FORE!!!!

What is it about taking a metal and graphite club and hitting a little ball around a cornfield, through some trees, and across a creek or two that appeals to so many people?   Golf... It can be the most frustrating game on earth.  It can get the best of you in a matter of minutes and can make you cuss like a sailor!  On the other hand, it can be very rewarding.  Whatever it is... it has my husband and me hooked!  We love to play, we love to watch, and we love to go to tournaments to see the pros play.

Learning to play golf was my suggestion.  I thought it would be something fun to do when we traveled... a way to see some beautiful countryside, get some exercise, and have fun together.  Dave wasn't really interested when I first suggested it, though... "It's an old man's sport," he'd say.  It wasn't until his friend, Joe, asked him to play that he suddenly became interested.  Humph... what the heck?!

No matter.  We soon discovered that golf was much more than an "old man's sport".  It's challenging and frustrating and rewarding and tiring and FUN!  We just can't get enough of it!  How can a simple game like this be so addicting?  I think it's that elusive hole-in-one.  Everyone longs to make one.  Very few actually do.  I'm not sure how, but somehow a few years ago I miraculously made one!  :-)

One of our latest ventures in golf is figuring out our handicap.  Normally we play best ball.  Sometimes we use my shot, but most of the time we use Dave's.  I sometimes drive the ball just as far, if not farther, than Dave - and that's from the men's tees, not the ladies!  (Yah, that's right... I play with the big dogs)  And, I've been known to sink miraculously long putts.  On the other hand, I've also had to yell my share of  "FORE!" and go hunting for lost balls.  But, in order to figure our handicaps, we each have to play our own shots and count our own scores.  Oy, I really suck at this game!  And, tonight - our first game on our own in a few years... slapped that reality right into me.  If I wasn't in the weeds, I was in the ditch.  If I wasn't in the ditch, I was in the pond.  If I wasn't in the pond, I was in the neighboring field.  Geezopeet, I couldn't catch a break to save my butt.  My final score for 9 holes... well, let's just pretend I played all 18 holes... and made par.