Par For The Course

I found myself once again at the Local Golf Course this past weekend. I was just out to finish off my day with a relaxing 9 holes. I started out pretty well, with a par and then a Birdie. Often that will be the beginning of the end of "good" play for me. Today was different though. The Gods of Golf were smiling upon me. At the seventh hole I had a three foot putt that would leave me sitting at even Par. If all you know of Golf is what you see on Sunday afternoon television, you are probably thinking, umm...yea? And? The pro's on TV routinely shoot scores well BELOW par. Well I am here to tell you, that is not real life. Golf is hard!!!! To shoot anywhere near par is an amazing feat for the average golfer. So with that thought in my head, I stepped up and missed that three foot putt. I will admit it, I choked. Nerves were really getting to me. I did make the follow up putt for par, leaving me one stroke over par for the round. On the final hole I barely missed another par putt. That one really hurt. So I finished my day at Two strokes over Par. This was by far the best 9 holes of golf I have ever played. It felt amazing, except that it didn't. This is the confounding thing about golf. No matter how well you play, you always feel like there were at least a couple of shots left on the course. The what if's will make you nuts! As I sat on the lip of my open trunk changing my shoes, I seriously thought about quitting all together. I played SO well that afternoon, and still I didn't really enjoy it. Well that's not true. I did enjoy it. But I didn't get satisfaction. I could have done more. I realized that this is what it will always be. It's an unbeatable game. Do I want to beat my head up against that wall for the rest of my life? Frustrating!!!

Having put a few days between me and that day, I can say that I feel better about it now. It was pretty awesome. I suppose I am not trying to best Golf itself. I am only trying to beat ME! To do better tomorrow than I did today. And if not, then to come back the day after and try again. Most importantly, I just want to have fun no matter how I am playing. Most days I can say I do accomplish that. So tomorrow I have the day off. Where would I rather be than at the course, giving it my all? Well, maybe spending time with my wife, but she is working, so....I am good on that. Right?