicap, and play more golf with the intention of acheiving a single diget handicap index once before I am to old to hit the ball over 200 yds.

So, I joined the Oceanside men's club, since I had been playing that municipal course most often when I played. Plus it was cheap! Only 50 bucks to sign up and get into the Southern California Golf Assn, which runs the handicap system.

I have played about 12 times since then and have established an index of 15, which means that I have been posting scores mostly in the high 80's. Now, for a high percentage of golfers that might seem like a great acheivement. Fortunately, however, I do feel that I can improve considerably with alot of practice and play. I can hit all the shots, handle the distance of most courses up to about 6600-6700 yds, and putt reasonably well. While I feel I have been improving, my scores have been inconsistant due to the fact that I am still missing to many shots--mostly off the tee.

For example, today I played a course that was about 6400 yds. On the front nine I had 4 pars, 4 double bogeys, and one triple bogey and shot 47. All the big scores were mostly caused by wayward tee shots into the water, out of bounds, or way over into the trees. There were about 6 bad shots that caused 11 extra strokes on the front. Not a very good start. I was pretty pissed--but keeping it to myself--and being cool. I was playing with a couple other guys who probably thought that my 47 looked pretty good. Not to me though! But I never give up! The mental aspect of the game is as important as the physical part! Ask anyone!

I always feel bad if I don't break 90 for the whole round. So as I walked off the 9th green, I was calculating what I needed to do to get that done, and thinking that maybe a 40 on the back nine was not out of reach if I started concentrating and keeping my head down a bit better while I was swinging the club.

Keeping a good thought, I put a good swing on the tee shot on 10, then hit a wedge shot that wasn't to hot, but ended up better than it should have about 12 feet below the hole, and made the putt for a birdie!

OK, I said to myself, now things are going to change! So, I double bogeyed the next two holes!! Bad tee shots--one in the river, and one out of bounds. Then, par, bogey,bogey, par,and par. I am at the 18th and I'm still figuring what I need! If I birdie the last hole I can shoot a 40 on the back for an 87. It's a par 5 and I hit my tee shot in a fairway trap. Boo! I hit a pretty good 7 wood about 200 yds though, and have about a 50 yd sand wedge over a tree to the pin. I take a couple of nice practice swings, then a very bad swing at the ball and hit it way past the pin. Ah well, I can 2 putt for a par and a 41. It is a long downhill putt that I read badly and I end up 3 putting for a 42. I am disturbed!!! But as I add up my score 47+42=89. I percieve that to be less that 90!! Still to much, though.

Every time I have a score like that I think that with more practice, and more concentration, I will become more consistent, miss fewer shots, and score consistently in the low 80's like I did about 30 years ago. Of the 17 shots I had over par this time, I look back and think that there were at least 6 or 7 shots that I could have eliminated with hitting just 3 more tee shots in the fairway.

Or maybe I am just like golfers everywhere, who go over every hole and always end up with 6 or 7 "if onlys" in each round they play(and sometimes more). I guess perhaps the goal is to reduce the "if onlys" to the point where one becomes satisfied that the score really matches the extent of the ability available. I don't think I am there yet! But there sure have been a lot of scores in the high 80's the last few weeks.