Tiger Woods Against Me In Golf

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to play golf against Tiger Woods? Do you think you could handle the pressure of playing golf with the best player in the world?

I know most golfers have probably thought about this. I know I have. I think about how nervous I would be on the first tee... no make that first 3 or 4 holes. Since Tiger is a very personable guy, I think he would make me feel at east pretty quickly. The most important thing I would want is to be able to show off my best golf to Tiger and hope that he would occasionally say "nice shot!" I think about him giving me some pointers during our round of golf and seeing some immediate results in my golf swing.

Tiger would probably want to make the round interesting by making a little wager in a skins or other type of game. I would definitely want as many strokes as I could get from him and probably add on another 5 just for the Tiger factor.

Now I know most of us have thought about what it would be like to out drive Tiger Woods, but that's about as likely as me winning the Masters Golf Tournament. But think about what kind of golf story that would be... to tell every golfer you know that you out drove Tiger Woods. To me that would be the highlight of my golfing career.

Have you every thought about golfing against Tiger Woods? If so what was your round of golf like?

Tags: golf, golf story

Golf And The Single Dad

I know there are a lot of us full-time single dads that love to play golf, but have difficulty finding time to just hit golf balls at the range let alone playing a round of golf. Trying to create a balance between your kids time and your own time to do things like play golf.

I spend the better part of my day at work and occasionally I'll sneak away to hit golf balls at the range during lunch, but those days are rare. Getting away after work for 9-holes is difficult too because of soccer practice. Trying to play a round of golf on the weekend is pretty much out of the question because of my son's soccer games.

I remember the days when I was single and answered to just myself and I played a round of golf and both Saturday and Sunday... and went to the golf range 3 nights a week with an occasional 9-holes after work. Those days seem like a lifetime ago.

I tried early on with my son to get him interested in playing golf when he was about 5 to see if we could play together when he got older. I would take him to the golf range and he would get tired after about 20 minutes of hitting and wanted to go home. Well now he's 13 and loves to play golf. Its summer and he plays golf with his friends since he has no school so I feel like I can't win. I did manage to get a tee time for the two of us to play golf on Father's Day and that was great.

I now have one of those golf nets set up in the backyard so we can practice hitting golf balls together any time we want. Golf is a great game because I know me and my son will be able to play together for many years to come. On the golf course with my son is special now when he's 13 and it will be just as special when he's 40.

Golf is one of those games, sports, hobbies that can be enjoyed for a lifetime. I know I've been fortunate to be playing golf for 30+ years since I was 11... and I have at least another 30 years of golf left in me.

As a single dad golfer how do you make time for your golf game?

Tags: golf, golf tips, golf story

53 Degree Sand Wedge Over The House

Now I'm sure you're wondering what in the heck do I mean by saying hitting a sand wedge over the house. Is it a new analogy for hitting a wedge shot? Nope it means exactly what it says... hitting a sand wedge over a house. More specifically an old 53 degree Ram sand wedge.

When I was around 13 years old me and my brother used to do all kinds of crazy stuff. You know how kids at this age can be (see previous post about a Golf Ball Rubber Band). Well one day we were bored and my brother dared me to hit a golf ball from our front lawn over the house across the street. Behind this house was our grade school field so if I cleared the house then I'd be safe from hitting and breaking anything. I figured it would take a 100-yard sand wedge to safely clear everything.

Well of course I took the dare. When you get dared by your younger brother you pretty much have to do it because he looks up to you and you want to show him how tough & brave you are. Now it makes sense why my 13-year old son does the things he does :-)

I went into the garage and took out a couple golf balls from our shag ball bucket (see previous post Golf Balls... The Other White Gold). I dropped them down on the lawn and took a few practice swings with the Ram sand wedge to warm up. I was pretty nervous because the house across the street had a huge glass window in front. I was thinking that if I catch this sand wedge a little thin then I'll be doing some big time in my room... probably for the rest of the summer... and I'm sure my dad wouldn't of hesitated to bring out the belt either.

Anyway, I set up behind the ball and started to get even more nervous. I had to hide my nervousness from my brother because I couldn't let him see his big brother getting scared. If you think hitting over a lake on your approach shot is nervous time... try this out on your nerves. I took sand wedge back and came back through hitting the ball. It was a pure shot and it cleared the house with no problem. I know you were hoping to hear that I drilled it right into the window. It probably would have made for a better ending, but not this time.

We both started to laugh and yell... and my brother wanted me to hit another one. I told him no and made up some lame excuse why I couldn't. Have you ever hit a sand wedge or other golf club over a house? Have done some other crazy things with a golf ball and golf club?

