Golf - I remember you!

MANY YEARS AGO I played golf all the time. I got pretty good at it. I could launch the ball off the tee, even if I didn't know where it was going. "Stay out of your own fairway if you don't like my game," I would say. Or yell, from the tee.

I lived in Northeast Michigan, a hub of beautiful golf courses. I'd have time in the summer to go hacking - a weekly game at the Alpena Golf Club, and lots of trips to other incredible courses less than an hour away.

Then I moved to Quincy and started working 100 hours a week, then got busier with Emily's activities and music. Excuses, I know. But golf isn't something you can just go do in an hour - it takes a big chunk out of your day. And it isn't cheap.

Now I play two or three times a summer, and it's a shame, because I love "A Good Walk Spoiled" (thank you Mark Twain) and the company.

Golf is like anything else - if you do it enough, you get better at it. It's also frustrating - the harder you try the harder it gets, it seems. I like it now, where I can swing and laugh when the ball slices slightly to the right, or all the way to Marblehead.

My old boss from The Whig, Don Crim, invites me every year to play in the Cedar Crest Country Club Junior/Senior scramble. He's the senior, by the way. It's always a lot of fun whacking it around, even if I have no idea where it's going.

I miss the game!

When we played and I was still at The Whig, the joke was that I had to play well or I'd end up covering a school board meeting the next week. Right. Just a joke. Ahem. I don't miss my old job, but I do miss some of the people I worked with, so it's great to hang out with Don and his much better half, Peggy, at the golf course. She plays too and hits it long and straight - how boring is that?

Anyway, we started the two-day tournament Saturday and didn't do very well. I could not have cared less. It was a beautiful day and I was outside. Teams were put in three flights, and we were in the bottom flight. Then yesterday, Don made a couple of bombs (long putts), including one on the last hole we played, and we ended up winning by a shot.

Sure, it makes it fun. But I've played in this tournament and not won a thing and it was just as enjoyable.

Maybe some day I'll have more time and can get back out on the golf course a little bit more. Until then, I'll just whack it around and play it where I find it, and appreciate the time and company.