Golf, the Universe, and Everything

It’s sad but true, more and more golfers are giving up the game year after year.   The case of simple numbers is that more people quit than are being attracted to the game.   The reasons, while numerous, can be boiled down to two simple facts: 1)       Golf is too Expensive Way back when I started this blog, I wondered if golf is only for the rich. The reality is the economy is putting the squeeze on our wallets. And with the prices of equipment; apparel; greens fees and even lessons – it’s easy to give up the game.   In my opinion, this is just another problem facing the golf industry. Not only is there very little going on for the average hack like myself and my golfing buddies, but there is also very little for beginners. How do you expect to attract new players to the game, when you price most of them out of it right from the start? 2)       Golf is too Slow In golf, you have to have patience. The reality of go...

I know I'm pretty absent minded at times, but this really isn't a complete faux pas on my part.  I know my next round was supposed to be Westfields , however the staff at Westfields applied the screw job to the organizer of my Meetup group ( NOVA Beginner & Intermediate Golfers ). Before I describe the details of the "screw job" let me give a quick blurb on the Meetup Group.  If you've never heard of Meetup.com, I suggest you at least give it a quick lookup.  If you're looking to get into anything and want anywhere between 5-100 people looking to do it with you, Meetup is your place.  I've logged on and found flag football teammates, good restaurant locations, and most importantly, great golf buddies.  This particular meetup group (linked above) meets just about every weekend at great golf courses, and because the organizers can get upwards of 24-40 golfers at a drop of a hat, they get great rates at local golf cours...

April 16th, 2007 started out like any other day, but it ended in the deadliest shooting incident by a single gunman in U.S. history.  It was terrible that it happened, but personally, it was more terrible that it happened at my alma mater, Virginia Tech (ChE Class of 2000).  I'll never forget sitting at work and all of a sudden getting the CNN news flash of the shooting.  I left my desk and immediately went to the Town Center at the Washington Navy Yard (Ironically the future site of another shooting 6 years and 5 months later to the day) and was glued to the TV for the next six hours.  The following Sunday, myself and a friend went down to Blacksburg to pay our respects and help out in any way we could.  What I will never forget was how quiet it was around campus.  In my 7 years at VT, even during summers with much fewer people, there was always that buzz, that noise that can only be described as having tens of thousands of young people around.  ...

This golf misadventure is brought to you courtesy of Groupon.  Meaning Joe and I had until the end of the month to use the Groupon for Bull Run before it expired.  Also, it is Master's Sunday and I'm playing golf instead of watching the final round of the Master's.  You may ask why would I commit such a sin and miss out of the Super Bowl of Golf?  Quite frankly, I'd always rather be playing than watching golf.  But the genesis of my tradition starts with the 2011 Master's, or, the Master's Meltdown... After watching the third round of the 2011 Master's, I figured Rory would run away with it, therefore I scheduled a tee time at Twin Lakes for the afternoon, figuring everyone would be watching the Master's so I could sneak a round in and catch the last few holes.  I did set up my phone to receive text alerts in case there was a charge from a certain player who likes to wear red on Sundays.  I remember reaching the 7th hole when I get the first text mes...

After my "Practice" round at South Riding, I decide to take my "talents" to Gainesville and battle with one of my nemesis courses, Virginia Oaks.  Sadly, Virginia Oaks won. Date:  Saturday 4/12/2014 Location: Virginia Oaks Golf Club , Gainesville, VA Score: 93 Excuses:  Out of shape, poor course management, aerated greens Course Conditions:  Not Ideal.  Aerated greens, semi-aerated fairways.          The Good:   Two pretty magic birdies, and a Par on #10 (which always feels like a birdie)          The Bad: Three lost balls          The Ugly : FIVE triple bogies Suffice to say, not much to say about this round except the course was not in good shape, the greens were terrible, and there was no cart girl after my group teed off.  The bright side was even though there was no ranger, the course moved incredibly well. ...

In the immortal words of Allen Iverson , "We're sitting here..., and we're talking about practice. I mean listen, we're sitting here talking about practice, not a game, not a game, not a game, but we're talking about practice." You guessed it, this was a practice round for the GolfWeek AM tour event to take place on 4/19/2014. Date:  Saturday 4/12/2014 Location: South Riding Golfers Club , Chantilly, VA Score:  89 Excuses:  "Practice!  Practice!" Course Conditions:  Very good.  Greens rolled well and were not aerated, course was a beautiful shade of green, and fairways were well kept.          The Good:   Good strategy building          The Bad:  4 over on Par 5's          The Ugly : Four very ugly doubles With every hole, if I played it well, I would write down the good and the bad of how I played it and to see if th...

My first round with the Carderock Country Club.  For those of you not familiar with the lingo, Carderock is short for Naval Surface Warfare Carderock Division.  As part of their Morale Welfare and Recreation (MWR) activities, they put on golf tournaments (definitely a morale booster!).  I was lucky enough to be invited to this outing through a co-worker and loved every minute of it (even the bad shots) especially since we got a very good rate and it was a Thursday afternoon. Date:  Sunday 4/10/2014 Location: Whiskey Creek Golf Club , Ijamsville, MD Score:  82 Excuses:  Lack of concentration on a few holes, not knowing the location of a hazard Course Conditions:  Near excellent.  Recently aerated but greens still rolled about a 10 on the stimpmeter!  A touch windy but otherwise great weather.          The Good:   Finished a total of 1 under on the par 5's and played with my good friend Joe ...

Back to the links for another 18.  Course of Choice, Forest Greens.  Not a tournament, not a practice round for a tournament, just a round to unwind and work out some kinks in the golf game.  Date:  Sunday 4/06/2014 Location:  Forest Greens Golf Club , Triangle, VA Score:  83 Excuses:  Distance control off, hit some thin irons, did not take the time to get used to greens Course Conditions:  Not Ideal.  The greens, the tee boxes, and the rough were in suprizingly good shape.  Especially the greens which rolled very true considering the time of year.  The fairways however were brown and sparce.  Some areas of the fairway felt like hardpan.          The Good:   Stretch of 6 holes I played at 1 under par (8 that I played at par)          The Bad:  5 Three jacks.  Considering my last round I had 8 one putts on ae...

In William Butler Yeats' epic poem, "The Second Coming" he states:      Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;      Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,      The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere      The ceremony of innocence is drowned;      The best lack all conviction, while the worst      Are full of passionate intensity. After a solid 41 on the front nine, which I was later to learn was the lowest front nine of the day in my flight, things fell apart (those things being me) on the back nine with a crowd pleasing 46.  Net result: 87 and tied for 4th overall (but lost out on the money due to tiebreakers). Date:  Saturday 4/05/2014 Location:  L ake Presidential Golf Club , Upper Marlboro, MD Score:  87 Excuses:  Too aggressive, an inane inability to chip and pitch out of bad lies. Course Conditions:  Terrible.  The course website info...