I laughed when I looked back at a 10-year-old blog I wrote as a youngster of 63.

Those seniors who still walk often rely on push and pull carts now.  While I still carry and walk 18, I find myself sitting and taking a breather a bit more often.  Some of those modern push carts are starting to look pretty good on the back nine.  While I haven’t noticed any appreciable drop-off in my game so far, I am not looking forward to the day when golf technology no longer advances faster than my skill level diminishes.

 The last time I carried a golf bag further than from the clubhouse to my car was January 2022. I bought a 3-wheeled cart and wish I had done it earlier. Unfortunately, while there was an easy fix for not carrying a golf bag, technology no longer moves fast enough to keep up with my ageing. A $1,000 driver isn’t going to add 20 yards and a super game improvement 7 iron won’t allow me to hit a high 160 yard shot that stops on the green. Moving up a tee was the obvious solution.

My conversion to shorter tees has come at a good time. Many courses that formerly had the standard Red/White/Blue tees have either built additional tees or gone to blended tees. A local course, Kensington, is a good example of this process. For decades the setup (par 71) was Blue (6,521 yards), White (6,264 yards) and Red (5,116 yards. From the White tees, five par-4 holes were 390 yards or more. I had stopped playing Kensington because it played too long, and 5,116 yards was much too short. In 2024 I decided to give Kensington another go. To my surprise, they had added a 4^th set of tees (Gold at 5,233 yards – still too short) and, most importantly, they also had a blended set of tees (White/Gold – 5,790 yards).

Now the question is, when will I move up again? Hopefully never. Our senior club has a contingent of ageing players who continue to play in our tournaments. Many rarely come close to breaking 100 and putting four of them in a foursome is a recipe for a 5+ hour round. They lobbied and got a fourth set of tees to be used in our tournaments – at an average yardage of 5,000 yards. I don’t plan to play tournament golf or play tees set at 5,000 yards if I hit 80, but time will tell. A lot of our octogenarians probably thought they would be fishing or playing shuffleboard instead of competing at 5,000 yards.

My wife and I walk local golf courses in the off season for exercise and as a change of pace. We tend to go to courses when there is minimal snow (1-3 inches) on the ground. Walking through deeper snow is a real chose. Following a cross country sier's trail makes it a little easier.

Some enterprising individuals have made a skating rink on the par-3 17th hole's pond.

Some major tree trimming have been recently performed. That was one large cottonwood tree they removed. I am not sure why it was removed. I do not recall a dead tree on the 10th hole but that is the most likely explanation.

The beaver dam between the 10th tee and 12th green has created its own "skating pond."

I am no naturalist but I think this groove in the snow was caused by a vole moving around in the grass under the snow.

I'll close this little photo essay with a short discussion of my latest peeve. Local residents like to use the closed course as their own personal dog park. I have never had any issues with the dogs as some are leashed and the others tend to be very well trained and/or friendly. I have noticed an issue with the 2-legged owners. Some bag their pet's poop, which is a good thing. that is until they leave the #$@!&! bag laying on the course. By the end of the winter, the course is covered with these ripening presents. I am not sure what I may do if I see a dog owner drop the poop bag and walk away. Watch the news headlines about a crazy old guy going postal on some poor dog owner.😉

Today did not seem like the moment I might achieve one of my goals. I had not been playing particularly well of late. Our weather has been great for growing grass, wet and cool. Which also means soft fairways that play longer and healthy rough.

I signed up online yesterday evening with an unknown single for the 2^nd tee time of the day. I arrived at the course early and putted & chipped while I waited for the other single to arrive. Fortunately, the other half of my twosome was walking also. The twosome in front of us were in a cart and played quickly. Juan was a decent player, and we had a great time talking about golf during our 2 hours and 45 minutes together.

Great pace of play? Check! Perfect golf partner? Check! Wonderful weather? Check!

Things started going my way immediately. I birdied the 1^st hole and eventually made the turn at +1. I butchered #10 with a double bogey but then reeled off 3 straight birdies. On the 403-yard closing hole I got up and down for par and knew I had shot a pretty darn good score for me. It was only after we started to walk to the parking lot that it popped into my head that I might have been close to shooting my age. A quick look at the score card confirmed what I had just thought, 36-35-71 (Par 71 / 6,039 yards / 69.2/115). Woo hoo!

Shoot my age? Check!

Has achieving this goal transformed me into a great golfer? Nope. I will likely go out tomorrow and shoot my IQ (88). But I can say I have shot my age and no longer need to worry about always coming up a shot or two short of the goal.

It is hard for me to recall when I became obsessed with finding golf balls. Maybe I should blame my parents! They moved to Florida after my father retired in 1988. Their home was on the 15^th hole at the TPC Prestancia in Sarasota. The 15^th is a dogleg left par 5 that curves around a large pond. The green is located on a peninsula that juts out into the pond. Many, many golf balls have found a watery grave on #15.

In the evenings, after the last groups had gone through, my father would stroll along the edge of the pond and scoop a few balls out. He used to joke that he could estimate economic conditions by the type of balls he found. Lots of Titleists = “Good Times” and lots of Topflites = “Recession.” When my wife and I would visit, I started to join him on his strolls. Soon, I was going out every evening whether my father wanted to or not.

Back in the Mitten State, I bought myself a ball retriever and started ball hawking in earnest. Once I went out at a local 9-holer late in the afternoon following some stormy weather. No one was playing and eventually I came to the 7^th hole, a par 3 with a pond covering the 130 yards to the green. For some reason the course had lowered the water level and when I came around the corner, there were 100’s of golf balls littering the pond.  Jack Pot! I spent 30 minutes hauling balls out of the water hazard and only stopped when I couldn’t fit any more balls in my bag.

I started filling 2-gallon popcorn tins with balls and gave them to friends and relatives. Still, my supply kept growing. I became pickier about what I would keep. Rejects were left on the next tee for someone else to collect. The better balls were given away or played.

Three things eventually halted my obsession: my wife, tournament golf, and “Harry.” My wife told me she did not want to be featured in a news story about the widow who had a basement filled with 100,000 golf balls. She told me to get rid of them. Also, I began to play low level amateur golf tournaments. I did not think hauling around a ball retriever fit well with the image of a serious tournament player. Finally, one day I was following a foursome of very senior golfers at the Bobby Jones complex in Sarasota. They were not moving very quickly, and our group was always right on their heels. As we walked off the 5^th green, I watched one of the octogenarians deploy a ball retriever and start fishing for balls. One of his group yelled, “Put the damn retriever away Harry and get your ass moving.” I decided I did not want to be “Harry.”

