Golfing in the Rain

Summer time in Florida means golf for the locals. It’s hot, the snowbirds have gone home, and the courses need the business. This is all positive for a bunch of hack-a-rounds who have their Fridays off. The employees at WIU have Fridays off during the summer which means that some of the coaches and staff put together groups and hit the links for a little environmental study. The group moves to different courses around the area and enjoy some nature via golf carts. Most of the time they play early enough to avoid the weather, but hey it’s Florida and at some point it will rain. This is where I come into the story. Even though I don’t work at WIU I have a few connections with the school so I sneak in with the groups because I too enjoy looking for earthworms in divots created by small shovels, I mean irons. Today the course of study was Grenelefe. This place used to be a beautiful place full of people but now it is merely a shell of its former self but it still has a golf course and that’s good enough for me. The weather today was suspect from the beginning. Little spits of rain and showers peppered us from the beginning. Deep down I didn’t want it to pour on us because we had Pops (Dad) out with us today. Besides the regulars of Brad and Tyler we had Pops and he is always good for a laugh or 20 out on the course. We played through the mist and showers and all was going smoothly. Smoothly is a relative term when it comes to us playing golf. Balls disappear, grass gets removed, and balls get washed not by the ball washer machines but by the ponds that dot the course. There are some amazing shots both good and bad. There are times we look like we know what we are doing but most of the time we commune with nature. By this I mean the fairways stay fairly safe with us on the course. We tour the woods, the condos, and the bushes. I should carry a herpetology book and maybe an entomology book just to learn a little more about my surroundings. As the round continued I began to learn a little about the golfer I have become. Maybe it is because I just turned 40 or maybe it is just because I hate sucking. What I have learned is that I can play lower a lot of the time instead of trying to play over things. I also learned that most of the time if I play in front of the hole I score much better. I employed this strategy and really was enjoying my new found style of play. Oh yeah, did I mention that it was still raining. After the first nine I found myself only one stroke off of my brother. Okay, he was playing crappy but I was playing pretty well. Maybe it was the lack of sun and the cooling rain that was helping me. As we started the back nine I could feel that this was my day. The rains were just drizzles and I knew that I could play my way to a victory. Golf is a finicky beast. On the par 5 12th hole I caught a massive break. I teed off and all of a sudden I had one of those “oh shit” moments. My ball had come off dead left and was heading towards the out of bounds but worse than that it was aimed straight at one of the nice homes that dot the course. This time luck was on my side. Just as the ball crossed the out of bounds markers it hit a baby oak tree and careened 90 degrees to the right and landed just off the fairway. Oh yeah, this is the day. I’m a little far back but I can still get there in three. With my new found game I took dead aim at the dog leg left and was going right under the trees. I did for about 75 yards. Remember golf being finicky, well that was repayment for giving me a break. I finished the hole with a double bogey and now it was pouring. Not drizzling but dripping off your hat pouring. We thought it would pass so we teed off on the par 3. The biggest question was does the rain knock the ball down? After a brief discussion we quickly finished the par 3 and took shelter. By now we all look like we have been swimming and the only shelter is an old cabana that had a porta potty for a restroom. Being ever optimistic I pulled up the radar and at first glance I told them that we would be back on the course in 15 minutes to finish this dream round. The other three just kind of smiled and left it alone. Not only is golf finicky but mother nature is as well. She had supplied us with cooling shade and an occasion shower and now as we were about as far away from the clubhouse you can be she unleashed her fury on us and never gave in. Sometimes things just don’t go your way. Needless to say we did not finish the round and the questions will burn until next Friday when we try again. Even though I don’t know how it was going to finish I wouldn’t have traded the day for anything. Spending time with Dad, Tyler, and Brad while competing on a completely fun basis just is really hard to match and the summer is too short to sit inside because it might rain. Get out there and enjoy the day. Sometimes it’s sunny and cold and sometimes it is rainy but either way you have 24 hours to enjoy the day you are given. Before the golf I hit the gym for my workout. Today’s workout consisted of 8 rounds of 3 bench press every 1:15. After this session the main workout was as follows: 5 rounds of 30-1:00 of holding your breath then 6 burpees, 9 kettle bell swings, and 12 double jumps with the jump rope. I never made a full minute but was able to get to 43 seconds by the last time. I did all five rounds and did the kettle bell with a 30 pound dumbbell. It was a good workout and really did a good job taxing my systems. Enjoy your weekend and get outside.