It seems that weather folk are predicting the imminent closing of area golf courses. Mass email blasts from area clubs suggest that this weekend is it. I’m really hoping it isn’t so, as 4th season is one of my favorite times of the golfing year. You see, spring is occupied by coaching of a girls golf team, while fall receives the same treatment with boys golf. Summer is spouse-nagging season, which takes a lot out of a fellow. That leaves winter, when she likes to curl up and snuggle with kids and cats, leaving me to rise with the sun and play wherever the fairways wave me on.
I’m a fan of the Olmsted Winter Festival’s snow golf tournament, but I can’t take too much of it. I much prefer a bit of frosting on frozen fairways, two layers of gloves and a knit hat under my golf cap. Oh, and about five layers on my torso and two more on the legs. Fortune shined on me when it joined me with other intrepid adventurers…we’re not talking Hillary or Peary or Amundsen, but we take on the cold and snow with abandon.
As always, the key is to focus on individual shots, and never on score. Next, you attempt shots that you haven’t tried during the other three seasons, often discovering a penchant for a runner or a bouncer or a slider. It’s important to pack water to stay hydrated, along with healthy munchies to keep the coal fires stoked and roaring. It often gets goofy, but at age 47, I tend to forget what being a kid was like…until I step out onto the frozen links in my Bandons and start giggling.