The ball retriever went into the basement, and I stopped looking for any balls other than mine or the guys in my group. My supply shrank and soon, I had to occasionally buy some balls.

Fast forward to today. I continue to be in ball hawking remission … most of the time. Once our golf season comes to an end and courses close, my wife and I walk several local clubs for fresh air and exercise. I do tend to steer our walks along the right side of the fairway and snag the occasional ball out of the long grass and forest. No more ball retriever or fishing in ponds. If I can’t get to a ball with a couple of steps, it stays lost. I still give balls away and those that are of modest quality or condition are taken to a local mom & pop range and “donated” during a practice session.

Thanks Harry.

As I aged, it became more important to have a light load. My stand bags always had “hyper light” or a similar phrase as part of the bag’s model name. Before a round I would analyze a worst-case scenario for lost balls. If I was playing a 1-2 ball course, I might carry 6 balls. A tougher course might see me go to 8 or 10. If the club had drinking water available on the course, I would leave my water bottle half full. An umbrella was carried only if the forecast had rain as a certainty. It was like preparing for an Apollo space mission, not one extra ounce of weight was allowed.

Then I began to see fellow players pushing 3 and 4-wheel carts around the course. I was certain carrying was the faster method and involved less walking. Everyone with a pushcart uniformly stated that pushing was soooooo much easier than carrying. I dug my heels in and kept on carrying. Afterall, I was a “carry snob.”

Last winter I played a couple of walking rounds in January. I began to get muscle spasms in the back of my thighs. At the end of a round, it was uncomfortable walking. I had experienced some back issues over the prior decade, including a bout with sciatica that required a month of physical therapy. Hmmm, maybe walking 5 miles with an extra 25-30 pounds sitting on my back was causing some of the problems. You think?

I took to the internet and bought a 3-wheel pushcart in mid-January. When it arrived, assembly was easy. The unfolding/folding was much simpler than my old pull cart. The folded cart was very compact. It also weighed about ½ of the older pull cart. My internal “carry snob” was screaming “traitor” at me but I needed some relief from my pain.

On January 17, 2023, I debuted my new pushcart. Setup was easy and off I went. It was a bit hard to push and there was a clicking sound. Hmmm, I thought maybe there was something stuck in the wheel or axel. No, dummy, you have the brake on. After disengaging the brake, the round went smoothly. No more leg pain and I was no longer tired coming up 18. I was fully converted.

My days of being a “carry snob” are over. I have seen the error of my ways. A nice lightweight, compact 3-wheel pushcart is perfect. No more carrying for this guy. Oh, and another thing, what is with those players with 4-wheel pushcarts? Are they grocery shopping? They look so silly. 3-wheel pushcarts are the only way to play golf.

On another golf site a member sort of sucked me in recently with a title to his thread of “What’s Better than a 5 Hour Round?” The question sort of intrigued me and I checked it out. It turned out to be a 14.8 index player bragging that he and a buddy (twosome), in a cart, at a private course, played 36 holes in 4 hours and 50 minutes. Not exactly the subject I expected but it got me thinking.

Why do so many golfers feel the need to brag about things that are only tangential to the game of golf? I think the answer in the case of the above player somewhat lies in his play that day. He never mentioned what he shot during his speed golf marathon. No, all he wanted to tell the world was that he played two rounds of golf in an average of 2 hours and 25 minutes. He left out the details of twosome, cart and non-busy course and only revealed those tidbits after some questioning by other forum members. Apparently, he had nothing to brag about from his golf game, so he elevated “time elapsed to play” as the important element of the day.

I see the need to brag about driving distance as another way to allow one to brag about something when one’s score might not be too noteworthy. The game of golf is measured by the score, not how long the best drive of the day went. And that is always assuming the person reporting has accurately measured the shot. Golf forums are filled with discussions of how far one hits their drives. Yes, I am always a bit jealous of the other players who average 270 yards of carry off the tee. Then I remind myself that the point of golf is to get the ball in the hole in the fewest number of strokes, not to average XXX yards off the tee. Certainly 270 yard drives greatly help in the quest for lower scores, but if the long drives translate into a score that is not worthy of bragging about, what was the point? I notice that truly fine drivers of the ball tend to not talk about how far they hit it or what a huge distance average they have. Most let their score do the talking.

Now, did I mention that in last weekend’s tournament, on a hole with a water penalty area 260 yards away, I almost drove my ball into the junk, but it missed the trouble to the right. What’s that? How did I finish in the tournament? Okay, I lost by 8-strokes, but did I tell you I hit a 270 yard drive???😉

2016       27

2017       10

2018         2

2019         6

2020         5

2021         2

2022         3

2023         ?

Undoubtedly there was much celebration when my efforts dropped into the low single digits beginning in 2018. My golf life is fairly mundane, which leaves few new topics to rattle on about. You have my pledge that I will increase my output by at least 33% over 2022!

In addition to attempting to write a blog post, I read the efforts of our other TST members. Clearly the lack of new blog posts is not limited to just me. C’mon guys, let’s all add a little bit of content now and again. 😉

The round in January was a real lifesaver. My previous attempt at golf on the last day of December had been a mess. I could do nothing right, and my ball striking was horrendous. That round was going to sit in my gut like a batch of bad clams.

When I arrived at the course on January 3, my expectations were extremely low. In fact, “low” is not exactly correct. More accurately, my expectations were that I was going to stink-out the place. I was really surprised when I hit 3 solid shots on the opening par 5 and made par with 2 putts. I continued to strike the ball very well. When I was unable to reach a green in regulation (primarily because of the very soggy turf and low temperatures), my short game kicked into high gear. I missed all my birdie putts but Made loads of par putts and shot 77.

The correct approach to golf is to quickly forget your last shot or round and concentrate on the next one. Unfortunately for me, I tend to dwell on the season’s last round, and it often colors future play. As the cold and snow descends upon the southeast corner of the Mitten state, I can now look back on my last round and feel good. Yes, 2023 is going to be a great golf season.

These were easy changes. The old 3-wood had “only” been in the bag for 7-8 years. I had purchased it from a golf buddy for $20. It had a stiff shaft and my present swing was not a good match to get the best performance from the club. Also, my results over the past year or so had been erratic at best.

