200 Yards

Losing my noodle at Diamond Ridge.

I must have been crazy saying yes to round of golf during the hottest week of the year. Pushing 104F on the course, I was lucky to have my trusty styrofoam Chick-Fil-A cup for ice and water. Brutal really is the only way to describe conditions today.

I've taken to using a new driver, one of those monster-sized concoctions with a very obnoxious "tink" sound when hitting the ball. At first, I was skeptical of these monster drivers but when I started seeing the results, I was astounded. 200 yard drives seemed almost effortless, then give a little more oomph and I'm thinking I'm driving 250 yards.

Years ago, I used to slice the ball. Now, I'm hooking it off to the left. To assuage this problem, I've taken to either targeting slightly to the right of my target or drastically to the right of my target. This works rather well until the time that I stroke it true and straight, sending the ball careening off to the right (or drastic right).

It's been two summers since I've played a proper round of golf so my short game has gone incredibly soft. Where once I could readily gauge the distance and stroke power, now I'm overshooting the green. Add this to the blistering heat and stifling humidity and I'm simply suffering on the course.

While I didn't shoot a very tight round of golf, losing four balls in the process, I did manage to cap off the day with a perfect par 5 on the 18th hole. Nice!