Humbling, to say the least

For those of you who aren't golfers, think of how it would feel to have Publisher's Clearing House ring your doorbell, only to find that they are looking for your neighbors house. In golf, one round you have it all. You feel like there isn't a club in the bag you can't hit, a fairway you can't miss, a put you can't make. The next round Nike calls and wants their millions back, with interest. That's right, you'd like to "Wie, Wie, Wie" it all the way back home. Michelle Wie, the queen of Withdraw, that is. Thats a little like my game the past week. We had our office tournament at Wasatch State Park. Our team, made up of myself, Matt, Becky Dugdale (our boss's assistant), and Jaime Wilson, a client associate in the office, shot 6 under. That's right, 6 under. I felt like that was a pretty dang good score considering. It was mainly due to the fact that Matt and I could do nothing wrong off the tee. I was hitting the driver like John Daly, only sober. Matt was splitting the fairway like Bubba Watson, only without a pink shafted driver. We were hitting driver, then hitting wedges into the greens. I left feeling like I had every bit of confidence I could have in my game. The swing fairy was sitting right on my shoulder, whispering how much I had waited for this, how much I deserved this. The round went superbly. Aside from some wedge troubles. We had a great time. Saturday morning my game even woke up with me to hit Eaglewood, a course in North Salt Lake that usually eats me up like Fast Sunday dinner. I walked away with a respectable 43, considering I had a 5 putt on the first hole after being on in 2 and having my putt drift a little too far and run down a hill into a nasty collection area. All in all, I was pleased with my game once again.

Can someone slap me with a dead salmon, please? This is golf. I had the pleasure of playing tonight with my two boys and Matt at Davis Park Golf Course, 3 minutes from my house. It's my "home" course. Comfortable, relaxing, inviting, pleasant. A perfect place to take your sons out for an evening of golf. It was a perfect night, last foursome out on the back 9. I hit a perfect tee shot on the first hole. Right to the center of the fairway. Just as I was about to hit my second shot, my cell phone rang. It was my agent. He told me that a 747 was inbound to the course and I should end the round right now. Did I listen to him? No, so I went ahead and got on that 747. In other words, I proceeded to shoot a 7, a 4, and then a 7 to open my round. That was followed by another 7, and another 4. All the joy, all the triumph, all the photo shoots with my new clubs, all the self-high-five's I had been giving, all dashed. I fell into a place only duffers like me can call home. It's a place people seldom recover from in a round, it's called, "Humbleton". Humbled realizing betting your brother-in-law was totally misguided. Humbled that you brought your sons out to see you cry on the day before the 4th of July and they weren't even playing the National Anthem. Humbled that your game that was so right, now is so wrong. Like Dan Rather wrong. I should have checked my sources. I guess that's the life of a golfer. What makes it such a challenge. Just when you think you have it, it moves, sometimes out of town. But it challenges you to come back and see what it is you need to change to catch it again. Like I said a few weeks ago, and it's true again now. I can't wait to get out there and go again. Beat it, or at least scare it a little more than I did tonight. I wont tell you my score, but it's beyond child bearing age.

My kids still think I am the greatest golfer they have ever seen. Funny though. Matt, my brother-in-law absolutely had a better game tonight than I did. But my kids didn't mention it. Brayden said, "Incredible round dad!" after we were in the car. My Matt thanked me 4 or 5 times for taking them. Maybe they felt sorry for me, seeing my cry and all on the first few holes. Naaah.

As for Matt, it won't be long before he has a couple of kids that are his biggest fans. Believing he is the greatest golfer in the world. Watching him hit the ball from their double stroller equiped golf cart. Trouble is, his kids won't be that far off.....