My Callaway Steelhead 7-wood and Hogan 3-Hybrid also got the heave ho for the new Ping hybrid. I think the 7-wood dated back to 1998. I have no idea when the Hogan joined the team. Both clubs had seen a lot of time-outs over the past couple years.

The Callaway Rogue 3-wood immediately made its mark. I was considerably longer (180 + carry) and it was a key element in my playoff win at the City of Livonia Championship. I also found the new hybrid to be especially useful when laying up on par 5’s and with long approaches to par 4’s. My results with both clubs have been much more consistent.

Next came the Callaway Rogue driver and King Cobra/Cleveland wedges. The driver has been a huge addition. Prior to the change, a very solid drive for me might measure 220 yards (carry & roll). I have probably picked up 10-20 yards on average. The dry conditions of late have really exaggerated the roll out so my 250+ yard drives are mainly the result of increase roll. The wedges have performed well. The most noticeable difference is the new “spin & bite” verses the old worn grooves’ “hit & release.”

At the end of tournament season in mid-September, the irons joined the golf family. My iron play has always been a bit erratic and I can’t say the new clubs have eliminated my swing faults. When I make good swings, the ball flight is higher and longer. I have the correct weapons; I now need to work on the shooter.

The thought has occurred to me that, with my penchant for hanging on to things for long periods of time, this might be my last set of golf clubs. I hope not. My intention is to stay healthy and continue to play golf. Down the road, of course, I will need to make a change to a whippy “senior shaft” driver so I can continue to hit those long 280-yard par 4’s in regulation.

As I posted in the Golf Talk Forum, I recently competed in the City of Livonia Golf Championship.  They hold the tournament on a couple city courses over two days. As a “super senior”, we play the forward tees at 5,300 yards or so. Driver-wedge and reachable par 5’s are standard. The hole locations are diabolical, however, perched on edges of steep slopes and tucked in corners. That tends to keep the scoring higher and the frustration level up.

For the third year in a row, I was in the last group with Bill H.  Only this year I was ahead in the Gross competition by 4 shots based on my 1st day 75 and Bill's pedestrian 79.  Our third member, Don M, had shot 77.  No one else had broken 80 and was likely out of the running barring a very good round. I was not looking forward to the Day 2 pairing with Bill H and Don M.

Bill is one of those guys who tries to come across as a relaxed, friendly guy.  Big grin most of the time, humming to himself, lot of little sayings like, “I got an Al Kaline” when he has a “6”. In truth, he is very competitive and has an explosive temper.  On the 2^nd hole he tried a stupid shot and paid the price. He tossed his iron 50 yards and went on a rant, dropping “f-bombs” left and right. He went from happy to furious in one swing.

Don is extremely obsessive-compulsive.  At minimum, he takes 45 seconds on every shot as he works through his routine.  If a cart in the background moves or a mosquito farts, he must re-start his routine. It is enervating to have to stand on the course watching him go through his sequence of moves. He asked me to stop walking because the clinking of my clubs bothered him. Mind you, he was not over his ball getting ready to hit. He was maybe 15 seconds into his process, tossing grass in the air.  He wears ear plugs to keep out ambient noise (yes, not permitted by the USGA, Rule 4-3a) yet he still has rabbit ears. He fancies himself Mr. Etiquette.  Because of the ear plugs, however, he almost shouts when he talks and if he does something great, he will scream loudly and carry-on despite the possibility he might disturb someone playing on an adjacent hole.

We all struggled on day 2. The hole locations were tough, the rough had been grown out & watered.  The fairways were longer than normal and well-watered to limit bounce & roll and the greens were rock hard and quick.  Bill alternated between smiling and humming to dropping f-bomb rants. Don kept asking us to move or be quiet and then screamed, “GO, GO …WHOOOO HOOOOO.”

I shot 79.  Since I was keeping score for Bill H, I knew I had edged him out with his 76.  I assumed Don M had won. I dropped shots on the closing holes and he was a par machine.  As it turned out, we tied at 154 (+13), with his second 77.  Playoff.

While the tournament director organized the finish of the tournament, Don headed to the range and then the practice green.  I just sat and chatted with some of the other contestants. I had played marginally and was not full of confidence.  Frankly, I was okay with either 1^st or 2^nd place.  I had done my best and if that wasn’t enough, so be it. I also was not looking forward to Don’s company for possibly several holes.

We started on #1 and would play until someone won a hole.  The first hole is a Par 5 and at 450 yards, not reachable by most of us old guys.  Don went first and hit a very solid drive down the middle.  The pressure was on and for once I responded, hitting a nice drive down the middle (and 1 yard longer than Don). Don pulled his 3-wood and hit a solid shot, followed by him screaming, “GO, GO, GO!!!” Could he have made the green?  I didn’t care and hit a solid 3-wood near the green. After two shots we were 20-30 yards out.  I hit first and hit a little wedge that released nicely, leaving me a 6-7 foot putt with a 2-3 inch left to right break.  Don M tried a low runner that stopped on the front of the green, 15 feet from the hole.  Don M has a history of making long putts and holing out chips (and screaming WOOO HOOO) so I assumed he would make it. He missed and tapped in for 5.  All I had to do now was make that curving 6-footer. 

I knew the small crowd was pulling for me as most were from our golf club, the MPSGA.  I did not let them down.  Smooth stroke and the ball dove into the center of the cup.  Champion!

Yes, the City of Livonia Golf Championship is small potatoes and the Super Senior Flight is even smaller.  Still, it is a nice feeling to win, especially so in a playoff. One of my better golf experiences.

Being a low-tech senior citizen, I had never hit balls in a simulator or been measured by a Trackman. Frankly, I did not want to know how slow my swing was, and I have never been comfortable hitting balls off Astroturf. I also do not like being under assessment by some golf geek. The fact that the sessions were a gift from my family (Father's Day) was the only reason I was willing to get dragged into this cyber golf experience.

We may as well get right to the punch line so everyone can move on; my driver swing speed is 81.5 mph. On the plus side, my slow-motion swing is very efficient. The geek felt I needed more height to maximize my distance. In the end we settled on a Callaway Rogue ST Max head (10.5 degree) and a Mitsubishi Diamana ZF-Series 40 R-Flex shaft (all this stuff is pretty much blah, blah, blah to me). 3-wood similarly Callaway. Hybrid Ping G425 3-19 Degree.

