Slammin'SAM
Never a flatbelly
Finally, after 32 months away from the game of golf, I teed it up and played Saturday. My good pal is up from Tampa for his annual stint as a volunteer at the Masters, and we renewed our rivalry Saturday. We played our old home course Gordon Lakes, where I was club champion 10 times and he was club champion 7 times. I am 61, he is 52.
I hit a bucket of balls last August after getting the release from my hip replacement, but otherwise never touched the clubs for 32 months. Saturday I hit the range and immediately the ball striking was good, normal. We had an 0800 shotgun start, and my opening hole was of all things an upwind 195 yard par 3. I took a hybrid and a 4 iron to the tee, and chose the 4 iron. A sweet strike and I looked up to watch it track to the center of the green, about 20 feet short. Welcome back to golf! one par under my belt, I played the next hole, a par 5, as a 3 shotter and wedged to 8 feet, but missed the birdie. I ended up hitting 10 greens in regulation, and was in the front fringe of 4 more. The rust showed up in the chipping game, as I usually bogeyed when I missed the green. But, there were two memorable moments - one came on the longest par 4 there, where I hit it into the corner trap from the tee. From about 200 yards, I hit a solid 4 iron onto the green - in thousands of rounds there, I had never hit that green from that trap, a brutally tough shot. So what if I was on the wrong side of the green and had my only 3 putt of the day. At the next to last hole, a short par 3, I wedged to 8 feet behind the hole, and curled in a speedy big breaker for my only birdie of the day. The final tally was 80, 8 over, but it felt better than that. My birdie also held up for a skin in the gaggle of 21 players I was in, so I made a small profit as well! By the way, the hip was/is great, a total non-factor - my friend said my swing and trajectory looked unchanged, as well as no limp. My yardages were maybe a half-club shorter thru the irons, maybe 15-20 less with the driver, but heck- I am 3 years less flexible than the last time I played with a good hip.
I will play again in a work related event in early May, and again with my friend later in May when he comes back to play the Augusta National, his volunteer reward. Incidentally, he shot 73 and wore me out in our match - I guess I will practice before we do it again.
I hit a bucket of balls last August after getting the release from my hip replacement, but otherwise never touched the clubs for 32 months. Saturday I hit the range and immediately the ball striking was good, normal. We had an 0800 shotgun start, and my opening hole was of all things an upwind 195 yard par 3. I took a hybrid and a 4 iron to the tee, and chose the 4 iron. A sweet strike and I looked up to watch it track to the center of the green, about 20 feet short. Welcome back to golf! one par under my belt, I played the next hole, a par 5, as a 3 shotter and wedged to 8 feet, but missed the birdie. I ended up hitting 10 greens in regulation, and was in the front fringe of 4 more. The rust showed up in the chipping game, as I usually bogeyed when I missed the green. But, there were two memorable moments - one came on the longest par 4 there, where I hit it into the corner trap from the tee. From about 200 yards, I hit a solid 4 iron onto the green - in thousands of rounds there, I had never hit that green from that trap, a brutally tough shot. So what if I was on the wrong side of the green and had my only 3 putt of the day. At the next to last hole, a short par 3, I wedged to 8 feet behind the hole, and curled in a speedy big breaker for my only birdie of the day. The final tally was 80, 8 over, but it felt better than that. My birdie also held up for a skin in the gaggle of 21 players I was in, so I made a small profit as well! By the way, the hip was/is great, a total non-factor - my friend said my swing and trajectory looked unchanged, as well as no limp. My yardages were maybe a half-club shorter thru the irons, maybe 15-20 less with the driver, but heck- I am 3 years less flexible than the last time I played with a good hip.
I will play again in a work related event in early May, and again with my friend later in May when he comes back to play the Augusta National, his volunteer reward. Incidentally, he shot 73 and wore me out in our match - I guess I will practice before we do it again.
