Shane Still Plays Golf

Handicap Index: 1.4


I promise I am still alive. And I still play golf. In fact, just this weekend I had a very good practice session during which I hit balls off of the most pristine types of grass driving range, sought after by most professionals -- the 97% crabgrass driving range.

Thank you, Tee's Golf Center for your unparalleled upkeep of your facilities. I feel great about paying money that is so clearly going directly into somebody's pocket, rather than into maintenance or improvement of your property. Ditto on the huge rocks in your "practice bunkers." If I ever get to play golf inside of the Grand Canyon, I feel I'll be supremely prepared.




As for the crabgrass, thankfully, I've put in plenty of (free!) time practicing short irons at this Golf Field , so I'm plenty used to hitting balls off of weeds.


As for the title of this blog, perhaps I should change it to Shane Practices Golf And Plays When Time And Finances Allow It . Because most of the time, well... I practice golf and play when time and finances allow it.

I play about 9 holes per week now, playing an additional 18 about every other week or so, simply because at the moment I do not have the money to play golf as much I want to. In fact, I am suffering now because I indulged the first half of the season, racking up credit card debt up to my ears which I have disciplined myself to pay down. Still not there yet, but by October I should have paid everything to a zero balance. And while this feels great and is saving me money, it is killing my golf game.

I still practice, although with the daylight waning in the ebb of summertime, it is becoming increasingly difficult to get in a really good practice session aside from the weekend. When I do practice, it is mostly 100 yards and in, especially with most time on the putting green. This is by no means a bad thing, but I'll admit I practice this way more by necessity due to the lack of finances to afford hitting the hundreds of balls I want to hit in a practice session.



Sadly, I have not played in a competitive event since the end of June and I have none scheduled. I had originally planned to play in anywhere from 6-8 more tournaments between July and the end of September, but my schedule knocked out 3 of those... and my budget deflated any possibility of playing in any of the others.

At $70 a pop for the cheapest, and $160+ for the most expensive one-day tournaments or tournament qualifiers, it's a bit of a conundrum for a cash-strapped golfer to get into tournaments.

Your options are as follows:

1) You spend all your money on playing and practicing golf to hone your skills so that you can become competitive in tournament golf, but then have little to no money left to enter tournaments.

2) You use your money to enter as many tournaments as you can possibly get into, but don't practice or play as much as you should/could because you're out of cash, and therefore don't play well enough in qualifiers to make your investment in the entry fee worthwhile.





Okay, enough excuses. Enough complaining about bills and C.R.E.A.M. Time to get back into the groove and back to working hard. I believe diligence pays off in one form or another, regardless of what you do.





In other news... I am considering relocating to a warmer climate. Right now, Charlotte, NC sits atop my list. I'll be visiting soon to check it out. Updates to come. Thanks for reading. =)