Irons are Cobra King Forged Tex X with Aldila NV Iron 45 A shafts (shit, I may as well be trying to write this in Greek for all I understand).  Wedges are Cleveland.  My putter, for now, remains a 2-ball Odyssey.

The new clubs will be built in 4-5 weeks, just in time for our first snow fall. Naturally, this coincides with playing my best golf in the past 5 years, using my beat up, mismatched set of 20-year old clubs. A final battle for my golf loyalty seems in the offing. 

Positives:

·         I now know the grim reality about my ancient swing and no longer need to worry, just accept the truth.

·         The geek was very good at putting me at ease and the fitting was fun ... sort of.

·         This likely will translate into better golf. There may be a breaking-in period but I am confident the new sticks will be an improvement.

Negatives:

·         I don't like hitting off carpet into a screen. I prefer to see the real result, not what some computer tells me.

·         My pocketbook is a lot lighter. But as the saying goes, “you can’t take it with you”. Hmmm, do you think there will be room in the casket for my clubs?

I wish I could say the same about my golf game.  There have been some weeks where I contemplated permanently putting the clubs in the basement and pulling out the fishing gear.  I have never been a good player but I was competent and at times had my moments of brilliance.  Playing really bad golf was just no fun.

2021 so far has seen me struggle to break 100.  I have picked up my ball mid-hole dozens of times more often in the past couple months than I would over the course of several years.  I think my handicap index has hit the “hard cap” or it would be 15.0+ and climbing.

Still, there have been some recent signs for hope.  I managed a 38 on the front nine of my home course before bringing it to the house with a back nine 53.  In our last tournament I managed 2 birdies and only a 3-putt double bogey on the last hole kept me from breaking 80 (yeah, I choked big time).

It looks like the fish are safe for another season.  I am going to keep practicing and playing and we will see what happens.

Last year we had a dead tree taken down. I asked the tree guys to cut the trunk into moveable chunks.  I subsequently chain-sawed them into log-size pieces.  In early December I started splitting the large pieces into usable logs for our fireplace with a wedge and 10-pound sledgehammer. After a few days of intermittent wood-splitting I noticed I had a persistent headache and/or a stiff & sore neck.  I began popping 2 ibuprofens every 6 hours.

On December 19, I got out of bed later than usual.  I went downstairs and sat on a stool.  My wife asked me if I was okay and I told her “Just give me a minute.”  After a bit she told me she was calling 911. I told her not to do that.  She ignored me.

Around 6:00pm I woke up in a hospital bed.  I had no memory of all the activity earlier in the day.  I did not even know where I was but had deduced I was in a hospital because of the bed and “décor”.  My hands were “handcuffed” (soft restraints as the hospital referred to them) to the bed near my waist.  With nothing better to do, I began to work on the restraints.  After a while a nurse came in and said, “Oh, you are awake.”  Shortly thereafter my wife arrived and told me the rest of the story.

That morning I had been transported via ambulance to St. Joseph Mercy Hospital.  The EMS crew had determined I as not suffering from a stroke or heart attack but agreed with my spouse that I should go to the hospital.

Once there, a CT scan revealed that I was bleeding inside my skull at two points.  A brain surgeon performed an emergency craniotomy to remove the blood and stop the bleeding.  Ordinarily, ”brain bleeds” result from a fall where one hits their head.  Since I had no falls, the cause of the bleeding is not known, although I think the unusual exertion (and spike in blood pressure every time I hit the wedge) may have been the source.  My delay in getting treatment almost killed me.  My wife’s insistence on calling 911 saved me.

I am still fuzzy about some of the details.  Christmas evening my wife says the hospital gave each of us a meal and we had Christmas dinner together in my hospital room.  I have no memory of that.  Fortunately, my long-term memory is fine as are my motor skills.  I have resumed my 2-day a week part-time job and look forward to the start of the 2021 golf season in the Mitten.  Hopefully, I did not forget how to play.

Check out eBay for a great deal on a 10-pound sledgehammer and wedge. 😉

Fast forward 4+ years and I now occupy the highly sought-after position of Handicap Chairman.  We modified the Knuth Tournament Point System for our club.  Members accumulate points over the course of the season but, rather than roll the points over to the next year, we start fresh.  One of the biggest drawbacks with a “rolling 2-year” computation was the recordkeeping involved.

We also moved to a “Competition Only” handicap for our members.  We develop a handicap index based solely on “C” (formerly “T”) scores.  Players continue to post all their scores to GHIN to maintain their GHIN index.  We pull the “C” scores out and calculate an index using the WHS calculation but with just their “C” scores.  An excel spreadsheet makes this process fairly easy.

The move to a “Competition Only” index has largely solved the issue of sandbagging.  Over the course of a season, few members are successful enough to “earn” a Knuth handicap reduction.  After 9 tournaments in 2020, three members currently have reductions of 2-3 strokes.  Most of our member’s GHIN indexes closely mirror their “C-only” indexes we use in our tournaments.  Only one member has won their Flight more than a single time.  The exception, surprisingly, has won 3 times in 5 tournaments.  That success has earned him 9 Knuth points and a 3-stroke reduction going forward.  When I gave him the news, he was not pleased.  Here is an excerpt from his response:

“… In using this system, it is not making (our tournaments) fair or equitable.   It is like anybody who plays should get a ribbon because they participated, make all feel good, nobody loses, SOCIALISM.”

I tied to talk to him at the next tournament but he did not want to discuss his situation.  If he had stopped a moment, he might have realized the entire system of handicapping is a bit of “socialism”.  He clearly would not fare too well even-up with his 10-handicap game against our scratch members.  The handicap system is designed to make it possible for everyone to have a chance at getting a ribbon, as he put it, but it does not guarantee a ribbon.

Still, he does somewhat have a point about our club’s efforts at leveling the playing field.  By using a “Competition Only” index, eventually even the worst choker will see his index rise sufficiently to make him competitive.  Why practice and try to become better when eventually poor play will result in a competitive index?

