Why Did You Take Up Golf? - Tell us and WIN!*

Perhaps the more appropriate question would be "Why would you take up golf?" Anyone who has been golfing for more than a year (and hasn't given it up yet) knows this is a game of mixed emotions. On the one hand, there's excitement, jubilation and self appreciation when you make great shot or have a milestone round. On the other hand, there's frustration, anger and self depreciation when you whiff on the first tee, or have matched the course record...by the 9th hole.I've been golfing for over 20 years and I have had my share of all these emotions (mentally, the good shots and rounds tend to outweigh the bad, which is a plus since I personally know there have been a ton more bad). Anyway, back to my original question - Why did you take up golf?...

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A Golf Course Is Like Pizza...

I don't know how anyone else feels about this, but to me there are certain foods of which a good meal isn't much different than a bad one. Chinese, especially take-out, comes to mind. A bad plate of Gong Bao Chicken and a good plate of Gong Bao Chicken are not all that different.Mexican is another. Now don't get me wrong...I've had some really bad Chinese and Mexican dishes, and I've had some really good Chinese and Mexican dishes. I'm saying, in general, there's not a big difference.But even though you know of a certain restaurant that may serve up some of those below-par dishes, you still go to them in a pinch. For me, it's pizza. I love pizza. I can have pizza three times a week and it's OK with me. But unfortunately, since I moved out...

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Why Golf, Why?

Ok, so I have another issue with this torture-inflicting game called golf that I love so much - our relationship. It's true, we are suckers for abuse. The worse you treat us the more difficult it is to stay away.You know that friend you may have secretly liked but they were so wrapped up in a crappy relationship with an abusive a-hole and everybody saw it except them? Well, I'm the friend and golf is the abusive a-hole. I went and checked out some classic signs of a bad relationship and it's just as I suspected:Lack of Trust - How do you trust someone (or thing) that lets you down a lot? Hey, I know I could practice more but, WTF. How about showing some love once in a while? Maybe a kick towards the fairway instead of the woods.Disrespect -...

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Screw Nutrition; Put Food Trucks on Every Hole

So I'm standing in line at the chicken and rice cart on the corner of West 45th street and 6th Avenue in midtown Manhattan. It's lunchtime and that awesome smell from the truck is wafting down the street towards my office. Yes, I know it's street meat. But in New York, street meat is king...and cheap. For 4 bucks, you really can't beat it.Anyway, while I'm standing there, it dawns on me that when I make the turn on the course, it's usually around lunchtime too. That got me thinking about what I eat at the turn - and the funny thing is, I normally don't eat much. Somehow, I feel if I eat a burger or dog, it will slow me down on the back nine (strange how I never seem to worry about slowing down when a stack of work is waiting for me back at...

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In Case Of Emergency, Pop Trunk

So if you're like me and you drive a smaller sports car, you understand trunk space is at a premium. I remember one occasion when I was picking my wife up from the airport. She had two bags with her (Insert your favorite mother-in-law joke here).Problem was, I forgot to take my golf clubs out of the trunk. Uh-oh. There's no way the larger of the two bags (Insert your second favorite mother-in-law joke here) was going to fit. Luckily, I do have a backseat. It's a bit of a tight squeeze, but it is a backseat nonetheless. So after a bit of a fight with the larger of the two bags (again...joke) we were on our way home; disaster averted.My wife doesn't understand why my clubs were in the trunk anyway, considering I hadn't played recently and had...

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Golf for Free?

With a steady decline of tee-times being filled and empty courses during the week, it was only a matter of time before the ol' proverbial "For Sale" sign would hang on the front lawn of our beloved local tracks.I'm sure the recent rise in unemployment and this f%$#in' "recession" might have something to do with it. You would think if you're not working than there's more time to golf, right? Well, last time I checked I think you need money to do that.So, as usual I strapped on the thinking cap and charged it with beer...I mean "smart juice" - a whole twelve pack of it. For some reason, the more I drink the smarter I get...or at least I think I do. Moving on, I did some research and found out that, just like in the housing market, some golf courses...

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Do you want your Driver? No, he's not my Type.

