Gaylord golf

I’m no athlete.  My favorite activity is walking, though I haven’t made a habit of it lately.  I should, I know.  When I golf, I prefer to play 9 holes and pull my clubs in a cart.  Course time, and therefore the walk, is usually a couple of hours.  I get to use a variety of clubs in a variety of situations.  Now and then I drop a long putt.  I find that pretty satisfying.  I don’t mind playing 18 holes -- from a cart -- but I have to admit that by the back 9, I can’t remember much about what was played where.  I have a heck of time remembering how many strokes I’ve taken.  Count on it being at least a bogey, often a double or a triple.  One par per round if I’m lucky.

This past weekend I was part of a group of seven golfers, all the rest from the Detroit metro area, who headed up to Gaylord, Michigan, heralded as “America’s summer golf mecca.”  Northern Michigan courses are famous for their beauty, but that beauty comes at the cost of hills and dales with fairways lined with trees.  Beautiful, indeed, but chock full of places to lose a golf ball.   

So here’s the thing today:  I didn’t play very well.  (Technically I was hitting about 5 strokes over my 9-hole average.  Considering course difficulty, that wasn’t so bad.)  But after you play a game for a few years, like golf, you just expect you can do it better.  Much of my game has improved since I picked up clubs over ten years ago, but there are many days I still can’t hit two drives in a row straight down the fairway.  

Sure, I could take some lessons.  I have opted, instead, to subscribe to Golf Digest, watch Gary McCord’s Golf for Dummies, and listen to other golfers who have suggestions to make.  And at age 59, I’m not sure just how much better I’ll ever get anyway.

I watch the best of the best on the Golf Channel and on CBS on weekend afternoons.  In the process, I see how well the game can be played.  Then I think about stance and swing, and give it a try.   And after years of trying, I’m still not very darned good.  Frustrating, you know? 

I suspect I should be more zen about golf and just be present.  Focus on one hit at a time.  Enjoy the scenery.  Look for birds.  And the truth is when you ask a golfer what he likes best about the game, more often than not you’ll hear it’s the company kept on the course.  You actually get to spend time with friends.  Not bad.  

I feel that way, too.  But finding the balance between success and being present is tough for this hombre to find.  

Today’s elder idea:  Golf can best be defined as an endless series of tragedies obscured by the occasional miracle, followed by a bottle of beer.    not an original thought

For more on Gaylord golf, see http://www.gaylordgolfmecca.com/