For example, “Rob” is a tall, strong individual.  He has a good swing and is capable of hitting the ball a long way, relatively straight.  Still, he seems to be a bit of a vanity handicapper.   A couple years ago he was playing in our “A” Flight (unsuccessfully).  While his current GHIN index is 7.1, his scores from his last 8 tournaments are: 89, 83, 88, 87, 93, 100, 92, 92.  The 83 resulted in a differential of 10.2 so the balance of the differentials are higher.  His “C-Only” index is 11.8.  Currently “Rob” is playing in our C Flight with guys sporting indexes of 11.0-15.0.  It is just a matter of time before “Rob” gets his “ribbon.”  In our efforts to weed out potential sandbaggers, we have promoted the also ran’s into contenders.

I am not going to lose any sleep over this situation.  After the season’s end, the Board can decide whether any changes are warranted.  I somewhat like the idea of using the lower of the GHIN and “C-Only” indexes.  If someone wants to have a low GHIN index, let him compete with it.

As instructed, I used the online system to book my solo round.  I was lucky and got the first scheduled tee time of the day.  The course was limiting groups to three or less and tee times had 12-minute splits.  When I scheduled my time, the next group was 7:24am.  Unless someone signed up with me, it looked like there would be decent spacing of the groups.

As I drove to the course on Tuesday morning, I was excited and a bit nervous.  Would there be a crowd of golfers milling around the parking lot and first tee?  Did someone sign up with my tee time to make it a threesome?  Having not touched a club since March 20, would I be able to hit the ball?

I rolled into the completely empty parking lot at 6:45am.  So far so good … until I walked over to the fence surrounding the course and discovered the entry gate was locked.  Okay, I was a little early so I was prepared to wait a bit.  Then another car rolled into the parking lot and it was the course manager.

We greeted each other from 30 feet and he said once he got the computer up and running, I could show my receipt to him through a clubhouse window.  No one was allowed to enter the clubhouse.  10 minutes later I was standing on the first tee.  No one had taken the other two slots at 7:00am so I was solo.  While I enjoy having company on the course, for my maiden COVID round I was happy to not need to social distance.

A small miracle occurred on the first hole.  I striped a drive down the middle and then put my approach on the green, pin high.  At that point, I became acquainted with the first of several COVID adaptations: the upside down cup.

This course flipped the hole liner/flagstick holder upside down.  The result was an extremely shallow “hole”.  A putt with any speed often would roll over the inverted cup liner or bounce off the flagstick.  Maybe 50% of my putts managed to stay in the “hole”.  I decided if I hit the flagstick, I would consider the putt holed unless I really rammed it.

Another issue was the bunkers.  Naturally, there were no rakes to prevent multiple people handling the same rake.  The course had only been open to the public since Monday but there had been no attempt to rake out the bunkers before the morning’s play.  Fortunately, on this day, I did not end up in any bunker.  If I had, I was prepared to play it as it lay or take relief from severe “damage”, depending on the situation.

As a solo golfer with no one in front of me, I finished the 18 fairly quickly.  I was generally happy with my ball striking, short game and putting.  The course was in decent shape with freshly cut and smooth greens.  Their speed was a bit less than mid-season but a few times I was happy about that.  The fairways were cut and allowed some bounce/roll and they had also cut the rough to playable height.

The course appeared to be mostly open as I toured the 18.  After making the turn, I had the entire back nine to myself.  I had read some posts that a few local courses were packed and that very slow play was the rule.  That was not my experience this day.  Social distancing was easy and as the first one out of the gate, pace was never an issue.

On my way to the parking lot the manager, superintendent and a worker were chatting together (6 feet apart!).  I thanked them for keeping the course in good condition and for making it possible for golfers like me to play.

I am scheduled to play another course in a couple days with a foursome of acquaintances.  I hope things go as smoothly as my first time playing COVID golf.

He wanted to know if I was interested in joining him and his father on a golf trip to Reunion Resort near Orlando, FL. They had a group of seven Iowans and I would make it eight.  We would stay at his father’s home on the Nicklaus course at Reunion. The group would prepare all meals in the home, and the cost would be 1/8 of the home’s cleaning fee and food purchases plus golf.  “Yes!”  I was in.

A round trip Detroit/Orlando flight was purchased with accumulated “miles” and I waited for the big day to arrive. In early February I began to receive more information.  Bring $200 as the gambling buy-in, fives and tens, please.  Check!  There was a hot tub so bring a bathing suit. Check!  They had a car service that would bring me to the resort. Check!

I figured the home would be a 4-bedroom house and each of us would share a room. Once I had the address to give to the car service I decided to “Google” the home’s location.  Hmmm … I guess I had the wrong impression about where we would be staying.  The house has 9 bedrooms and 8.5 bathrooms.  Everyone would have their own bedroom with private bathroom.  Check!!!

Then I received the last item of information.  We would be paying 36 holes of golf each day for 6 days. 216 holes of golf!  What did I get myself into?  The last time I had played 36 holes in a day dated back to 2017.  We played two Newport Cup matches a day for two days followed by a singles match. Back then I thought that was a lot of golf.  Now, almost three years later, I was going to play three Newport Cup’s in the course of 6 days. Bottle of Advil. Check!!!!

The big day arrived and travel to Reunion went smoothly.  The group ranged in age from 29 to 73 and handicaps were 18 to 0.  The competition was divided into two 3-day segments with foursomes in the morning (gross alternate shot) and net stroke play in the afternoon.

Having played or practiced very little since November, I was extremely rusty and put up some horrendous scores the first three days.  My partner saved me in the alternate stroke round robin matches but little else was going right.  The sole positive was one’s handicap was set by the handicap we brought down (9-10 for me) combined with our first three days of scores.  My poor play got me a nice fat “14” for the second 3-day competition.

Fast forwarding to Saturday, the last day, found us on the Nicklaus course at Reunion.  It is the toughest of the three courses and conditions were difficult with a 17-mph wind, gusting to 25.  The course apparently likes to make their front and back hole locations very close to the edge, giving us at most 6 feet of leeway. My front nine was okay with no doubles and a handful of pars.  Then a I seemed to pull things together down the stretch.  I found myself on #18 green with a 15-foot putt for birdie, 4 points (quota game) and the win.  Sigh.  I missed it right by an inch or so finished 2^nd.

How did I survive the 218 holes?  First and foremost, Advil.  Two in the morning and two at noon. Next, the foursomes/alternate shot format in the morning did not require the same effort as 18 holes of stroke play. It served as a bit of a break.  Finally, we actually did not play 218 holes.  We were partially rained out on Wednesday and only played 11 holes in the afternoon.  Also, some of the matches only went to the 17^th hole and one ended on #15.  I only played 205 holes in six days, not 218.  I managed to win back $190 of my $200 contribution to the pot and made some nice friendships.