Tag(s): golf, golf stories, golf clubs

When A Birdie Is An Eagle

About 10 years ago I was playing in a 2-man scramble tournament with my brother in Palm Springs, CA. I believe it was the first annual Knoll Ball Charity Golf Tournament for the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County, Southern California.

It was a shot-gun start and me and my brother started off on the 10th hole. We made par on the first hole and the second hole was a 390 yard par 4 . I looked at the card and then I looked down the fairway and it looked longer than what the card said it was. I got up there and ripped a drive down the middle.

We decided to use my ball and when we got up to it I still had about 220 yards to the green. I couldn't believe I was still this far out because I typically hit my drives between 270 and 300 yards. I thought the air in the desert was light and supposed to make the ball travel farther.

Anyway I pulled out my 5-wood and hit it perfect. It had the flag stick covered and I knew it was going to be close for a birdie. Sure enough when we got up there I was about 10 feet away. I let my brother go first to get the line of the putt. I stepped up and drained it.

We walked back to the cart and I started to write down the score and realized that we had been writing down the scores on the front nine. I turned the card over and looked at the 11th hole and it was a 510 yard par 5... and I realized that I just eagled that last hole with all 3 of my own shots.

We went on to win the tournament that day and came away with some nice golf equipment for the win.

Has this ever happened to you?
Tag: golf, golf story

My Double Eagle (Or Albatross)

Have you every had a double eagle while playing golf? Have you ever witnessed a double eagle?

About 5 years ago I was playing in a 2-man scramble tournament with a buddy of mine at Los Coyotes Country Club in Buena Park, CA. We came up to a short par 4 of about 330-yards with an elevated tee. I let my partner hit first to see if I should give it a go and sure enough he hit it in the middle of the fairway.

The wind was playing slightly from right to left and I play a natural draw so I had start the ball about 10-yards right of the green. I took back the club nice and slow and put a perfect swing on the ball. It took off exactly where I was aiming and with the wind and slight draw I had on the ball it started taking shape to be right on target. It seemed like the ball hung up in the air forever. As it was getting closer to the green I could tell it was going to be close... really close.

It landed and practically stuck right in the green and started rolling towards the hole. I felt like my heart was going to pound out my chest. The ball reached the hole and then it lipped out a few inches away. I couldn't believe it lipped out... I thought I had pulled off the impossible. I had mixed emotions about the shot because on one hand I was millimeters from pulling off the ultimate shot in golf and on the other hand I had a tap in eagle putt.

We didn't win the tournament that day, but that one shot I still vividly remember as if it happened yesterday... and the only thing I remember from that day.

I know the post says "My Double Eagle", but this is as close to one that I've come so I consider it "My Double Eagle".

Do you have any double eagle or almost double eagle stories to share?
Tags: golf, golf story

500 Golf Balls In The School Pool

I know you're probably wondering what in the heck does 500 golf balls have to do with a pool. Well a year after I graduated from Edison High School in Huntington Beach, CA my brother was graduating. As a senior everyone tries to think of something unique to do as a senior prank.

If you've been following my posts you know that me and my brother used to rake golf balls from the lakes at golf courses at night. We did this to make a little extra money by selling them back to the golfers. Over the years we had accumulated quite a few cut-up golf balls that were only good for shag balls. We probably had close to 750 of these shag golf balls in our garage.

Well my brother decided as a senior prank that the night before graduation he would take about 500 of these shag balls and dump them into the 12-foot deep diving pool. Boy did the faculty personnel get upset with that prank. I remember they threatened to not graduate the person or persons responsible for this unless they came forward. They basically pulled out the bluff card because there was no way they were going to find out because my brother pulled this off by himself so no one knew about it... not even me until a few days later when he told me.

I can't imagine how much of a pain that was to clean all of those golf balls from the pool. I wonder if it clogged any of the filters. Anyway, I thought it was pretty damn funny because that following weekend I went back to the high school to take a peek at the pool... and the golf balls were all over the bottom. There even some of those old-school orange hi-visibility golf balls that stuck out like a sore thumb.

Do you have any unique high school pranks to share?
Tag: golf, golf story

John Daly Looses $60 Million In Gambling

John Daly's book titled "John Daly: My Life In and Out of the Rough" was released yesterday (5/8). Daly states in his book that he has lost between $50 million to $60 million in gambling since 1992... and over that time he's been married 4 times with alcohol problems. I've always liked John Daly because he's always represented the underdog. It's amazing that he's lost that much money because I didn't think he made that much during his carrier, but I'm sure that includes endorsements.

Here's an article from The Charlotte Observer by Ron Green Jr.

John Daly said his conversation Monday with PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem about the gambling revelations in his new book was 'positive' and the commissioner suggested the two-time major champion seek counseling.

