It's Up To You

Okay. I am going to write about something that I have written about two times previously…the importance of being optimistic on the golf course.

This is a longer blog than usual. If you aren’t interested in my ramblings skip to the end to see how Mens’ Night went this week.

I started writing this early Saturday morning, eager to golf at noon with the boys, but listening to the wind howl a bit outside.  I checked two weather sites…one said “partly cloudy” and the other stated “partly sunny”. I think that they mean the same thing but  I made a choice to go with the more positive option.

The thing about being an optimistic person is on rare occasions you don’t feel automatically optimistic. I would like to think it is a dominant trait but sometimes maintaining a positive outlook isn’t easy. When I first awoke, I thought...”Cool, it’s a golf day”. Then I heard the wind and thought “What the heck”. Before getting out of bed I started thinking about how it was windy both days last weekend and here it is was windy again today.  I started thinking how I bought new golf balls yesterday and would need to leave them at home because of the gusts.  I wondered if some people who said that they might play would bail because it was too breezy.

I went to the course for noon. One of the four guys replied quickly to a text and said he wasn’t coming. A second responded in a similar fashion a little while later, The fourth slept in and texted around 2:00 pm as I was on my way back home.

But it wasn’t a wasted trip. I putted and chipped and hit some balls from about 100 yards. It was really windy but not that bad. I even tried to look for some balls…checking the regular spots on holes 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7. I found ten balls in about an hour. Three went into the pond. One had a cut in it. Another had a checkerboard pattern that I threw in the cart for my kid. Of the remaining five three were good balls. The best was the TaylorMade with the green putting line that was likely hit by Scott Maynes. It was deep in the middle of the bush on #3.

I wasn’t bummed about finding so few balls. It was warm in the bush with the sun and no wind. Plus I got outside for a couple of hours. A pessimist might suggest that the lack of found balls indicates a slow start to the season. I would like to think everyone is playing well enough to keep their balls in play.

I guess my point is that sometimes being optimistic takes a little work.  For example, the first mens night I had a less than awesome first hole and for the rest of the round I felt like I was waiting for something else bad to happen.  I chose to not have as much fun as I should have.  This past week, I started with a birdie on 6 and was excited about when the next one was coming.  I didn’t score significantly better than week one but I enjoyed the evening way more.  It’s a pretty simple concept I guess…sad face or happy face…you decide.

Think about your own game. You face a long putt…roll it 40 feet across the green and it stops inches away.  Do you get upset that you left another one short or do you think that it is great that you get a gimmie for putting so well?  Do you complain every time your approach shot is short or do you think that it was a nice straight shot but just needed a little more power or one more club?  Do you get bummed when only 14 men show up or are you happy that there is still enough to play?

Speaking of 14 golfers, that is how many that we had this past Wednesday.

Skins went on three consecutive holes and all won $20 skins. Winners included Robin Kimpinski / Blake Hunter on 5, Darcy Kowalchuk / Charlie McNabb on 6, and Stephen David / Sonny Blackbird on 7.

Darcy Kowalchuk was closest to the hole on #5 and Brad Benton was a repeat winner on #9. Both converted their birdies to share the $21 deuce pot.

Brad and Robin both added another birdie to the ringer board to get to -2.

One more point about today. As I came out of the bush close to 2:00 pm, I saw a cart approaching. I talked to the gentlemen for a minute before heading home. I felt comfortable leaving the course in the hands of another optimist…Mr. Clayton Hunter. I asked him if was too windy and he said “Hell no. I need to get some exercise”.

See you all on Wednesday.  I bet there will be 30 golfers!