Pain

     No golf today or Friday.  For an explaination of this, please go to my other blog http://davidralliswrtes.blogspot.com.  Owwwwwww!!!!!!!

Darn!!!!!

     Today is Wednesday.  That shouldn't come to a shock to any of you.  However, it is not going to be golf day for me.  Since I retired, Monday, Wednesday and Friday are golf days and the days that I play in the seniors quarter skins game.  I can't do that today, I have to be mature and actually work on one of my other business opportunities.  I am stuck with a very difficult decision, that of taking quarters--more like donating quarters--in the skins game and possibly making $2.00 or working and earning $300 and eating.  It is a hard choice, but I think I made the more mature--I hate that word--decision.
    Don't pity me or feel sorry for me.  I want to assure you that I will be back at it on Friday and play.  Sometimes the boy has to become a man.

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Its a Tough Life, But Someone Has To Do It

     Please don't think any less of me.  Its not like I chose what I do.  It kind of fell in my lap.  Playing golf courses and traveling sort of just evolved.  Sometimes life steers you on a course that you just can't alter.  That is how it has been with my golf writing.  When the road opens up a hole in front of you that you just can't go around, you just have to fall into it.  That's what happened here. Don't get mad at me, I had to do it and had no choice.
    I tried, I really did try.  I gave up golf for almost a year.  I suspended my blog http://davidralliswrites.blogspot.com for almost a year.  As you can see, that did not work and I have started playing again as well as starting two more blogs, this one and http://travelthewestwithdave.blogspot.com.  Am I a glutton for punishment?  I guess it is my destiny. Don't envy me, pity me.  I am stuck.  You don't know the burden that has been placed on me of being brilliant and entertaining.  It is almost a curse.  Sometimes, as those of you know, I hit it out of the park and sometimes I foul out on the first pitch.  Hmmm...another blog on baseball?  Nahhhhh....
     I hope you understand that what I have said here is all tongue in cheek and I am not trying to boast or blog.  Those who know me understand that I am a very humble person who is very uncomfortable tooting his own horn.  Also, I don't just play golf and write about it.  My life is full of other things as well.

     What time is it by the way?  I don't want to miss my 7:30 tee time.  Oh, its late and I must go. It is a tough life, but somebody has to do it.  Enjoy these pictures in the meantime.

Ryder Rents Trucks

     I know that it is going be very easy to second guess David Love III and his captaincy of the Ryder Cup Team.  I understand what he is going through as well as the American Team.  I have played a lot of match play, and it can be very trecherous. I know what it is like to have your knees knock over that one foot putt to win the match and the game.  Even though match play is a kick to play, it can turn a sane man into a pile of cream of wheat.  You must have nerves of steel, and if you do happen to have the match that can win the game for your team and miss that two footer for birdie and the team looses.  You feel terrible, the round could have been the best of your life but you lost and the team lost. They was counting on you.
     I suffered today when Lefty got beat by losing the last two holes and Jim Furyk also lost the last two holes and his match. The pain is excruciating.  Don't criticize them, you don't know what the pressure is like.  Give them a break, match play is a different animal. The press will be merciless on them.
     Take it from me, a guy who played two team matches this year.  I used to be a killer match player.  I got beat 4-3 twice this year.  It is not fun.  Don't condemn until you have walked a mile in some else's moccasins.    

iT'S tHURSDAY NIGHT

     It's Thursday night.  Tomorrow I will do battle with the others that strive for the prize in our high-stakes golf game.  The competition is tough, and I will show no quarter.  We play a skins game with birdies, sandy pars and greenies geeting you into the pay column.  Just to make things a bit more interesting and fair, there are no carryovers from hole to hole and one tie, all tie amongst the between five to 12 competitors-by the way it is late and this is the third time I have tried to spell competitors.
     Expectations will run high.  Who will be the big winner today?  Excuse me now, I must go and begin my ritual to mentally charge up and prepare for the rigors of competition tomorrow.  Twenty-five cents is a lot to loose on a hole.  I must be sharp.  Actually, I am going to bed.

        That's me, by the way preparing for tomorrow.  I am not going to say what was in that cup, you can draw your own conclusions-I don't drink by the way. That's not that great a picture, I look heavier than I actually am.  They say the camera puts on several pounds and this was before I lost my 75 pounds. I seriously did loose the weight, and I feel much better and can hit the golf ball better. I gained 25 pounds back but I won't explain to you why.  The guilty parties shall remain nameless and she hits the ball pretty well too.  I'm babbling on now because it is late.  Good night!
         You know, that line about showing no quarter was a good one.  Ha, Ha we are playing for quarters get it?  I know, go to bed. Forgive me, I am getting a bit crazy so I am off to bed.
          I think that----will you go to bed already?  OK, I'm off to bed. I should have stopped
writing before I added the picture.  I'm done now and it is off to bed.
         I had black hair when I was younger, I sure have gotten gray---WILL YOU GO TO BED ALREADY!!!!!!

Dawn Patrol

     The post on my other blog today is about being a morning person.  I am proud of that.  As a golfer, the best time of the day to tee off is the early morning and there is something special about teeing off first on the course that day.  We are called "The Dawn Patrol".
     There is something about playing early in the morning.  The sunrise over the Sierras can be breathtaking, even though it makes following your tee shot to see where it lands almost impossible because of the glare of the rising sun.  Much of the wildlife is active this time of the day, and it is not unusual to see deer.  A couple of days ago we saw a mountain lion strutting merrily down the fairway.  In the ponds the fish are jumping to catch the insects that light on the surface of the lakes-oh sorry, that was the golf ball of the group behind us.
     Those of you who play know that the later the day gets the more players have played the course.  This means wear and tear on the golf course.  When you go out first, the course is in the best shape of the day because maintenance has worked on the course to set it up for the day.  By the end of the day, greens can become like the surface of the moon with the ball marks that players have not fixed.  The greens in the later part of the day tend to become bumpy because of the players walking on them. In most cases, greens have been rolled and just mowed first thing in the morning before you tee.  As a "Dawn Patroller"  the greens play truer and run faster and straighter.
     I like the fact that I can play early and be home for lunch and my afternoon nap.  As you get older, that nap in the afternoon gets to be important.  At any rate, you have finished your round early and have the rest of the day to do what you want, whatever it is.
     I am not playing today, but I am looking forward to once again teeing off tomorrow first thing in the morning.  I am proud to be a "Dawn Patroller".

     Don't forget to click on one of my great sponsor's websites.  I plan to have a couple more and have contracted with GolfSmith and 3balls.  Both have some great deals on golf equipment and apparel. Take a look.

Golf and Work

I hate it when work gets in the way of golf. I suppose that as you get older, priorities change and intelligent decisions must be made. Yesterday was a day of work and not of golf. Being a mature individual, one must consider such things as paying rent or eating. Life is hard, you know. Today's agenda has me working as well. that is ok because today is a scheduled work day. Monday, Wednesday and Friday are senior skins game. I will be writing extensively on the events of this experience on a regular basis as this is ore for my gold mine. This is a group group of colorful characters. Saturday is either tournament day or the day I play with my lady. She kicks my butt in golf, by the way. One last thing. Hope you noticed that I have a few new sponsors on my blog. Take a minute to check them out. I will be adding a few new ones soon. Thanks for reading and I will talk to you soon.