Golfer Newbies

Archive for the ‘Stories’ Category

This week at the driving range I hit the most amazing tee shot ever – that is, I hit the tee about 30 yards and the ball just plopped down on the ground where it had been sitting on the tee. I'm thinking I used too high a tee for the club.

If you've got any trick shots (accidental or otherwise) add them to the comments – we'd love to hear about them!

Mostly, books and magazines an golf cause me to glaze over. I rarely find myself able to study through the detailed and annoying pictures and illustrations of golf swings, and beyond that there's not usually anything much more fun than the advertisements. However, this week I am reading a book that I am thoroughly enjoying, The Downhill Lie by Carl Hiaasen. The book is a kind of chronicle or diary about his return to golf after a 32-year hiatus. If you're not familiar with his writing, Carl can be a very funny and interesting writer, and this book lives up to his reputation. I don't want to give away his stories here, but if you want a lively and entertaining golf read without the dull and boring golf swing pictures, this is it.

See larger image The Downhill Lie: A Hacker's Return to a Ruinous Sport (Vintage) (Paperback) By (author) Carl Hiaasen List Price: $14.00 USD New From: $7.74 In Stock Used from: $1.74 In Stock Release date May 5, 2009.

Well, from a golf standpoint, being back in Chicago after 2 weeks in California doesn’t have too many advantages, but today I did get to participate in the “Great Eskimo Shoot Out” at the Fresh Meadows Practice Center. The deal was, if you bought one small bucket of balls (50 balls) you got another one free. There was a large plastic tub out on the range at about 75 yards. At the end of your practice, you got five extra balls. The golf pro watched, and if you got any in the bucket you got a prize – there were prizes for 1, 2, 3, 4 and all 5 balls getting in. I didn’t get any in, either during my practice or with my last five balls, but I did manage to hit the bucket 4 times from rolling balls. Overall, I was very pleased with how generally straight my shots were, and the pro even commented on that. And, it was great fun playing in the winter. Snow on the ground, light flurries coming down, lots of people having fun trying to hit the bucket. If you live in a cold climate, you might see if your driving range has something like this you can participate in.

For those of you who have been following my blog and wonder why nothing has been updated – well, it’s because I have been in California playing golf. Lucky me! I apologize for being away so long, but it was worth it. Although, that being said, I had my worst game ever back at the Lake Forest 9-hole course. I did get to go play at another course while I was there – Casta del Sol. It is a beautiful short 18-hole public course near Lake Mission Viejo. My first 18-hole game. I won’t tell you my score, but I will say that I did have some really great shots that I was very pleased with. In that game, I played with my brother Rob, my sister-in-law Carrie, and Carrie’s mother Mary. Mary told us a story about a time she played at Casta del Sol. The first hole starts up on a hill and at the bottom there is a little ditch with a creek running through it. Mary teed off and her ball lofted high and then plunk went straight down into the ditch. She heard something when it hit the creek, but didn’t know what it was. When she went to retrieve the ball, there, laying on it’s back, wings outstretched was a dead duck. I’m not sure Mary will ever get over it, but it does give new meaning to someone yelling “duck!”

Well, given his latest mishaps, I guess any golf blog is going to have some mention of Tiger Woods. In this video, you can see yet one more way in which Tiger has “dropped the ball.”

Yesterday I was in our local thrift shop searching for treasures in the book section. I came across a copy of Carol Mann’s The 19th Hole: Favorite Golf Stories for $2.00. It is a great book with lots of fun short stories and factoids from golfers and golfer celebrities, such as:

• Mario Andretti
• Bill Bradley
• Art Buchwald
• Ben Crenshaw
• Phyllis Diller
• Gerald Ford
• Buddy Hackett
• Charlton Heston
• Bob Hop
• Hale Irwin
• Peter Jacobsen
• Jack Lemmon
• Nancy Lopez
• Dave Marr
• Anne Murray
• Jack Nicklaus
• Merlin Olsen
• Arnold Palmer
• Gary Player
• Judy Rankin
• Chi Chi Rodriguez
• Charles Schultz
• Dinah Shore
• Sam Snead
• and many others.

For instance, here’s Phyllis Diller’s brief golf story:

“My son seriously considered going to med school. He even bought a set of golf clubs. Right away he got the feeling that the reason the pro tells you to keep your head down is so you can’t see him laughing. He was a quick learner and after only three lessons he could throw his golf clubs as far as other people who’d been playing for years. He said, ‘Mother, golf has taught me that there is a connection between pain and pleasure. Golf spelled backwards is flog.’ And he says when you consider the expense of golf clubs, green fees and cart rentals, it’s hard to believe the game was invented in Scotland.”

So, I’m enjoying this book – no doubt some of the facts and stories will show up on this site from time to time in the future.

The book is out of print, but you can find used copies online. There is currently one listed on Amazon (see below).

Nineteenth Hole: Favorite Golf Stories (Hardcover) By (author) Carol Mann Used from: $7.80 In Stock