Played my first round of golf in 6 years today.

Actually, I only got to play 9 holes, thanks to having to wait eight hours for an A/C repairman to show up at my house.

Turns out that probably was a blessing in disguise. I teed off with the thermometer reading 96 degrees and a heat index of 108. By the time I finished I had sucked down about 2 liters of water and was starting to forget what kind of car I'd driven to the course.

Anyway, after talking about it for 3 months, I finally carved out some time and got on the course. I'd taken some practice swings in my backyard over the last couple of weeks and thought I hadn't lost anything but it's a different ballgame when you've got one on a tee in front of you and it's time to hit it.

I shot 50 for 9 holes. I hit 5/7 fairways and 2/9 GIR. I had 18 putts, but was saved in that regard by chipping in for par on a par-3 hole and thus recording 0 putts there. I three-putted 2 greens and didn't have a save all day, although I lipped a couple (including the 9th, from about 35 feet).

I didn't start hitting the driver good until about the 6th hole, and was still only hitting it about 210 yards until I stepped up to the 9th tee box. That hole, on this course, is a par 5 that goes uphill off the tee and I figured the group ahead of me was well out of my hitting range. Of course, I picked that moment to hit a shot from six years ago and lasered one 285 yards straight down the fairway and rolled it up to within 10 feet of someone's cart. After apologizing profusely (they were very gracious about the whole thing), I proceeded to forget I hadn't played in six years and decided to go for the green in two (had about 220 left), but instead found the only water hazard on the front nine. Typical.

Overall, it wasn't a bad experience. Had I been playing during my prime, I probably could have gotten around this course in about 43 or 44, I guess.

I did better than I expected, and hope to play again soon. I just wish I knew some folks to start playing with again. All my old golfing friends either live 200 miles away or have a bunch of kids now and don't have the time. Playing alone has never been fun for me.

Jess

I feel your pain. My golfing buddies are 3800 miles away

Good to hear from another person who got playing again. I emigrated from the UK to the US in 2005 and didn't bring my clubs with me...on any of the dozen or so trips I've made back since! I finally got myself a travel case and brought them over with me last week. I've been down the driving range a few times to sharpen up and also give my wife a few starter tips as she has never played before. On Friday we went down to a v.short and basic course on a military base near where her parents live. It was a good opportunity for her to be on a course, knowing the rules and actually aiming for a proper target. For me a new obstacle is battling the heat, I didn't really have to contend with high humidity or +100 degree weather back in the UK.

My sympathies on our American weather. It catches a lot of people off guard. My family has driven Jaguar cars for years and apparently, it catches whoever in Coventry is responsible for the car's cooling systems off-guard, too. :)

I'm in central Alabama and we've always had hot, humid summers, but I was in Charleston, S.C., last week and I'd never felt anything that oppressive in my life. Even with temps only at 90, the humidity made it feel, oh, 146 or so. The good news is you can pretty much play 12 months out of a year here as long as you don't mind playing on dormant grass from mid-December through February. Jess