Prime Time Golf

If there is one advantage to playing golf on the west coast those of us back here in the east can watch golf to bedtime. I liked Saturday night's prime time coverage. Sunday the golfing world wants to make sure if there is any weather delay they can still finish on Sunday so Sunday finished an hour sooner than Saturday night.

I played golf a lot during my earlier years. This time of year when you can get and extra thirty yards from a hard ground on good days I could make 82 or 83. Five times in my life I broke 80. twice I shot 75, once 76, 77 and once 78. When I had scores like that those were the days that I played like Tiger played on Saturday or Phil Mickelson on Friday. I could knock the pin down or make fifty foot putts. Everything went in.

The next time I played I was lucky to break 90. There were three 66's shot this week at the U S Open. Phil Mickelson shot his on Friday and backed it up with a 74 on Saturday. Tiger Woods sent electrical charges through the crowd in prime time Saturday night and followed up Sunday with a 75. Little known Dustin Johnson match Tiger with a 66 on Saturday and followed his greatest round with the second worse final round score from the leader going into the final round 82.

Golf is a hard game to play relaxed. While you are on the course you don't have to worry about any problems of the world only that little ball that I can hit out of sight sometimes will not go where I want it too. You see when I hit it out of sight it is in the woods.

The last time I played golf which I think was in 2002. A business friend from California was at work with me and wanted to play golf on a North Carolina Course. We went to Northgreen during the period it was not in it's best shape. I had not played before that day in three or four years.

Number one at Northgreen is a par five. I drove my first drive about 240 yards making a nice easy swing hoping not to knock out a window of a home on the first hole. I don't have a club in my bag that off the ground I can hit 200 yards so I layed up nicely short of the green with my second shot. I pitched to fifteen feet from the hole and two putted for par.

You would have thought I had won the US Open. Hadn't played golf in three years but I haven't lost a thing. I'm going to show my friend a 80 today. The second hole I was in the fairway 200 yards short. Now remember I can't get on the green 200 yards away but todayI could. I hit a three wood about 120 yards deep in the woods on the right leading to a triple bogie. Boy, my dream of shooting 80 turn into a fifteen foot putt on the last hole for 100.

I haven't played golf since.

Why is it some days the ball knows where to go and then others it does what it wants to do just like today's teenagers.

I loved playing golf. Wish I could play now. I love being miserable on the golf course, because every fifteen shots I play like Tiger.