If I get a call next December, what will I do?  I will let you know once I complete my physical therapy.😉

As a member of TST and from reading material on the WHS, I was familiar with the general outline of the changes and new procedures.  My hope was that the seminar would fill in a lot of the details.  It did. Two items on the agenda were most interesting to me.

Playing Conditions Calculation

Because of its newness in the USA, the Playing Conditions Calculation (PCC) was particularly interesting to me. Based on the day’s scores, everyone’s posted handicap results may be adjusted when the scoring is particularly worse or better than usual.  The adjustment is done course by course rather than over a region or state.  Any condition that might affect scoring could result in a PCC adjustment (rain, wind, rough, temperature, hole locations).  The PCC doesn’t need to know why the scoring was higher, just that the average handicapped scoring was well above (or below) what one might expect on a typical day.

At the end of each day, GHIN will automatically look at each course and the scores posted.  If a minimum of 8 players with indexes 36.0 and under post scores, a PCC calculation will be made for that specific course.  When there are only 8-10 scores posted, the likelihood of a PCC adjustment is very low unless the scores posted were extremely divergent from what one might have expected.  A day where 100 scores are posted has a higher likelihood of a PCC adjustment if the scores diverge from the expected level. The calculation is done every day for qualifying courses.  An actual adjustment will likely be somewhat infrequent. I am not a math whiz so the fact that the USGA/R&A considers the PCC calculation as proprietary (i.e. secret) was not a disappointment.  There was a bit of grumbling from some of the other attendees.

The PCC adjustment will be in whole numbers (-1, +1, +2, +3).  The PCC is subtracted from all the calculated differentials of every player posting a score for the course on the day of the calculation. Differentials adjusted by PCC will be identified in a player’s handicap record.  When viewing one’s handicap in GHIN, clicking on “Stats” brings up a detailed listing of the past 20 differentials.  There is a column labelled PCC where one will eventually see any PCC adjustments.

Stroke Index Allocation (Handicap Holes)

For match play and maximum hole score determination (formerly ESC), the USGA is recommending a “triad system” for determining on which holes a player gives or receives strokes.  The recommendation calls for viewing each nine holes as three sets of 3-holes (or a triad).  The first nine holes are rated with odd number (1,3,5,…) and the second nine even.  If the back nine is considerably more difficult than the front, the numbering can be flipped.  So far so good.  Here is where it gets tricky. 

The USGA recommends that the #1 and #2 handicap holes should be allocated to the middle triad for each nine.  The #1 handicap hole should be chosen from #4, 5 or 6 and the #2 handicap hole selected from holes #13, 14 or 15.  If none of the middle triad holes are sufficiently difficult (among the hardest 6 holes on the course), then the #1 handicap hole can be #3 or #7 and the #2 handicap hole allocated to #12 or #16.  The USGA has further recommendations for allocating handicap holes (e.g. don’t have back to back difficult holes - #1 handicap hole followed by the #3).

The USGA has begun to send their recommended new handicap hole allocations to every member club.  The issue for each club now becomes whether they want to accept the recommendation.  A club might face changing the #1 handicap hole from the 9^th hole to the 4^th hole even though the membership generally considers the 9^th hole as the toughest. If the club adopts the USGA recommendations, the score cards will need to be re-printed and the membership educated.

The USGA has some good points related to match play for why they want to make these changes.  If all the “stroke holes” fall at the end of each nine, often matches will be decided before the higher handicapped opponent receives most of their strokes.  Similarly, by spreading the “stroke holes” across the full 18 holes, no one must give a majority of strokes extremely early in a match.  Still, by somewhat forcing the allocation of handicapped holes into a pre-determined pattern, the USGA may reduce the accuracy of the “net double bogey” calculation.

Link to USGA Appendix E

https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/handicapping/roh/Content/rules/Appendix E Stroke Index Allocation.htm

Inevitably, there will be issues (e.g. an old score card not matching the new Stroke Index Allocation). On the whole I think the WHS will be more accurate in measuring our potential if we, the members, use the system correctly.

One of my regular golf partners, Mack, is a confirmed cart rider.  To my knowledge, he has not walked 18 holes in at least 20 years.  The only time we have ever walked a course was 9 holes when wet conditions prevented the use of carts.  He almost collapsed and I pushed his cart for him (while carrying my bag) over the last couple holes.

Mack called me early last week and reported that:

1.       Whitmore Lake Golf Links would be open on Friday, 12/13/2019.

2.       They were allowing carts

3.       The forecast was for 42 degrees

4.       The first tee time (10:00am) was open and only $12 for 18 holes with a cart.

Did I want to play?

Against my better judgment, I said “sure” and booked the time.  Of course, a close inspection of the forecast would have shown that the temperature was going to be below 32 degrees for the three days prior to Friday and the high on Friday would be at 4:00pm.  Details, details.

Friday morning rolled around and as I prepared to depart for “The Links” I noted that the temperature was 30 degrees and a light coating of frost covered everything.  I figured the course might declare a frost delay and bump us to Noon, so I checked the local breakfast places in the area.  There was a place right up the road from the course.

Upon arrival at the course, I noted several carts staged outside the clubhouse.  There was a light coating of freeze-thaw ice on some of the fairways but the course looked relatively green.  I went into the clubhouse and found the single employee on duty.  I asked if they were letting people out and he said “yes”.  He added that they only had the first nine open as the second nine had too much ice on it.  The raised wooden cart paths over the wetlands were too dangerous to drive on.  We could go around the first nine twice.  So that is how I found myself on the first tee at 10:00am.

Our first problem was getting a tee into the ground.  Eventually I found a hole made by someone earlier in the season and forced my tee into the same hole.  With that problem solved, we teed off and watched our balls careen down the fairway 300 yards.  Cool!  Of course, now we had to play a shot off a tight lie with as much “give” as a pool table’s surface.  We decided to move our balls laterally to the rough to give us a bit of cushion.  Even then, one needed to pick the ball.  Mack hit a lovely wedge to the center of the green and watched it bounce 20 feet in the air and scurry off the back.  I punched a low 7 iron 20 yards short of the green and ended up over the green, too.  As the round progressed, we took advantage of some prodigious drives.  We got better at judging the distance to expect the ball to bounce & roll on approaches.  We also discovered that if one hit the rough, the ball would almost always come up short; accuracy was still needed.

