I've Been Playing With A Masked Phantom Golfer!

I dreamed last night that I was defeated by a Phantom Golfer wearing a Tonto mask.  What's that about?  Now I'm working out my anxieties about my golf game in my dream life?  I didn't know I had anxieties about my golf game sufficiently severe to merit a dreamy encounter with a Phantom Golfer wearing a Tonto mask.

A Tonto mask?  On the golf course?

Who Identifies?

A quick thank you to the Making Birdies Facebook page for this one

I don't think it matters whether work is defined as going to an office or cleaning the bathroom.  There's work and there's play, and I will always choose playing golf over working.

Blogging is so tightly linked to playing golf that it feels like what I do when I'm resting from and reflecting on the pleasure of playing golf.

Forget About The 2nd Shot. This Is The One That Matters.

Annika Sorenstam was providing commentary for the 3rd round of the  US Women's Open today and was listening to the other commentators banter about Jodi Ewart Shadoff's missed 2nd shot.  But Shadoff was setting up her 3rd shot.  Annika shut down the banter with a fairly decisive observation: Forget about the 2nd shot.  This is the one that matters.

Stop Peeking!

After all that pre-round fretting and worrying I managed to bogey the #2 hole at Stoney Point yesterday, even with a fairly limp 2nd shot.  If I'd kept my head down, I might have collected a par.  Truthfully, I was still fretting about the creek when I took that shot, and I admit that I peeked, just to have the pleasure of watching my ball fly up to its safe place, perfectly set up for a 3rd shot over the creek and onto the green with my trusty 8 iron.

I knew I shouldn't take the peek, but it was irresistible, and it was my downfall from a likely par to a slightly disappointing bogey.

How Far Is It, Really?

How far to that bunker?  The little creek? Over the pond? The big tree on the left side of the fairway?  The front of the green?  The questions that plague all of us and questions that are particularly acute when we step onto a course we play rarely or have never played before.

The Links at Stoney Point, Par 5 2nd hole

I'm playing The Links at Stoney Point tomorrow and I've already started fretting about the 2nd hole.  It should be an easy par 5, so long as I can avoid that bunker on the left about half-way down the fairway, and I had the hole under control until they remodeled and changed the course of the creek that intersects the fairway right right at the green.  Now I worry.  How far from the bunker (once I'm past it) to the creek?  The green is huge, but the front fringe is practically in the water.  And shifting the creek unbalanced my sense of distance.   I need to recalibrate.

Slow Play? Not Us!

I hope everybody enjoyed the slow play post because I've just unintentionally deleted it! Whoops.

Wrap-Up: Golfing Road Trip

It's all good.  What an amazing trip!  Even as I was dragging my feet, even as I was trembling with anxiety, even as Barb and Shirley were talking me out of withdrawing and going home on Tuesday with my tail between my legs, Pat promised me that my game would change as a result of this experience.  Pat was correct.

I stepped up to the first tee for my final match, looked out over the fairway that stretched out in front of me, picked my spot, and took my shot.  The ball went there.  It wasn't a long drive, not even for me.  But it was straight and true.  And my drive stayed straight and true for 18 holes.  Stunning.

Finding My Mental Beast: Road Trip Update

I lost my match today, but that's not the story.  I found my mental beast!  I actually summoned my mental beast, and the summoning worked!

2nd Round: Golfing Road Trip Update

We played our qualifying round in more brutal head.  "Qualifying" in this case translates as "flighted."  Everybody plays.  When I turned in my card I was asked if I wanted to be placed in the Championship Division or the Senior Division.  I just laughed.  My score was embarrassingly high.  No picking up when I've reached my maximum number of shots and a course I haven't played before are doubly challenging.  However, I shaved 10 strokes off my back 9 score, so I'm getting better.  Will my improvement curve be enough for tomorrow's match?

The Practice Round: Golf Road Trip Update

Now I know how Bubba Watson felt at the British Open when he announced to the entire world, "This course is too tough for me."

For the first 9 holes of my practice round I kept digging deep, looking for the mental best CoachDayne has assured me lurks within.  The beast declined to come out today -- too hot and humid -- until the last two holes.

I followed Darrell's advice, took my swings with authority and confidence.  But even when I struck the ball well (and you know the sound of a good strike as well as I do), the poor things ran smack into a wall of humidity and dropped out of the air in mid-flight like bird poop.  Disheartening.