Golf Is Just a Four Letter Word (and other athletic observations)

8/8/10 UPDATE

GOLF

My index went back down to 24.3 (down is a good thing) on the strength of an 86 I shot a couple of weeks ago, but it’s trampoline golf as usual.  I call it that because my scores look like someone jumping on a trampoline.  My last six rounds at Tilden have been 107, 96, 86, 92, 102 and another 102.  It makes absolutely no sense, but hopefully the repeating 102 is an indication that I'm going back down for a spell! Ah, July 29 was a day to savor.  That was the 86.  I came within about a foot of my first hole in one and tapped in my birdie.  I had three pars after that.  The big story, though, was that I not only had no blow-up holes, I didn’t even have a triple bogey.  Ya-hoo!  The 92 had no blow-ups, two triples, and five pars.  Okay, that won’t get me on the pro tour, but I was happy with it. So last Wednesday, I had only two pars, three triple bogeys and, just to make me feel like a total klutz, I had two snowmen (8 in golfspeak), one on the first hole to "celebrate" the anniversary of the last time I parred it.  102.  I wistfully look back at the days when 120 was good, and I looked forward to my first round without a double-digit hole.  The good old days.  Usually on my bad days I can make myself feel better by simply looking at the scenery (Tilden is a beautiful course!) taking a deep breath, and tell myself “It’s better than a cubicle, it’s better than a cubicle, it’s better than a cubicle!” And it is.  That’s why I’ll be out there again.  Another reason is the first hole of Tilden Park.  I've just GOTTA par it again.  I’ve parred it a total of only five times in just over four years and it’s long since gotten on my nerves.  But whether I play poorly or well, the company is usually good, I get outside and I enjoy walking the course.  Tilden recently stopped taking reservations for singles which is horrible.  But it’s now getting those of us who know each other to hook up ahead of time.  Between the foursome ahead of us and the one behind us, we put together a foursome for Tomorrow.. An 86 for me is like Chinese food – a week later I want another one!

My partners on the golf course.  It's been said that it's called "golf" because all the other four letter words were taken. I haven't changed this little part of the page in awhile.  I'm still not using my fairway woods, and have all but abandoned my lob wedge as too unpredictable.  If I was smart, I'd go to the range and practice these clubs.  Of course, "smart golf" is an oxymoron, much like "Justice Roberts". Still, it beats the hell out of life in a cubicle.  Retirement rules!

Other than getting my golf score consistently under 100, I'd also like my weight to be get to 185.  I was there in about October.  Then came the colder weather, the much needed rain and the many minor crises.  I retreated inside, only taking an occasional long walk for exercise.  As of 8/1, I'm at 190, down three from last month. Good boy, Johnny!

Tilden Park Golf Course

NOT GOLF

On the recommendation of my nutrition DVD's, I've added fairly brief but hopefully helpful weight exercise to my daily routine.  Nothing dramatic. Now what?  I really need to do more than four mile hikes with a 20 pound backpack two or three days a week (as I describe golf to my doctor who is rightfully concerned about such things.) Ideally, it would be a social thing, because solitary exercise (even

"alone in a crowd" as in a gym) just gets boring.  On the course I often get invited to share a cart.  I politely decline saying that if I start riding carts I'll need to go back to 24-Hour Fitness, and that ain't happening. For now, I just take fairly long walks, but I don't really do it often enough or on a schedule such as "on days I don't walk a golf course, walk an equivalent distance so the two combined make up 5 days." I'm probably in perhaps the 80th percentile of fitness for folks my age, but I'm not sure that it's enough.  I'm looking.

(I'll be) BACK