Everyone Knows its Windy

     I am going to commit the cardinal sin of writing and begin this post with a comment about the weather.  Yesterday, it was very windy.  It is funny how a movement of air can effect a little roun sphere.  That sphere is aerodynamically developed and is supposed to react in a very stable way.  Whoever believes that may not be stable themselves.  Yesterday, it was very windy--very, very windy.
     I love hitting great shots that travel with a ninty degree ball flight.  I really love hitting a driver flat into a 30 mile an hour wind 160 yards on a 420 yard par 4.  It is amazing how much wind will effect a two foot putt.  How interesting the game is when the element of wind is added.  I heard many complaints yesterday, but we get spoiled.  Wind is part of the game.
     I noticed an almost total exhaustion after about hole number fourteen.  The wind adds a dimension to the game that taxes the concentration almost ten times more than when it is not windy.  It changes everything, and the brain has to not only calculate distances and breaks, but how the wind will effect those distances and breaks.  You have to get creative and manufacture shots you don't normally hit.  Patience is a virtue as your scores soar.  Even though your normal game is not there, you still hit some good shots.  When you do pull off that "perfect" shot, enjoy it and savor it. 
       

I Am Not Phil

     I am not Phil Mickelson.  I wouldn't want to be because I am happy to be me.  His money would be nice and I do like to fly, but it also presents its own set of problems.  That's not what this is about though.  I am not Phil Mickelson and never will be.  By that I mean my game will never come close to Phil's.  I am an eighteen handicapper and probably never be a single digit handicapper, let alone a scratch golfer. Believe it or not, I am happy with that.
     Most of golfdom is just like me.  For every Phil Mickelson or Dustin Johnson or whoever the pro there are thousands of me.  I am the face of golf.  The three other guys I play with on Mondays and Fridays are golf.  The quarter skins game in which I loose $3.00 a game is golf.  I will never make a $1,000,000 payday and am happy.  I enjoy the game of golf for the golf.  Excuse me, I am out to the course for my 8:00 tee time to contribute my $3.00 to the rest of the guys in the skins game.

Winter Golf

     We who love the game will play no matter what the conditions.  Here in Central California we are blessed with a climate that we are able to do that.  Courses in this area of California do not close, and our season is year round.
     Don't get me wrong, there are times when it just doesn't look like you are going to get your round in.  I remember playing in the very infrequent rain.  There were times when the fog was so bad that the ball was just barely visible at your feet and you would hit the shot by faith. Bottom line on this is that we still played and we are able to play.
     We get our frost delays, and yes I have played in a very rare snowstorm.  Nevertheless, we play.  Frost delays can run up to a couple of hours, but it is worth the wait to freeze your behind off for a great round of golf. The quarter skins game is much more important than the feeling in our fingers and toes.
     Monday I will be on assignment at Hunter Ranch in Paso Robles evaluating the course for the golf magazine I write for.  A couple of weeks ago, I visited the course and it was fairly green and lush.  Yes, it was in its winter shape, but nevertheless it was in good shape and green. The head pro was almost embarrased to have us take pictures of the course.
Here in the valley during the winter we play on dormant bermuda which turns golden brown after the first frost and the temperatures dip.  The areas around the greens are overseeded with winter rye grass and remain green.  The greens of course stay green all year round.
     This year we have had a very mild winter.  We have had our frost delays, but the temperatures have been close to the sixties for most of the winter.  It seems that we are now getting into our spring, and it is early.  The forcast for today in for the daytime high to be in the high sixties.  Soon, the grass on the the  course will green up and it will come time for the dreaded but neccessary aeration. 
      I know those of you that are snowbound are dreaming about the soon to arrive spring and and summer to follow.  Be patient, it will be here before you know it. When your coursed open, they will be lush and green.  Feel sorry for me, I have to play on dormant bermuda. As for me, I must go.  I don't want to miss my tee time.

I Love What I Do

     I love what I do.  As many of you know, I retired from teaching in June.  My decision to do this was not based on staying home and watching television.  I did  not intend to play golf every day, and I don't play that much because I am too busy. My decision was based on the fact that it was time to move on.
     I loved teaching...I love writing even more.  I know that I joke around with friends about what I am doing now.  But it is work.  It is hard work, and I am serious about that statement.  It may seem that going out and playing golf courses as well as finding interesting stories about the golf world is a lot of fun.  I am not going to lie about this, it is.  That's not the end of it and that is where the hard work starts.  The story has to be told and doesn't write itself.
     Yesterday, we got to play Passatiempo in Santa Cruz.  That was the fun part, and I enjoyed chatting with Scott Hoyt the General Manager of Passatiempo.  It is time for me to do the hard stuff and complete what the day was truly about, to share the beauty the history and joy of our experience of  Passatiempo.  My computer screen is bare, and it is time to create and go to work.