Happy Father's Day

My dad was a golfer. He called himself a "duffer" but he played pretty well considering he picked the game up as an adult and was a lefty but he played right handed because he couldn't afford a set of left handed clubs.

My favorite thing to do on summer days was to follow him around our little nine hole golf course at the "club" we belonged to when I was growing up.

There was one pretty easy par three on the course that he would let me play. He would let me hit off the tee, and hit once on the fairway and then I would pick up my ball and drop it on the green and then I could putt it three times. If I didn't get it in in three putts he made me pick it up.

I never played very well, but I always had fun. Sadly, that all ended when my dad got sick when I was 12, and then he died a year later.

My husband loves golf just as much as my father did. Only mrangelmeg is a righty, and has been playing golf since he was a little boy.

The girls got mrangelmeg this book for Father's day:

It looks like a book my Father would have liked had he stayed alive long enough. I wish mrangelmeg had had a chance to meet my father, they might have been great golfing buddies.

Happy Father's day to all you Father's out there.

Pax

8, 7, 6, 5, 5, 5, 5, Lets Sing a Song of 5

I'm not sure if I was playing golf today or stuck in an old Sesame Street sketch. You know the one with the numbers where they would count five of a bunch of things, and at the end Frank Oz dressed as a baker would be carrying some scrumptious thing down a staircase and drop them into a big mess.

I played 9 holes of golf today at the par-3 with the angelbaby and one of her friends. My score for nine holes was just about exactly the title of this piece. I guess it is good that I was shooting a consistent five after the first four holes, but I kept hoping to get down to four on the shorter holes.

I have to admit though that my short game is looking better and better, I actually pitched onto three greens on the first try, and I one putted two greens in a row. Unfortunately the rest of the time I three putted, or I over-shot the green with my 9-iron or pitching wedge, or had crappy fairway shots.

The best thing I can say about my drives is that they would make William Buckley proud, because for the most part they were all slightly to the right. When I tried to correct for that flaw and aim to the left I would hit one straight down the middle and end up in the trees to the left or worse on the next fairway. It was so annoying.

So, all in all we had a really great time golfing, and I think it will become a regular weekly activity, I just wish I knew what I was doing wrong. Or maybe my real handicap is as I have said all along that I actually think I can play the game.

Perhaps this is the time to invest in a few lessons.

Pax

Golf: The Walk you Love to Hate

Mrangelmeg convinced me to dust (and there was a whole lot of dust) off my golf bag and join him and the angelbaby for a round of golf at the local Par 3 course on Sunday.

It has been at least two years, probably closer to three since the last time I have played any golf at all (including Putt-Putt). We first went to the driving range to hit buckets of balls. I was so rusty, but after a bit at least I was hitting the ball fairly straight (well, fairly to the right, but the ball was moving away from my club which is always good.)

When we got to the course I played with consistent inconsistency for the first four holes. I shot a 10 on the first hole and a 5 on the second, then a 9 on the third, and a 5 on the fourth. After that I played a much better round; shooting 5,6,5,4, over the next four holes and I even shot par on the final hole.

I was so pleased with the way I played (after the third hole anyway). I really could use some work on my short game, well actually I could really use a short game; but that has never stopped most of the men I know who play golf for fun, so why should it stop me?

I really like this little course, it is short enough to make you feel like you are doing a good job, and plays really fast even when there is a crowd. I think I will play out there a lot this summer to get my confidence back up. Then who knows, I might even try to play in a league or something.

Pax