I'm not sure who said it, but one of my favourite quotes is "the longest hour is the one before the dawn". In that case, the sun must soon be rising as I finally sunk as low as I think I can on a golf course today. I was only playing a friendly game with my mate Hywel. The course was deserted and the weather was stunning and so I was determined to banish all technical thoughts, bash the ball, find it and bash it again until it went in the hole.
My golfing pain was unbearable. I have no idea standing over a shot whether I'm coming, going, been or went. My posture feels wrong. My hands feel like they've never formed a grip in my life and I can't tell where the club is or what it is doing in the fraction of a second it takes from start to impact (yes I really am swinging that fast!!!!). To sum it up, I got to the 13th green today and I was quite prepared to walk in. I've never walked off a course in my life (except of lightening) even as a petulant junior hacking his way round. I didn't and the golfing gods mocked me further on the very next hole.
I hooked my drive at 14 and was lucky to find an almost perfect lie begging a five wood to smack the ball greenwards. I duly obliged and put a rare decent swing on the shot. I left myself around 80 yards which is normally a good distance for my 52 degree wedge which is a trusted lieutenant when all else is failing. I hit it okay but only got it to the front of the green and faced a very quick downhill left to right putt with a good three foot or so of break. As I said the gods were mocking. I put a great stroke on it and it was dead weight and hit the hole dead centre for a par. Inevitably after that it fell apart as it had done before.
And that's my golf finished for a while. I plan to have at least a week without touching my clubs, including playing at practicing (even putting). It doesn't mean Homers odyssey is over. It just means the ship has sought refuge to ride out the storm. I'll try nine holes next Sunday afternoon and see how it is and then have a think.
Once you are at rock bottom everything becomes a positive. I'm on the floor golfing wise but like any good hero I'm preparing to pull myself off the canvass and come back fighting. The dream ain't over yet
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Been meaning to post since Friday and am sorry to hear you've reached your golfing nadir. Perhaps a break will do you good but when you come back I hope you can take solace in the glimpses of magic and use those to rebuild your foundations. What you did at the13th sounds fab but how you described it makes it seem as though you expected to blow up on 14.
ReplyDeleteHope the break serves you well and I look forward to positive tales on your return.
T
I was going to walk in at the 13th and it was the 14th that I holed the ludicrous putt but one shot doesn't make a round. I'll chill and forget about the game for a while and see what happens
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