Golf is Not a Game of Perfect

Country singer Luke Combs makes a statement that is likely true for many of us at different times. We golf because we enjoy it but sometimes it can be frustrating. I will speak to my personal experience with this in a moment. However, I will quick do a recap of last week's Men's Night for anyone who just prefers that information.

There were 28 golfers on June 21 with skins going on three holes. Chad Tanner and Charlie McNabb won twice ($20.00 on #2 and $38.13 on #3). Pete Ostash and Milt combined for a $20.oo win on #9. Closest to the pins were Derek Patterson on #5 and Jim Geekie on #9. Derek converted his birdie to share the $52.50 deuce pot with Chad and Pete. Chad's two was noteworthy in that he got it on the par 4 second hole.

Okay, back to the highs and lows of golf. Stop reading now if you aren't interested.

I generally try to be optimistic with golf and I have written often in this blog about the importance of positivity. However, the last three weeks have been challenging. I am hitting the ball very well tee to green, but if I miss the green I am having troubles. I have been plagued with an extended bout of the shanks. This isn't the occasional thing in which I hit one bad shot once per week. This time it is several shots per outing. For example, yesterday in Minnedosa, I had no less than seven shanks. A few times I turned a ball just off the green with a chance for birdie into a triple. The best or worst of these was 20 feet from the pin in one on a long par 3 which ended as a score of six.

Here's the funny thing...I can't wait to get out and play again. Tomorrow will be a full day of golf and I will be playing early and late. And as soon as it stops raining or misting outside, I am heading over to hole 6 to try to remember how to chip again. I am hoping one of the 20 videos that I watched this morning will provide some insight.

In addition to the need to practice work through whatever it is that I am doing wrong, I need to relax and remember how fortunate I am to be playing golf. I need to stop walking up to a chip thinking that I am going to mishit it.

And if it takes a bit to sort things out, I will still be outside golfing. Golf is not a game of perfect...but even poorly hitting golf balls in early summer is a heck of a lot better that most things in the winter.