Golf : A five mile walk punctuated with disappointments
I was at the Irish open last year and was fortunate to take a slow motion video of Rory's swing. It is considered one of the most natural and powerful swings in golf. It does look very easy from the video but for the golfer on Steemit , you will appreciate the perfection of this. Right down the middle of the fairway at 360 yards. My mouth was open. Simple lobwedge to the green, nice spin and a 3 foot putt for the birdie. What was all the fuss about? Golf is easy.
Then I learned golf is anything but easy...
I on the other hand am off 17 handicap after taking golf up when I came home from Germany. My father in law wanted something to take his mind off things and golf seemed to be it. He couldn't think about work, making the dinner, building things, fixing other things if he was concentrating on his swing, and that relaxed him. He asked me to join with him.For me it was a win-win . If my wife asked me where I was going , I could say that her dad wanted to play golf. I was a bit worried about him, a bit stressed out. How could she say no. Perfect.
Clonmel is a nice course. Very hilly and you need to be a mountain goat to play well there. Never a flat lie. But the good thing about our home course is it makes other courses easy so we like to tour around to see what Ireland has to offer.
Now we are fortunate to have the worlds best golf courses on our door step. Mount Juliet is considered in the top 25 golf courses in the world by golf digest and thats only 30 minutes drive from me. Ballybunion in the top ten, only 2 hours and there are many more like Portmarnock, Druids Glen, The K - Club (venue of the ryder cup) and Fota Island to name but a few.
It is strange to see Tiger Wood's score card in the bar in Mount Juliet where I was about to play. The third hole is world re-owned. Surrounded by water. Tiger got a 3 pars and a birdie on this. Up I go. 160 yards. 6 iron for me. Hit bank at the back and rolls onto the green. That will do. This is simple. I got my birdie on the hole and retired right there in my mind because I got one up on the best golfer of all time. A couple of years later we took on Ballybunion and it killed me. I came into the clubhouse and seen a photo of Woods in the very place I got stuck. Below is myself , Cian my bother in law and Hugh my father in law about to take on Mount Juliet and Tiger in the thick stuff in Ballybunion
So myself and the father in law play for a fiver a round. This is more like the ashes in cricket because the fiver has been passed to and fro for the last year. We are both equally shit so it is good that one doesn't go on a fiver winning streak. Sometimes my drives are off and his are good but his putting is shocking and I am holing 15 footers. It is funny. However we are both improving but at an equal stubborn pace. Sometimes chip the club dog joins us in Callan golf club. Pity about the ball though.
We play every Sunday in the sun , snow , wind or rain. we play on the coldest days of winter when the wind cuts through you and sometimes I am thinking to myself , what in god's name am I doing here with the rain lashing down and soaking me to the skin trying to hit a little ball in the hole. But It's that one good shot that does it.
Someone once said to me that you need a certain type of mindset to play golf because you are normally more miserable than you are happy. There are rare occasions where you enjoy yourself. Winning a tournament is one time but that doesn't happen that often. I haven't won one yet. Below is a photo of one of my father in laws favourite locations. The dreaded bunker. That little black dot is him!!
I had played a competition a few weeks ago and a one of the other golfers said he would give me some advice.
This is what he said :
"You played bad today. Do you mind if i give you a couple of tips from watching you play "
Eager to hear this advice i prompted him to tell me.
" Give it up for 2 months .................." he said
This is interesting I thought, maybe a break would help my mind and I will come back fresh. Maybe I will take a break. I think this guy is right. I waited for his next piece of advice.
"Then after the two months give it up altogether" he said.
I found this hilarious. I fell for his advice hook line and sinker . He was not the serious type and I knew he had rehearsed it on many before me but I got to give it to him.It was funny .
But sometimes I do want to give it up but then I hit another decent shot and the merry-go- around starts all over again. I just love it and my goal is to win a competition some day soon.
So I will leave you with this great golf story about an American golfer coming to Ireland to play golf. @janton this one is for you and I know @cryptoandcoffee loves the irish jokes 😂.
Hope you enjoy! It is worth the watch.
My instructor who taught me golf
said that i need to drive, chip and putt.
Well that is easy i thought to myself,
even for me; a golfing mutt!
I went up to the tee with a club
hoping that i would not flub.
I gave it a mighty smite
and sent the ball out of sight.
The ball had flown
to parts unknown
I could not find it anywhere
much to my despair
I suddenly had a thought,
my brain was in a knot.
I reached the 9th hole
pulled out the flag pole
and found to my surprise
my titleist ball nestled inside
I forthwith announced that i was done,
I retired then and there in the sun,
after beating tiger woods himself,
with my first and last hole in one!
Wow!😀😀😀. Brilliant poem again. No elephants in this one .
hi @blanchy. half an hour late lol. I will remember that one. Don't get me talking about golf. Bad back and all and I will still give it a go. the last house we lived on a golf course with free access. You would find me on the greens putting by torch light. People thought I was mad as the course was dangerous at night. Obviously they haven't seen what a putter and a sand wedge will do to someone.
😂😂😂. It’s some joke isn’t it . Haha. I’d love to live on a course . We go up on Thursday evenings and we need s head lamp strolling back the 18th. I’m hooked.yeah the putter would do some damage 😂😂
haha! you're hooked on golf? poor guy I feel for ya. ain't never goin away either. well but what a healthy addiction as you get older with all the fresh air, walking, gorgeous scenery,. could be worse.
Just hope the lady of the house doesn't want to take it up!
I hope she does! 😀😀. Be nice to go to different courses on weekends away. It would be perfect
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Ah, golf. I hear the term "birdie" and I see an imaginary bird flit across my screen. I am definitely not a golfer, but, hanging out at those beautiful courses seems like a worthy thing to do.
Yeah sometimes I feel I’m not a golfer either and am just enjoying the views but some of the courses are beautiful . It’s like walking into a cartoon.
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Just don't so any cartoon moves. Like bonking yourself on the head with a club. Your head probably won't vibrate like a metal pole cartoon head.
😂😂😂. It’s some joke isn’t it . Haha. I’d love to live on a course . We go up on Thursday evenings and we need s head lamp strolling back the 18th. I’m hooked.yeah the putter would do some damage 😂😂
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