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No Matter What!

You ever have one of those days when you have 100% mentally committed to play, “no matter what”? Have you wondered about the limits of “no matter what?”

We have been blessed by a fairly mild winter thus far, and I have spent the last few weeks alternating between sledding with my son and then golfing on the off days when it melts. We have been predicting the end of the Buffalo Golf Season as far back as November, and Rico called it just a few days ago. But I still believed there was more to come.

I missed the gorgeous opportunity to play on Saturday. But, even though the forecast for Sunday was only a high of 29, the wind was expected to be light, so I maintained a glimmer of hope.

I called Byrncliff around 9:00 am and asked “are you letting the crazies out on the course today?” The answer was yes, but “no carts” (no problem here). As a result, the call went out to Mo’ Golf, Coil, and JNC to make the trek for an expected 10:30 tee off.

The affirmative response from Byrncliff meant I was mentally committed to playing “no matter what.” After all, what’s a little sub-freezing temperature?

On New Year’s Day, we kicked off the 20112 Season and dealt with a few holes like this. No big deal – a few patches of snow can be negotiated. On New Year’s, I pulled a birdie putt out of a cup that was filled with slush.

But something happened on our way to Byrncliff that would test the limits of “no matter what.”

Around 10:00, the snow started falling and sticking. It didn’t look good as we pulled in.

We may have left, but we felt bad that JNC was already an hour into his drive from Rochester, so we decided to buy him brunch at the restaurant for his time. As I walked through the clubhouse, I saw the woman who had answered my call at 9:00.

“I’m so sorry – I swear it was green when you called”
“No problem – we’ll still grab some brunch. Just a quick question – are we forbidden from playing?”
“No – you can go out if you don’t mind putting through the snow.”

And with that simple statement, I was fully committed again, but still had to convince my cohorts.

“Guys, just so you know, we’re not forbidden from playing. What do you think?”

Surprisingly, it took very little effort to convince them. About a year ago, Mo’ Golf & I played in the Flurrious Snow Golf Tournament at Delaware Park. That event featured 18 inches of snow, single digit temps and unforgiving paddle tennis balls. Compared to that, this was like a walk in the park. We grabbed the gear and headed for the first tee, past a number of shaking heads and laughter from the restaurant above.

Alas, the day was called after 9 holes. We needed time to spend some money at the Clubhouse Bar for their generosity in enabling our adventure, as well as journey to the Wales Hotel for the Annual Chili Cookoff, all before the Tebow Kickoff.

It’s the first time I recall my Christmas lights being packed away before my clubs, so it’s been a great season. But I’m not ready to call it over.

The forecast for Tuesday shows a high of 41, and I am playing “no matter what.”

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Mo’ Golf’s robotic, ever-repeating swing conquers the uphill 5th, just as it does in mid-July. You can see the pink ball between the last two evergreens on the right side of the fairway.