Confessions Of A Left Lane Tailgater
Confessions Of A Left Lane Tailgater
Let’s get a few of things straight. Item 1 – When you are driving on the highway, the “speed limit” is not really a law…it’s more of a suggestion. If you are driving the “speed limit” at let’s say the posted limit of 65 MPH, chances are you are one of the slowest, if not the slowest, driver on that road.
Good Round, Good Cry
Good Round, Good Cry
My hole-in-one, June 2016
Yes, it’s true. On June 18, 2016, on the 6th hole of the Gold Course at Flanders Valley Golf Course, a 200 yard downhill par 3, I hit my tee shot, watched it land just short of the green, take a couple of bounces and roll into the cup. I have witnesses, just in case you don’t believe me. I was speechless….shocking….I know. My big reaction was to put my hands on my head and gape wordlessly at the green below me.
As I walked down the hill, towards the green and my ball in that hole, I called my dad. Now this was early on a Saturday morning, an unusual time for my almost daily phone conversation with my dad. He picked up the phone and I said “Hi dad!”
His response was “What’s wrong” or something along those lines. Being that it was so early in the day, I’m sure it thought there was something wrong.
“Nothing,” I replied. “I just got a hole-in-one!”
He was very happy for me. The round continued and I played well below my average game but at least I had that hole-in-one. On a side note, the ball I hit was actually one I had just found in the woods, hit that one shot with, and it now resides in the top of my dresser draw waiting to place in some sort of hole-in-one display. I’ll get to it some day.
For those of you that are regular golfers, right now my handicap is a 10. For those of you that are not regular golfers, this means my average round is in the mid 80s, a good round is in the low 80s, and we want talk about the bad rounds. These are on courses where par is 72. Every once in a while, I will actually break 80 and shoot a round in the 70s. Usually this happens all once a year but last year it actually happened twice, which was the first time I had broken 80 twice in one season. I guess some things do get better with age!
Whenever I did break 80 or have a really good round, I could always tell my father was happy for me. Dad took up golf late in life, as he was more of a tennis player. I don’t think he ever really loved the game, never kept score, but my mom said “we are going to learn to play golf together,” so he did what he was told. He did like getting outside, and he always enjoyed playing with me during my trips to Florida over the years. Even when he stopped playing, he’d come along for the ride, just to get some fresh air and watch me curse my way around the golf course.
About 2 weeks, I once again broke 80, shooting a 79 on the same course where I got my hole-in-one. I was quite pleased with my round and was thinking there wasn’t anything that could ruin that moment. I drove away from the golf course, called Linda to let her in on the good news. After that call ended, my next reaction was to call my dad, only there was no one to call as he had passed away 3 months before. It was the first time all season I had something about my golf game to share with my dad and he wasn’t there for me to share it with him. So the tears came, just as they are now as I’m writing this.
Since my dad’s passing in April, I just never know when one of “those moments” are going to hit me. Even though it’s been well over 6 years since my mom left us, I still have “those moments” when something reminds me of her. Honestly, I hope “those moments” never leave me and I don’t think they ever will. I think of my parents every day but on the day broke 80, I just broke down.
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