The last time I carried a driver in my golf bag: Bill Clinton was impeached, Titanic was number one at the box office and Seinfeld's famed last episode had just aired. The year was 1998. I was a young, strapping 23-year-old and my driver was a Taylor Made Bubble Burner (see stock photo to the left).I remember spending at least $300 on the club. I walked into the local golf store, pulled it off the rack, made sure it was right handed and walked to the checkout line. Hey, everybody knew Taylor Made produced quality clubs - that was all the justification I needed.When I hit it correctly, I could launch one about 280 straight down the fairway (perhaps 300 with the wind at my back). The problem was, hitting "correctly" calculated out to about one...

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From Greens To Gridirons

This is my favorite time of year. The days are getting cooler and more comfortable. The nights are becoming, what I refer to as, "sleeping weather." Soon, the leaves will be blazing with the foliage of another beautiful Connecticut autumn. It doesn't get any better than spending a few hours out on the course on a Saturday morning in September or October. But not Sunday! Why not Sunday? Well, becaue of another reason this is my favorite time of year. It's football season!Since I began playing golf, I try not to let much get in the way of being on the course. Sometimes I can't help it. Things happen. I can't control the weather. And with my wife being a photographer, sometimes her appointments, sessions or weddings get in the way....

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A Fitting Farewell To A Golf Buddy

Recently, a friend of mine (and fellow hack) had unfortunately lost his father. You see, his dad was an avid golfer and the game was a big part of their lives. Not only was he his father, he was also his first and best golf buddy. A lot of their issues were discussed and resolved on the course. Needless to say, it was almost therapeutic for them to be out there together.As an advocate for the game this means a lot. This is something that goes above and beyond winning a tournament. The more I thought about it the more I realized that a loss of this magnitude is life changing. Don't get me wrong, if there was a slight a chance that I could win the Masters that too would be life changing but, I'm referring to something that is much more significant...

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Indoor Putting; Who Gives a Sh*t?

I haven't putted in my house in more than 8 years. The photo to the left is the reason. That's my dog, Eleanor. She has a thing for spherical objects (and pork, but that's another story). With her around, my putts never even get close to the plastic target. Instead, she knocks them off course with her snout and then proceeds to chase them around the room for the next hour (usually digressing after I wrestle them away from her).But you know something? I don't miss putting indoors on my carpet. For one, does it really help your putting on the course? I don't know too many living rooms that have breaks in them. I mean seriously, all winter long you're putting them in like a madman and then comes spring, a real green, and BAM - your ball moves...

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Judging My Custom-Fit Clubs

Finally. For the first time since I received my new custom-fit clubs, I actually got out and played a round of 18! So now the new clubs have 27 holes, plus some range time, logged on them. I still don't think it's quite enough, but I'm going to try to make a fair judgement as to the added value of a custom fitting. You asked for it, so here it is.Firstly, in fairness to my clubs, I stink at golf. I understand there are many golfers who are worse-off then me, but I'm still pretty freakin' bad. No club is going to make a real significant impact on my game. Stinky Golfer Greg has pointed out previously that the way to get better at golf is to play...constantly. Well, I don't have that kind of time. So I play as often as I can, which is not nearly...

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Cover Stories and Unhappy Endings

We've all hit pretty bad golf shots. Admit it. We've sliced, shanked, hooked, flubbed and skulled our way through many rounds of 18. We've hit trees, wildlife, carts, sides of barns, even other golfers! Oh well, no one's ever gotten hurt...not seriously anyway. So we keep playing. But I remember the first time I legitimately thought I was going to see some actual damage as the result of a bad shot.Playing down in Hilton Head, one of our FORE!some hooked his drive directly at a fairway condo. We all watched in horror, knowing exactly where the ball was headed. It could hit anywhere on the backside of that house...but it won't. We all knew that ball's only intention was to hit that sliding glass door. And we helplessly stared, tracking the balls...

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Time To Make The Doughnuts...

"Americans hate their jobs more than ever before in the past 20 years, with fewer than half saying they are satisfied." - msnbc.comA few years ago, msnbc.com posted this article about how much Americans do not like the careers they are in. Crazy ain't it? Actually, they also mentioned in the same article that careerbuilder.com did a survey and found that 4 out of 5 U.S. workers do not have their dream job. This is not good. I once heard a saying: "If you like what you do, you'll never work a day in your life."So my fellow hacks, I have done the math and that means there are approximately 20 million (+/- 5 million) golfers not enjoying their jobs. This is probably why we also use golf as a way to relax and get away from our everyday routines....

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