Mom and Dad came by on Sunday for a quick little weekend trip and so that Dad and I could play some golf together. He’s beat me consistently over my golfing “career” and I’m OK with that. I’ve been improving year after year and finally have beaten him a few times this year. We enjoy playing together, but we’re both extremely competitive. We tend to talk a lot of shit too.

So as last week went on and I was trying to get a confirmation that he would come down I finally got the word on Friday. I email Dad telling him I booked an 11:00 tee time. He comes back and says, “Wanna play for the supper bill?”

“You’re on,” I write back.

I got owned! I’ve never seen my Dad play so well. He shot a 39-42 and missed a sub-80 round because he hit in the water on the 18th hole. Part of me was rooting for him, but I can’t lie and say that part of me wasn’t rooting against him. I’m going to hear about the ass-kicking for awhile and I didn’t need him shooting in the 70s to make it that much worse.

So what did I shoot?

Uh…52-50. Probably my worst display all summer long. I couldn’t hit a drive, an iron, or a wedge. Chipping was actually pretty good, but my putting was not up to my standards. It was an awful 18 holes of golf. Sure enough though, I had to birdie 16 to make me want to come back another day.

So not only did golfing cost me $39, but I had to buy dinner for Mom and Dad which ran me another $84 at LoneStar. $123 total. It’s not paying the bill that hurts, it’s my pride!

After taking 2 weeks off because of my trip to Las Vegas (Day 1 and Day 2 summaries), I sure made up for the lost golf this weekend. On Saturday I played 27 holes and 18 more on Sunday. My friend Jere was up for the weekend and our plan was to golf, golf, golf. It was over 90 degrees both days here in Michigan and the humidity was high, especially on Sunday. Last night I was exhausted and I’m still feeling a bit tired today to go with a sore back.

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It felt good to be back out on the course yesterday. On the first tee I pulled out my 3 hybrid and took a nice easy swing, hitting the ball right down the middle of the fairway, about 120 yards from the green. Then I hit it fat and ended up in the ditch for a penalty stroke. Walked off with a 6. On the next hole I pulled out the 5 wood and hit a horrible topped shot off to the left. In the thick clover I couldn’t make good contact, but advanced the ball to the fairway about 70 yards out. Shanked one into the water off the right of the green and took a 7. Not the start I was looking for.

On #3 I hit a 4 hybrid right down the middle, stuck a sand wedge to about 8 foot, and just missed the birdie putt. Fourth hole hit a 3 wood just off the right of the fairway on a hill. Pulled the 2nd shot well left and took a drop. Escaped with a bogey 6. Pulled my driver left into a ditch on the drive-able 5th hole, but saved bogey. Played 5 holes and lost 4 balls already. It couldn’t get any worse. Sixth hole is a par 3 that played right into the wind and I thought my shot was all over the flag, but it held up in the air way too long and came up a few yards short. Bad chip up, but then sunk a 15 foot putt for par. Pushed a 5 iron out to the right on the next long par 3, but pin high. Chip and 2 putts for bogey. Popped up a driver on the par 5 8th hole, smoked a 2 hybrid to the front right of the green, made a bad chip, and lipped out the birdie putt. On the last hole of the day I made it on in two and 2 putted for par.

Ended up with a 44, which isn’t too bad considering I hit into 4 hazards for penalty strokes. Made 15 putts which is right around average for me, especially when I really only made one putt of any real length. It felt good to be back out on the course after two weeks away from the game and I’m looking forward to getting back into the “swing” of things with my golf game.

After starting off the summer with a record number of golf rounds, I haven’t played a hole (unless you count mini-golf) in two weeks. The last time I swung a club was two weeks ago today for golf league. I didn’t get sick of the game or give up on trying to improve. Life simply got in the way. I made a 5 night trip out to Vegas and it took a few days for my body to recover.

I’m actually hoping the time away from the game will be good for my swing. It’ll be like learning everything I’ve taught myself so far this year all over again. Wish me luck!

Not much change in my golf scoring lately. I’ve only broke into the 30s once this year and haven’t been in the 50s in weeks. Every time out on the course I’m shooting somewhere between 41 and 47. I just can’t get over the hump. One round my driving will be great, but my chipping sucks and the next it could be just the opposite. I continue to work on my driver when I go to the range because I seem to shoot the best when I’m driving the ball well.

My putting has been the best part of my game all year and I’m usually making16 putts or less for 9 holes. I think I just need one of those breakout rounds to get me going and get that final boost in confidence.

Tonight is the 2nd week of my golf league and the weather is calling for a high of 50 degrees today, which should make golfing real enjoyable. I’ll be layering up with a sweatshirt over my work clothes and then my rain gear/wind breaker and pants over the top of that. I might even wear my rain gloves to help keep my hands warm.

Not only will it be an interesting night because of the cold weather, but I took a nasty crash on my bike this weekend. My shoulder is still pretty sore when I lift it or move it too fast, so I can’t wait to see how my golf swing looks. Maybe it’ll be cold enough to numb the pain!