Forum Blog: All golfed out

I never thought I would say this but I am glad that my golfing season is nearly over. Reason being I have been a slave to my handicap all year; having entered almost every medal at my club in the pursuit of a single figure handicap. At the start of the season I had convinced myself that it would all be worth it, the hours I planned to spend at the range and on the course coupled with regular lessons this was the year I would finally be off 9.  I have been tantalisingly close to my elusive goal getting down from 14 to 9.8 despite a less than promising start to the year. But on the way I have forgotten what golf means to me, it’s all about having fun, spending quality time with friends on the course and more importantly relaxing, most of that had disappeared as I focused solely on getting my handicap down. I still had a good time with friends but the fun was gone and I have forgotten how to relax when on the course as my only thought was on improving above all else. In the last two weeks I have entered 10 medals in a desperate fight to get down to 9 as my season is going to be cut short due to the other half booking a holiday and I would say without a doubt they were the worst two weeks of my golfing life. In the 10 rounds I played I managed 1 buffer zone and went up 0.1 in all the others so I am not going to make my season’s goal. There are four possible medals left to play before my holiday but I am not going to play in any of them I have accepted my fate and being off 11 is not so bad. I used to think it would be great to play golf for a living but that’s all changed, the stress and pressure the journeyman pro’s are under must be immense, I was only trying to improve on my handicap not trying to provide for my family but I was stressed and irritable after I had played badly. I can only imagine how much harder it must be for them and have the upmost respect for these guys in the lower leagues as it can’t be easy to keep it all together when so much is at stake and you are not making cuts or earning a decent wage. I realise now (better late than never) that I was never going to make it to single figure’s this year as there was no way I could keep up the vein of good form all year and to get cut from 14 to 11 is one hell of an achievement in itself,  but I have spent too long hitting balls at the range, practicing at the course and too much money according to the wife has been spent on shiny new equipment to just throw it all away, I will continue to have regular lessons and spend a little time at the range and cut back on the number of medals I play next year. I am going to learn to enjoy my golf again, just playing golf instead of entering every available competition and get back to winning our friendly wagers. I promise to try not to worry about what my handicap is, sure it would have been great to have reached my goal even if it was for only one week but it was not to be.  I honestly believe that I will have a better chance next year as I will be more relaxed and less driven by my handicap and besides if I’m not in the medal I can’t go up .1. ;-).