The Golfer's Wife

Hoping

The Hope is being played this weekend ( or at least they are trying to play it. When Mother Nature permits. ) in Palm Springs. If you remember, The Hope has been discussed here previously.

Jigger made his first appearance on the blog voicing his ( strong ) opinions on the tournament. And last year we were wondering if it would even survive.

It has survived, after a fashion. But it still has it’s problems. And, as with the past several years around here, we would not be inclined to pay too much attention to it.

Except.

Except this year a local guy is a member of the field. As a tour member, not an amateur. AND he is currently in the lead. And he is very local. As in we belong to the same cc. Needless to say we, and indeed everyone at the cc ( except perhaps for the swans ), is paying quite a bit of attention to The Hope this year. And Hoping the rain stops and the local guy makes good.

Helpful

So as part of keeping your New Years resolution to learn to play golf, you read Greg Rowley's Golf, Naked. And now you are going to head to your local course for some lessons. The instructor is going to tell you lots of things. But sometimes a picture is much more helpful, don't you think? So here you are:

See? There really isn't much to it at all. You'll be tearing up the course in no time.

The Sorrows - Part VI

I think we should check in with The Calthorpes again before the year gets too old, don’t you?

When last we left them Jane had caught Jack sneaking a kiss from the governess behind a hedge. This, of course, caused a big fight which resulted in Jane spending the day shut in her bedroom in tears and Jack decamping for London with Sandy, saying he won’t come back until Jane calls for him. In short, there is no longer domestic bliss at Castle Calthorpe.

Into the unhappy household we go…..


Late in the afternoon Miss Lark knocks on Jane’s door and asks to talk to her. Jane is tired of lying around crying and feeling sorry for her self so she decides to let her in. Besides, she thinks she can get information from Miss Lark as to what was really going on between her and Jack.  Miss Lark has obviously spent the afternoon crying as well. She apologizes profusely and says she never meant to betray Jane, who has been so kind to her, or to bring unhappiness to the family. She isn’t even sure how it happened. Jane points out that she had a crush on Jack. Miss Lark says she realizes that now, but really didn’t understand it at the time. Jane says that she did, and would have said something to her about it, but she wasn’t sure how Miss Lark would take her advice on something like that, so she didn’t. Miss Lark wishes she would have. She didn’t realize herself until she was sitting under the hedge with Jack. Jane feels sorry for her and tells her that she behaved foolishly but ‘exonerates her of all evil intentions.’  This sets Miss Lark off on a new round of tears and she says she will be leaving the house as soon as possible.

Jane decides she is a good and brave girl and tells her she can’t bare the thought of her going out into the world alone all because of what Jack did. But Miss Lark says she must go, that she couldn’t bare seeing Jack again. Jane tells her Jack won’t be back anytime soon, and tries to talk her into staying. But her mind is made up and eventually Jane decides it’s probably best if she goes. But she makes her promise to come back if she ever decides she can comfortably be around Jack.

Jane tells her she can stay as long as she needs to, but Miss Lark says the sooner she is gone the sooner Jack will come back. Jane informs her that Jack won’t be back until Jane says he can come back. Miss Lark gets upset and tells Jane that the longer Jack is away the harder it will be on both he and Jane. Jane has forgiven her, and she must forgive Jack. Needless to say, Jane does not agree. Miss Lark tells her exactly what happened behind the hedge, and that Jack was just behaving like a man does when presented with a hedge and a pretty girl who obviously has a crush on him. He really wasn’t that forward, and wouldn’t have done anything if Miss Lark and refused him. But she didn’t. So he kissed her. She tells Jane ‘I was the temptress who put evil in his way. As far as he is capable that man cares for no one but you’.

( So. Between the two of them they don’t think much of Jack. He wouldn’t have had the gumption to do anything if it wasn’t for Miss Lark tempting him. And as far as he  - as a man – is capable of loving someone, he loves Jane. Good old thick headed Jack. But after all, he is only a man. 1890’s thinking there, but I have to say, there are times here in the 21st century, when I pretty much agree with them. )

Miss Lark tells Jane she mustn’t be so hard on Jack and makes her promise to write and tell him to come home. Jane says she will, but not until tomorrow, so she can think of what to say. The next day she sends the following off to Jack: 




The day after that Miss Lark leaves in the morning and Jane gets a telegram from Jack saying he will be home in the afternoon. Jane puts on one of her best dresses and plans to be the coldly civil wife, but once she sees Jack that goes out the window. He is obviously quite glad to see her as well. Much hugging and kissing ensues, and Jack calls Jane ‘Beloved’.

It appears all is well again at the Calthorpes. Except that we are only a little over half way through the book, so I assume it won’t stay that way for long.

