I Have Good News & I Have Bad News

The good news, my inaugural round on my journey to the Champions tour came in under 100.

The bad news, I posted a 96.

Front: 55

Back: 41

The summary:

• Several fairways hit with drives ranging from 280-320 yards
• 23 putts on the front side
• Taking 5 strokes (or more) from within 100 yards several times

The best:

A hard cut off the tee on a longish par 4 (425yds) that swept around the corner of the dog-leg beautifully and left me sitting in the middle of the fairway with less than 100 yards in.

The worst:

Following this magnificent drive I took dead aim at a tucked pin. I waggled the club in a relaxed fashion as I focused on my target. With less than 100 yards in I loaded up my left side and prepared for an arms only shot that would stop quickly. The result? A twelve yard shot (if you can call it that) that plopped weakly ahead of me and slightly to the right. I produced a divot (in this case a toupee) that brought back memories of Bruce Willis in ‘Moonlighting’. I went on to tap in for double.

This shot barely beat out my four putt from 20 feet on the fourth but for some reason was slightly more frustrating (maybe because I like Bruce bald).

Non playing highlight:

Watching the ‘happy dance’ or our petite Asian playing partner as she came incredibly close to holing a 70ft. birdie putt. It was the most amazing dance of joy and excitement I have ever witnessed on a golf course (or perhaps anywhere). While this was very cute, I directed my girlfriend Marni to put me down if I ever did anything remotely similar on the golf course, or for that matter, anywhere else.

Most poignant moment:

As we were walking up the 9th fairway, just after Marni (a sensitive girl) had hit a poor shot, she looked at me and said “I feel like crying”. I could tell by the look on her face and the tone in her voice she was serious. I just looked at her and said “I know hon”. Now be honest, don’t we all?

This feels a bit strange, until someone else posts, is this the literary equivalent of talking to myself? Oh well.

As mentioned yesterday I will tell you a bit more about myself in the near future. For now, I am off to do some work on my ‘inner’ game.

Fore!

Here’s the Deal…Here’s the Rub

Okay…here’s the deal.

As part of a recent ‘Life Review’ and goal setting exercise I have decided I would like to play golf on the Champions Tour.

I know, stand in line with every other pot-bellied (or not) , cigar smoking (or not), single digit handicap (or not), turf bandit that has every played the game!

More specifically, the goal is to embark on a journey, a quest for my Champions Tour Card that culminates with my qualifying for the tour within one year of turning 50. This would fall some where within the calendar year of 2014 (I turn 50 on Dec. 28, 2013). Actually, as you may have noticed, this gives me 3 days grace (sounds like a good name for a book). I may need it, along with other divine interventions along the way.

This is not necessarily a unique or novel goal as many of us have either heard this goal stated, or stated it ourselves, in a half-kidding sort of way. We would all like to ‘Live the Dream’.

The difference is I am serious. Stop laughing. I’m serious.

Why am I different from others that have taken a serious run at the tour? Credentials…I have none.

Here’s the rub,

I am currently 43 years old and have recently had trouble breaking 100 in the few rounds I have played this year.

I have not played golf much at all in the last decade and have never been better than an inconsistent single digit handicapper and that was approximately 15 years ago.

Aside from the fact that I have some obvious ‘skill’ issues and perhaps more importantly underlying ‘talent’ issues I have several other obstacles to overcome.

In the last year I was layed-off from a great job, I underwent orthopedic surgery for a serious leg fracture (steel plate, half a dozen screws, etc.), and I filed for personal bankrupcy due to a failed entrepreneurial venture and will not be free of the last circumstance until August of this year (2007).

In other words I am ‘broke & broken’.

So does this qualify as a ‘stretch’ goal. Ummm…yeah.

I am not some Fat Cat, scratch golfing, globe trotting, not a care in the world millionaire (although I wish I was) that is embarking on some lark. I am starting life over. To quote Tim Ferriss authour of the 4 Hour Work Week, this is my opportunity to ‘unplug and reset’ and I intend to do it on my terms this time.

My goal setting exercise came after much research and study into what the Hell I wanted to do with my life.

One of the questions I asked myself was what would I do if I had $1 million in the bank? This question led me to some relevant conclusions and was somewhat helpful but didn’t provide the clarity I was looking for.

Then I asked myself a similiar but ultimately very different question that did provide the clarity I was looking for. I asked myself what would I do if I had $100 million in the bank? Asking the question this way lead to a radically different and much simpler answer than if I posed the question in a more financially limiting way.

If I had $100 million in the bank, what would I do? What core elements would make up my life? What would make me happy?

The answer:

1. Golf
2. Travel
3. Automobiles
4. Entrepreneurship

These thoughts came to me quickly, easily and in that order. I have great passion for all four and I have decided to pursue all of them in some form or another and build my new life around them.

Important segue:

I must say I am extremely grateful to be in a position to pursue these passions due to some underlying fundamentals that are already in place in my life. I have a wonderful relationship with a wonderful woman. I have an incredible family and support network of friends. I have my health.

As much as I am eager to pursue my passions I will not compromise my relationships or my health to pursue them, everything else is fair game.

To Marni, my immediate family (Fay, Julie, Mark, and of course Tom), my children (Christy, Carter & Thomas), my extended family (1001 cousins or so…yes Andrew you are the 1001st) and my friends “Without you the future is bleak and somewhat daunting…with you everything and anything is possible”.

Life is a short par 5, let’s make eagle. I love you all.

The road back:

A strong underlying theme to these three passions is my desire to write, so I will be writing about my experiences and learning’s along the way.

This blog will deal almost exclusively with the quest, starting today, for my Champions Tour card. Although I may give you the occasional update on my life in general. I promise not to bore you.

My back-up goal if the primary one proves to be somewhat elusive (imagine that) is to at least play in a Champions Tour event, however that might be possible (sponsors exemption, regional qualifying, etc.).

I am playing 18 holes this evening and will be formally recording my score as a starting point.

I will post that score tomorrow and tell you a bit more about myself. I’ll tell you why I think I might have a shot at actually accomplishing this goal or more accurately (you be the judge) why I have completely lost my mind and sense of reality. Either way, delusion is fun!

I welcome your feedback on my chances. I will setup a formal voting process at some point where folks can weigh in on the subject.

I also invite you all to help me devise my strategy. Where should I start, how should I train, who are the best teachers, recommended practice routines, etc., any and all advice is welcome and encouraged. I would love to hear from you.

I am serious and intend to work hard at this, as hard as required to make this a reality or hold my head high in my effort.

I intend to thoroughly chronicle my journey for better or worse, I hope you come back to share the experience with me.

To paraphrase Thoreau (substitute golf for life),

I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion.

Will golf prove to be mean or sublime?