“AN ENJOYABLE ROUND OF GOLF” – the ultimate oxymoron
by: Jared Meier
Let’s be honest, if you are a hacker like me, then you know as soon as you lace up your spikes that you are about to experience the most fulfilling yet frustrating 4-5 hours of your week. You tell yourself the same exact thing every time you walk up to the first tee: keep your head down, swing smooth, let the club do the work. In your Zen-like state, you approach the ball and take your swing . . . then you look to see if you’ll be able to get away with a “breakfast ball” without the starter noticing.
Week-to-week things always change, and not necessarily for the better. Maybe this week your Putter decides to take a vacation so you decide to 3-putt everything in its absence. The next 18 you might as well as throw your ball from the tee to the fairway because your Driver just doesn’t want to keep anything in play. Then there is the infamous “beach” round, where just about every hole your ball seems to find its way into a sand trap or a water hazard.
Hooks & Fades, Ball Marks & Aerations, Woodpeckers and Flies — there are an infinite amount of factors that keep you from hitting the ball how and where you ACTUALLY intended on hitting it. Of course, we all know that these annoyances are the true reasons why we didn’t hit that putt for triple-bogey or why that chip didn’t fall to save double-par. Obviously the group teeing off on the next hole is to blame for messing up your concentration while you were reading your putt!
Please don’t get me wrong – I look forward to my weekly round of golf much, much more than waking up Monday mornings for work. After all, it only takes one smooth swing or one great putt . . . or just the sweet sound of the ball rolling into the cup for Par . . . to make me want to come back for more. You really have to marvel at the fact that this game, which seems so simple, is truly so very challenging. For me, this is the thought that usually strikes me while I’m sitting at the 19TH hole with a cold beer in one hand and fresh cigar in the other.