Fresh air and exercise ...

I've just played my first game of golf for about a year. I'm not a great golfer, but I do own a set of clubs and enjoy a round of golf with friends. I maintain that I get much more value out of each round, because I get to hit the ball more times than most of my playing partners!

Today was a perfect golfing day. It started out misty, but the sun came up, burned away the mist and we enjoyed the morning in the warm sunlight.

I stood on the first tee with some fear and trepidation. Golf is a game that rewards practise and dedication and I had given it neither. I teed the ball up a little higher than usual, swung the club a little less enthusiastically than usual, and to my delight (and some surprise) managed to launch the ball towards the hole along the fairway. So far honour (and diginity) had been maintained!

The game progressed well, I continued to strike the ball with gusto and make great strides along the fairways. The odd edged ball caused some laughter, but all in all a very pleasing round.

It was when I looked at my score that my disappointment developed. How can I have hit the ball so well, and got to the greens so easily and yet come away with a lousy score?

As I'm sure anyone who plays golf will know, the devil is on the putting green! Poor putting was adding a stroke to, pretty much, every hole, and with 18 holes played, that's a lot of extra strokes!

So the moral to my story is don't get carried away and rush up to your objective, only to find you are ill prepared to deal with it when you get there. Make sure you plan the whole journey and know what to do when you arrive!

As a footnote, you might want to plan for things around the journey. It's now a few hours since I finished playing and I can feel my muscles tightening as if to say 'I told you to go to the Gym!'.

I'll sleep well tonight and, hopefully, will feel a bit looser tomorrow!!

Regards,

Nigel.