The greens were bumpy, sandy, aerated blocks of granite.  If one missed the green, a chip shot’s first bounce was significant but then the ball quickly lost momentum once it started rolling across the fuzzy, sanded surface of the green.  Similarly, putting was a challenge just to get the ball to the hole.

We toured the front nine twice in 2 hours and then had a nice breakfast.  We dressed appropriately so we never were cold.  And truth be told, it was kind of fun hitting 300 yards drives and then trying to maneuver the approach on to the green.  We celebrated our successes and we laughed a lot at our failures.  Yes, it was a good time.  Still, if Mack calls about this coming weekend, I plan to be “unavailable.”

• The option to leave or remove the flagstick has turned out to be a bit of help on pace of play. In almost every instance, we have left the flagstick in when putting or chipping from a significant distance.  We no longer need to tend or remove the flagstick for a long putt and then replace the flagstick for a chip.  Unless a ball gets in another player’s line, we all just putt or chip without delay.  Once close in, many of us are ambivalent to the flagstick being in or out so if someone wants it in, we all putt with it in, or vice versa.  The few times we have had an “in-out” situation, the first player to hole out serves as the caddie.
• Most players have gotten used to the knee height drop.  There is a tendency for some players to crouch a bit when dropping.  Whether this is an accommodation for aging backs and legs or a bit of an unconscious “cheat” is unknown.  Unless someone squats down while dropping, I don’t think I am likely to make an issue of this.
• We have had a bit of confusion over whether the new Local Rule related to lost or O.B. balls was in effect for our events.  It was not.  Still, I have heard anecdotal accounts of some of our higher handicap groups using the Local Rule during our Tournaments.  We will need to make that a point of emphasis next year.
• Almost nobody uses the term “Penalty Area.” Old habits die hard.  Also, there is still some confusion as to whether a red marked penalty area allows the “back on a line” option (yes) and the yellow marked penalty area the 2-club length option (no).
• Accidentally moving a ball on the green never happened in my groups.  I am sure it happened during the season but not when I was present.
• I still have an involuntary twitch when I see someone tamping down scuff or spike marks and other non-pitch mark damage.  I will learn eventually.  Also, I have not witnessed anyone spend an inordinate amount of time repairing the green so my concern that this Rule change might slow things down has not come to pass.
• A couple likely double hits were seen and it was a relief to not have to ask the player whether they thought they made a double hit. I like this change.
• Some players are likely not following the “relief area” limitation when a ball rolls after a drop judging from what I have seen.  Under the old Rules a ball could roll 2 additional club lengths. We may need to review that with our club members.
• The ability to move loose impediments in a penalty area or bunker is used by our players.  No one has made an issue thinking this was a penalty.
• Accidentally moving a ball during a search was never an issue when I played.  I think this Rule is ripe for abuse but I have not seen it.

All in all, our aging members seemed to have picked up on most of the changes.  All the effort put in by the USGA, our State Association and our Club seems to have worked.  Of course, there are a lot of nuances to the Rules that I and my fellow members likely missed or forgot.  Still, the transition went a lot better than expected.

What has been your experience?

Perhaps this exercise is why we often over value the “mental game” versus the physical aspects of golf.  We assign many bad results to faulty thinking.  The truth of the matter is, at least for me, that the thinking and planning is often fine; it is usually the execution that is sorely lacking.

A good example was from my round last Saturday.  Despite a bad break earlier in the round that resulted in a double, I stood on the 15^th tee at level par.  I was playing extremely well when one considers that I am an 8-10 handicapper. The 15^th has OB all down the left side and the fairway slopes considerably to the left.  I told myself to keep it right since the right rough is not a bad place to hit from and then promptly duck hooked my tee shot OB.  Naturally, my 3^rd shot was long, straight and ended up in the center of the fairway. My plan was fine, I just didn’t execute.

Of course, my “analysis” after the round indicated that I should have hit my tee shot on #15 like my second effort, making a 4 instead of a 6.  I also missed a handful of 5-10 footers for birdie that could have gone in.  Finally, but for a bad bounce on a cart path that put me into the edge of a penalty area, I would not have lost a stroke or two on #6.  After all the analytics, if I would have concentrated a bit more, I could have saved several strokes here and there, and I should have shot 69 instead of 74.

In truth, I played about as well as I can Saturday.  Yes, a few shots escaped me, but I did so many things right.  Still, in my dreams I coulda shot 69!

The pre-season’s kick-off in our little corner of the Mitten is the annual Michigan Golf Show.  For the past several decades the show has been held in early March.  The arrival of the golf show signals to me that the golf season’s start can’t be far behind.  This year, we are only 4 days away from the show and yet we remain in the icy grip of Winter.

Four weeks ago, Punxsutawney Phil promised us that Spring was just around the corner.  WTF, Phil???  That fat rodent is a liar!!  We have had non-stop snow, ice, rain, wind and cold since he publicly declared Spring was just around the corner.

In addition to Punxsutawney Phil and the golf show, the are several other signs of golf season approaching.  The first is the blooming of our crocuses.  In our front flowerbed we have several of these perennial flowers.  Because of the southern exposure, those little suckers sometimes pop out in early February.  This year, there is not even a hint of these harbingers of Spring.  They are still under several inches of snow and ice.

Next comes the “clearing of the snow.”  As the days get longer and the sun is higher in the sky, the snow on our front lawn has no chance.  Patches of olive green and tan start to appear and then one morning, the snow is gone. Once the snow and ice clears, the thawing process for the ground can commence.  This year, a look out the window reveals a sea of white, with more being added I as write this.  Not an inch of bare ground is visible.

Finally, as I drive around the area, I keep an eagle eye out for the surest sign that a course is about to open, flag sticks in the holes.  Like golf’s equivalent to daffodils, suddenly a course will be in bloom with brightly colored flags. Of course, in the electronic age there is no need to search for flags; all the courses will email us when they plan to open.  It is not as fun as cruising around but certainly more efficient.