And so it begins....

Today marks the start of the 2010 golf season. The first PGA tournament of the year, The SBS Championship, had it’s first round in Kapalua, Hawaii. The first LPGA tournament isn’t until next month.

I know it’s a little difficult to think about hitting a little white ball around on green grass when the ground is covered in white, and the high for the day didn’t get above 0. But this is a golf blog, so I would be remiss if I didn’t at least mention it.

It should be an interesting year. Golf’s biggest star is absent from the field and no one knows, probably least of all him, when he will return. Or what kind of reception he will receive when/if he does. The last time he was absent TV viewing fell by half. There are 10 tournament sponsorships up for renewal this year, and four have already said they are leaving. Fewer viewers and fewer sponsors means less prize money for everyone.

Over at the LPGA things aren’t any better. It starts its year in shaky financial shape, and with a new commissioner. There is a small ray of hope named Michelle Wie. Michelle won her first tournament last year. If she can finish in the top ten on a regular basis, and even win once or twice, interest in the Ladies tour would pick up and the LPGA could breathe a little easier. 

So we shall see what happens this year. Meanwhile we are putting on more sweaters and shoveling the snow in shifts to avoid frostbite. It’s a little hard to be too concerned about the fate of people who spend their time hitting a little white ball around in the sunshine for a living. And now if you’ll excuse me, there is a hot buttered rummmmm calling my name.

Naked Golf

One of the things The Golfer wanted for his birthday this year was a particular golf book ( go figure ) . The book is Golf, Naked by Greg Rowley. He didn’t really know what it was about, but with that title…well. The Offspring thought it was a funny title, so they bought it for him. To everyone’s disappointment there were no NSFW pictures inside. In spite of this The Golfer started reading the book, but put it down after about an hour and said it was well written but he didn’t need it. Although he did suggest I take a look at it. By Christmas I had finally read through enough books in my constantly growing pile to get down to Golf, Naked. As it turns out I don’t really need it either..now. But I sure could have used it all those years ago when I first picked up a club.

I have spent a fair amount of time on this blog explaining different parts of the game, and how to get started playing, and trying to convince any of you who don’t play golf that it is a great game and you should. And I am sure that any of you who don’t yet play the game have ‘Learn to play golf’ as one of your top New Years Resolutions. Right? So here is what you do as Step #1 – read Golf, Naked. I have added it to the side bar over there on the left under Recommended Reading. Just click on it and have Amazon ship it right to you.

Greg Rowley is a PGA Golf Pro. This doesn’t mean he plays on The Tour. It does mean he has worked at, taught at, and managed many a golf course. It takes a lot of work to a) become and b) actually work as, a Golf Pro. Mr. Rowley has seen a lot, and this book is his attempt to make your entry into the world of golf as easy as possible. And he does a very good job. There are 23 chapters, and only 2 of them deal with actually swinging the club. Mr. Rowley knows what anyone who starts the game quickly realizes - golf is more than just a game, it is a culture. And learning any new culture can be very intimidating. You can be a natural in lessons, totally confident in your swing and your ability, and still be paralyzed with fear when it comes to playing that first round. There are terms and jargon you’ve never heard, rules and etiquette, and the honor code, and a dress code. Not to mention navigating the bag drop, the pro shop and the starter. It’s enough to make you turn around and say ‘never mind, I’ll take up bowling’.

This is why you need Golf, Naked. Mr. Rowely covers all the ‘other stuff’. The culture stuff. He pretty much leaves your swing up to you and your teacher ( assuming you are taking lessons ), and concentrates on making sure you feel comfortable with everything else that will be going on. And he does it in a very friendly, easy to read manner. He covers everything from when you arrive in the parking lot, to protocol at the 19th hole. He even has a chapter on golf pranks.

I started playing before I started dating The Golfer. And by the time I was playing with him, I still wasn’t really all that comfortable on a golf course. No one ever really showed me around, I just picked things up by watching. I learned more about the game of golf in a couple of rounds with The Golfer ( who started playing when he was 8, so by the time we met he had the whole culture thing down pat ) than I had in several years of playing with friends. And how comfortable you are in the surroundings can make a huge difference in your game. And how much you enjoy yourself. You can be a good player, and not really enjoy playing because you don’t have the culture thing down so you never really relax. Or, you can be like me. I, as I have mentioned before, suck. But I know what to do at the course, and how to play a round and not make anyone else’s round miserable, and I have a great time.

So just think of Mr. Rowely as your own personal version of The Golfer, showing you the ins and outs of the culture of golf. Read Golf, Naked ( and then, of course, read all my posts on how to get started, and about the game ). And then you do your part and get off the couch and act on that resolution and LEARN TO PLAY GOLF.