Now that I’ve joined the Country Meadows Hole-in-One Club I have fired head pro Mark Strong, hired a B-list agent and am seeking endorsement deals, like any one-hit wonder would do in such a situation.
Let me take you back to the moment on Saturday afternoon; I’m approaching the 17th hole, had just sunk a ball into the water on 16 and am shooting a plus-23. So what?
Now, back to the point.
Every shot is a new game and as such I stepped up, shivered off my terrible day, hit the ball dead on (and even called the ace while it was flying through the air) and sunk it on the 112-yard executive par-three hole.
I took my trophy and was on my merry way. I may as well quit now, while I’m ahead, I have since thought.
Now, speaking of quitting, I had scheduled my July benchmark round last week and six holes into it I was conjuring up a book deal — the headline: Golf: I hate it, and I quit.
It’s a good thing Strong had to postpone the date, so I am going to be calling the round the “asterisk, mulligan round” given I didn’t have a pro giving me tips.
I put up two snowmen (eights) on holes five and six and was absolutely in the dumpster. I had even triple bogeyed the par-three four with a four putt. A four putt! From 15 feet out!
Not even the Mutual Admiration Society could get me out of the funk; but more on that later.
Finally on the par-four, 360-yard dogleg left eighth hole I settled down for a par.
On the front nine I shot a 51, coming perilously close to having to grovel at the feet of my publisher Pierre Pelletier the following day after guaranteeing I’d hit under 100. Thankfully I cleaned up my act, somewhat, with a 46 on the back nine, for a 97 total.
Much like my round at Country Meadows, I failed to warm up for this round and was incredibly cold going in.
On my back nine I only had two double bogeys — one from hitting into the water and another from hitting into the woods — both on par threes, which goes to show that I recovered fine.
I struggled with my driver on the front nine but that’s probably only because I hadn’t warmed up.
What I can take away from these rounds is that I’m doing one thing glaringly wrong — not warming up — and one thing absolutely right — focusing on the next shot or, at least, the next hole, no matter how bad the previous one was.
I had the pleasure of golfing with club member and local realtor Lorne Chernochan who was very positive about the experience. Together, we formed the Mutual Admiration Society, because, well, why not?
I’m still putting a lot of false pressure on myself when I’m shooting a round with complete strangers, but this should come with the territory of improving one’s golf game; it should be expected that you must golf with strangers from time to time, especially in the thick of summer when tee times are sparse.
Next week, Strong, who hasn’t had a hole-in-one, is back with me for an “official,” benchmark round.
SCORECARDS:
April / May / June / July(practice)
119 / 112 / 107 / 97
Water balls: 3 / 1 / 1 / 1
Out of bounds: 2 / 2 / 1 / 0
Reg. greens: 2 / 1 / 2 / 4
Pars-Birdies: 0-0 / 0-0 / 3-0 / 4-0
