Glove Off, Game On… Then Back to Square One

That Time of Year…

The weather is finally cooperating. It’s not raining every weekend, and the course conditions are dialed in. Fairways are firm with a little extra rollout, and the greens? Fast, firm, and fair.

This is also when the lessons, and yes, the practice (we’re talking about practice!) start to pay off. You feel the incremental gains. A few solid rounds come together. Your handicap? Trending in the right direction, finally. Whether it’s nine holes before dark, league nights, or casual rounds with friends, the scorecard’s looking clean; pars, the occasional birdie, and bogeys as your worst blemish.

Confidence builds. Maybe too much. You’re handing out tips to your foursome. Trash talk starts flowing. You’re taking the glove off to putt and making sure everyone notices. The scores are consistently under your cap. That dangerous thought creeps in: I’ve got this game figured out.

Then, BOOM, golf humbles you. A round ten strokes higher out of nowhere. Nothing works. As my best friend likes to say, “Golf is a fickle mistress.” We’re sure you’ve got your own quotes for just how brutal (and beautiful) this game can be.

As one of the pros put it on Netflix’s Full Swing, “Golf is hard.”

But if we’re lucky, the game gives something back. A well-struck iron, a pure roll, a solid round that says: the hard work is worth it. The fun returns. The scores settle. And the love for the game gets deeper.

Here’s to more rounds that reward the grind.

Hats on. Gloves off. Let’s play!