Even Phil Mickelson gets frustrated with golf
|
Strange isn't it how golf can kick you in the teeth one minute, raise your spirits the next, then knee you in the groin just when you thought you had it under control?
I was fortunate to steal some time away from managing the site yesterday to meet some pals for 18 holes of what I call 'research'.
Needless to say I got a message (from Callaway Golf) minutes before I was guiltily due to sneak away, releasing details about the new X-Muscle forged clubs that Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and Niclas Fasth have currently put in their bags.
the information was too good to sit on for a few hours so I pulled together a snippet and some pictures for GM visitors to ponder, while I caught the last dwindling hours of winter sunshine.
I arrived one minute late and due to our club's new tee booking system, discovered my two playing partners wandering away up the first fairway, oblivious to my panicked arrival. Fortunately there were now six of us in the group so the threeball on the tee allowed me to drive off and catch up up my colleagues ahead.
I wrenched my current driver of choice (12-degree Ping G10) from the bag, ripped off the bronze and silver headcover, tried briefly to compose myself and almost inevitably top-smothered my tee shot into thick grass 50 yards ahead!
It's an image of rushed starts by golfers that's re-produced a million times around the world. Will we ever learn?
After that my game was always on the back foot - a succession of one and two-point bogeys by half way (14 points) while one of my 21-handicap playing partners amassed 23 points.
An outrageous 20-foot birdie two on a green that had been hollow-tyned gave me a brief boost before two more anxiously smothered tee shots sent me swooping into depression once again.
The final hole served to confirm that golf's a funny old game. My approach having scrambled over the lake it left me in the fringe 50 feet from the hole on the lower level of the two tier green. My request to 'play up to save time' with the pin left in was acknowledged and with low expectation, my raking putt was struck sweet and true into the bottom of the cup!
The round was a rollercoaster. One minute I'd gained platinum Golfmagic
Shambles Club membership, the next, I'd resigned with a smile on my face, only to change my mind at the next duff drive. At the last, one fluke shot was enough to ensure I'll be back on the tee next week, perhaps slightly better prepared.
While golf can be cruel, it possesses a wicked sense of humour.
Tell us on the forum about your latest roller-coaster round.
