Signs of Summer: Playing golf with friends

Despite the agonizing fact that the official start date of summer isn’t until June 23, we’ve already had a few waves of summer-like weather in my neck of the woods. Its days like these that energize and invigorate the lion’s share of us who live in areas with over 225 days a year of “gray” weather, and these nice days deserve their due.

With that said, every Tuesday and Thursday until the official start of summer we’ll bring you an ode to the signs of summer, one marvelous item at a time. And PS – we would love it if you would pepper in your thoughts as well.

Today we pay homage to the game of golf.

Or as it may be the case for 90 percent of us, taking in the beauty of nature, enjoying time spent with friends and drinking a bevy of Bud Light w/Limes… while pathetically attempting to get a weird little ball in a tiny little hole that is sometime positioned 500+ yards away.

Who came up with this sport anyways?

I only started playing last summer, so my game is absolutely abysmal at this point, but when I went out with my brother for the first time the other day, I was downright floored with a feeling of elated relaxation. The birds were chirping, the sun was bobbing in and out of puffy white clouds, the grass was freshly mowed…

And then I shanked my tee shot into the woods DIRECTLY to my left.

But even despite that, it was such a nice escape. The one part about golf that amazes and occasionally infuriates me is the complexity of a seemingly simple game. I always thought it was a bunch of slightly overweight bankers hitting a ball around. Now that I’m into the game a little, I realize just how wrong I was.

My internal thoughts/questions/setup for each shot:

– How far to the hole – Which club to use – How far apart are my feet – Keep my left arm straight – Keep my head down – Keep my eye on the ball – Don’t try to kill it – Keep my left foot planted – Relax my shoulders – Don’t forget to follow through – Am I lined up to where I want the ball to go – Keep my wrists locked – Don’t grip the club too tight – Don’t turn the club face accidentally…

This explains it much better.

And so it goes. The better half of this blog and I plan to get at the sticks next week. Expect a complete synopsis and a healthy dose of smack talk, gloating and excuses.

Speaking of golf, Tiger “returns from injury” to defend his crown at the Memorial Tournament next week… and I hear he has a new girlfriend already.


I got nothing.

Be good and come back for The Ride Home links at 4 p.m. today.