Sadly, there appears to be no let-up for our weather.  The extended forecast is for more of the same: cold & snow. Sooner or later, however, Mother Nature will give us a break from shoveling snow and driving on icy roads.   The magical transformation from Winter to Spring will occur.  We will once again be on the course, a full season will lie ahead, and great things will happen.  I can’t wait.
 

noun

mud·der | \ˈmədə(r)\

plural -s

Definition of mudder 

1 : a race horse that runs well on a wet or muddy track

2 : a player or a team (as in football) that performs well on a wet field

After my final round of 2018, I was thinking about the course conditions the past month or so.  While we have had relatively mild weather, it has been wet.  I don’t do particularly well in wet and muddy conditions.  I play in all sorts of weather: hot, windy, cold, rainy.  Of all the conditions, a wet course presents the greatest challenge for me.  I am not a mudder.

For me, four factors create a mudder: distance, ball striking, patience and equipment

Distance: Wet & soggy courses result in no roll out.  Unless one hits the ball for good distance off the tee, the course becomes too long to consistently score.  If on average one loses 20 yards a tee shot (and 2^nd shots on par 5’s), a 6,700 yard course becomes effectively 7,000+ yards.  A 6,300 yarder plays to 6,660 yards. Further, that is figuring only 20 yards per shot are lost; often it is 30+ yards.  Of course, moving up one or two tees is an option for casual play but tournament play typically offers no relief.

Ball Striking: Wet turf leaves one little margin for error.  The slightest fat shot will be a disaster.  And the effects of a wet club face and ball compromise distance and spin.  One study on the subject supports the idea [ http://blog.tourspecgolf.com/wet-versus-dry-golf/ ]

Patience:  Wet conditions often results in slower play.  Cleaning clubs, fiddling with umbrellas, getting rulings for casual water all slow things down.  If carts are being used, cart path only is a real time killer. Even the best players are going to find scoring difficult, so patience and a good attitude are crucial. As Bill Belichick recently said when the forecast was for cold and snow: “We aren’t playing against the weather.”

Equipment: A quality rain suit, waterproof shoes, rain gloves and dry towels go a long way toward making soggy conditions more playable.  When one is wet and cold or spending extra time trying to avoid being wet and cold, one game often suffers.  When one is equipped properly, one’s attention can go toward playing golf and not merely surviving.

I have the patience and equipment.  My problems are distance and ball striking.  On a good day I might carry a drive 200 yards.  On a wet day, any hole 400 yards and over becomes a “par 5” for me.  And even the shorter holes find me hitting hybrids and fairway woods for approaches.  Hitting off wet turf is an issue too.  My less than pure strikes result in an increased number of fat shots.  Also, as the “TourSpecGolf” study shows, wet clubs and balls result in shorter carries. 

Of course, I have never been one to give up when conditions get tough.  Sometimes patience can overcome the other factors.  My wife and I used to play in a mixed two-person scramble at a local course.  We typically ended up in the middle of the pack. One year, on our 2^nd hole, the skies opened up, sending a lot of couples back to the clubhouse.  My wife asked whether we should go in.  “Hell no”, I said, “over half the field is going to quit.  That just improved the odds of our winning.”  As it turned out, I was correct.  We played on and won.  Maybe my wife is a mudder! 

The easiest new rule to re-learn is having the option to leave the flag in or take it out.  Since December I have been playing with the flag stick in.  After six rounds, it still looks odd putting from 20 feet or less with the flag in the hole.  In casual play I have often left the flag in for long putts but it is reflex to take the flag out on shorter ones.  Over time I am confident the presence of the flag will fade into the background but currently it is a distraction.

Dropping from knee height is another one on which I need to re-educate myself.   I took a few drops this past weekend (casual water) and I dropped from shoulder height without thinking.  At least the USGA/R&A left the measurement for determining the area of relief as a “club length” rather than an inch/centimeter measurement.

Removing loose impediments in bunkers and grounding my club in “penalty areas”, among other new allowances, will just take some practice.  At least there is no penalty for not doing either of those things.

Time will tell whether fixing damage to the green becomes a pace of play issue.  I have no problem adding careless player’s scuff marks and deer tracks to things we can fix.  I have never been meticulous in manicuring the line of my putt but some of my fellow players are.  Players slowing to a glacial pace on the green has been an issue with our tournaments.  We may need to hand out some pace-of-play penalties early in the season to make a point.

2019 will be my chance to prove that one can teach an old dog new tricks. 

It is a rare winter in Ann Arbor when the weather is mild enough to eliminate the snow cover for an extended period; we average 60 inches of snow annually.  Still, there are mild stretches when the sun, temperatures and rain will melt the snow cover.  This past February, we had a two-week period where temperatures pushed 60 degrees and some hardy souls were wearing shorts.  My guess is the streak will end in January or February of 2019.  Despite the many signs that our climate may be warming, this isn’t Palm Beach; we are overdue for a hard winter.

Speaking of streaks, my “modern” holes-under-par-streak remains at 3.  I had a few opportunities where I managed 2 consecutive birdies this year, but never succeeded in getting 3, much less 4.  I call it my “modern” streak because I had an out-of-body experience back in the early 1980’s.  Having never broken 100, I rattled off “eagle, birdie, birdie, birdie” while playing nine at a local course with some friends.  Of course, I opened the round with a double but then found myself standing on the 6^th tee at three under. Thoughts of a course record danced in my head.  Reverting back to my normal game, the next four holes were not pretty.  I did not even break 40 for the nine. Truthfully, that streak was a total fluke, like flipping a coin and coming up heads 20 times in a row.

A streak that will be coming to an end this year is my “100+ rounds a year” streak.  About 10 years ago I began a flexible work schedule.  Playing 100+ times a year was a no brainer.  This year there just wasn’t the drive to go out and play like year’s past.  If the weather stays relatively mild, I might hit 90 but 100 is out of the question.

Finally, in 2018, I continued the golf streak that means the most to me.  My first Ann Arbor City Men’s Golf Championship was in 1990.  Every year since then I have played, save 1995 when the course was closed for renovation and there was no tournament.  I look at the field in 1990 versus 2017 and the only name they have in common is mine.  I now play against the sons or grandsons of the guys who played in 1990. Sadly, I have always been a participant rather than a contender.  In a field of 150, my best finish was a tie for 20^th. Still, I have always enjoyed measuring myself against the course and my fellow hackers.  Nowadays I finish in the middle of the pack with an average three-day total of around 255.  When the day comes that I can’t walk the 54 holes and/or can’t keep my scores under 90, I will retire.  At this point, the plan is to continue the streak to 29 in 2019.

What kind of streaks does everyone else have?