Blame

It went like this – We played four-ball ambrose, Me my brother-in-law Matthew, and two lovely pros, Chris Gray and Tim Wood. As with many ambrose contests, at least two drives from each player must be counted over the course of the 18 holes. After many great contributions by myself (10metre putts, occasionally good irons etc) unfortunately, the pros confidently left it until the 18th for my second “drive that counts”. The short version is – I hit it in to a fence, and the second shot on this par four had to be taken barely 35metres forward of the tee. I would have felt fine about this (and blamed the pros, of course) but we finished fourth – and just one shot behind a tie for second that, at the very least, would have given us a nice fruit basket as a prize to go home with.

The worst part was that the pros were exceptionally nice fellows, meaning I can’t even slag them off to make myself feel better. I need a better plan.

I know………It was Matthew’s fault!

Golf

Golf is one of the strangest sports on the face of the Earth. I’m trying to imagine an intelligent person turning to a mate and saying “I’ve got an idea for a game – it goes like this”. If this was that person’s idea of relaxation, they were either already good at it before telling their friend, of they just didn’t have enough frustration in their lives.

I, myself, have never been good at golf. I first played at the Melton Valley course at the age of 14. I scored 156 for 18 holes. the second time I played was at the same course and I achieved the same score. Stuff golf.

Since then I have been roughly a once-a-year hacker. This makes it all the more funny that, in the last month, I have played golf twice at Brookwater Golf Club, a championship course designed by Greg Norman (who I have decided, after playing his course, is either a nasty man who enjoys the frustration of others or is really good at designing challenging golf courses). The first time was in the Brookwater Pro-am. I was grouped with pro Terry Price, who was greatly entertaining and gave some pointers for my game that would have helped anyone at my level. By the second time I played Brookwater, I was hitting the ball better than at any other time in my life, muttering “thanks Terry…..bloody Greg Norman” under my breath after every good shot (there really were quite a few…..really!).

The rollercoaster continues – I have just been asked to represent my company in the pro-am that accompanies the Queensland Open. I must be insane, but of course I said yes!

More details to follow after the game.

Coping with failure

“It wasn’t a bad idea…..it was a very good idea….in fact it was my idea.” – Tim Brooke-Taylor, The Goodies, Radio Goodies episode.

To any and all who posted dares for me to try, who came back time and time again to see how they were going – I am sorry. I just didn’t have it in me – busy life, and lack of willingness to get arrested. If you were upset, I apologise. If you can’t let go, get counselling. If that doesn’t help – tough.

My new plan is to blog whenever I feel like it, hopefully more often than every four months as it has been this time! If you see anything of interest, I am glad and please leave a note to let me know. If you see nothing of interest, it can’t be any worse than the last four months, can it?

To my friends and family (you’ll know who you are if you receive a leather-bound gold-embossed copy of all posts after I die) – stay tuned. You might just get an insight in to me that you never expected.

Let me know if you do, then reply to the post and explain it to me…….please!