On the practice range Tuesday at the Quail Hollow Club, Daly said he doesn't plan to undergo counseling for a gambling habit that, in his estimation, has cost him between $50 million and $60 million since 1992. Daly said he estimates he won $20 million to $25 million gambling.

The enormous gambling losses are detailed in 'John Daly: My Life In and Out of the Rough,' to be released Monday by Harper Collins. They are just part of the story Daly tells about his often-wild life.

'It's the truth about my life,' Daly said. 'I'm not going to sidestep anything.'

Since Daly shocked golf by winning the 1991 PGA Championship as a virtual unknown, his life has been a turbulent tale.

Daly has been married four times and battled alcohol problems along with his gambling troubles, all of which he details.

Daly said the book was edited eight times, usually toning down the coarse language, so he could give the publisher the product it wanted without doing too much damage to the PGA Tour.
'There's a lot of cussing in the book but we toned it down as much as we could,' Daly said.

Finchem told Daly it made him look unprofessional.

'My life is unbecoming of a professional,' Daly said. But 'it's hard to say it in anybody else's words.'

Daly said he decided several years ago he wanted to write the book before his 40th birthday. He turned 40 Friday.

'It brings back memories of the stupid stuff I've done and of the good stuff I've done,' said Daly.

'It's honest. It was fun to do. A lot of stuff in there was tough to talk about but it felt good to do it.'

Near the end of the book, Daly tells of losing to Tiger Woods in a sudden-death playoff last fall in a World Golf Championship event in San Francisco.

After winning $750,000, Daly went to Las Vegas where he lost $1.65 million in less than six hours, playing a $5,000 slot machine.

'Twenty pulls is a hundred grand,' Daly said. 'The next thing you know, 600 grand is gone.'

Daly said he had reduced his gambling in recent years before his night in Las Vegas last fall. It has not happened since, Daly said.

'It's not like I'm dying to gamble,' said Daly, who admits he hasn't given up gambling completely.

In talking with Finchem, Daly said the commissioner expressed his concern about the gambling.

Daly said he asked Finchem how he felt about the book and the commissioner said, 'I'm borderline about it.'

On Sunday, Daly will be featured on CBS magazine show '60 Minutes,' where he'll talk about the story he tells in his book.

'Will I lose some fans?' Daly said. 'I hope not. I might gain some.'
Tag: golf, golf news

Golfer Killed In Golf Cart (Public Service Announcement)

This is somewhat of a Public Service Announcement so it's very much worth reading if you're a golfer.

Several years ago a golf buddy of mine told me of a friend of his that was killed while riding in his golf cart. It was an extremely freakish accident, but as you'll read on it could happen to anyone riding a golf cart.

If you've driven a golf cart then you're aware of the roped off sections of the golf course to keep golf carts out. You typically see these areas along side the cart paths to keep the carts from driving onto the fairway. You also so these ropes about 30 yards in front of the green to keep the golf carts out. You have all different kinds of objects supporting the rope to stay up like PVC piping, metal stakes, etc...

Now if you're like me there have been times where I needed to cross over the roped off area with my golf cart. Sometimes I'll get out and lay down one of the supports for the rope so that the cart can ride over it. There have been other times, while in the cart, I've taken a club and held down the rope while driving over it. In both of these scenarios it can be extremely dangerous.

My friend told me that his buddy drove over the rope of a roped off area on the golf course, but as he drove over it the rope got pulled up into the wheel-well and around the axle. He didn't know this and kept riding on while the rope got tighter and tighter. When all of the sudden one of the metal stakes holding the rope pulled out of the ground... and like a sling-shot the stake came flying at the golf cart and struck him in the head killing him instantly.

While this was the first I heard of someone getting killed like this, I see guys in golf carts do this all the time and I'm surprised there aren't more injuries or deaths because of it. I have noticed that more and more golf courses have been using PVC piping for the roped off areas, which will definitely help reduce the potential for injury or death.

So the next time you're riding a golf cart be extremely careful and aware of these ropes getting caught in the wheel-well.

Do you have any freakish golf stories to share?

Tags: golf, golf news, golf story

Duck, A Whirling 5-Iron

Have you ever been on the golf course or range and have the head of your golf club fly off?

It has happened to me several times and it's a very strange feeling. I remember the first time was when I was playing a match in high school. I was playing on the par 3 eight hole at Seacliff Country Club in Huntington Beach, CA. I hit a pure 5-iron, but on the follow-through the head flew off and started to chase the ball. The head went about 50-yards, but the ball landed on the green about 20 feet from the pin.

Everyone in the group for a moment was startled because as the head was flying it was making a weird whirling sound. I think at first they didn't know what it was, but as soon as they did they started to laugh. I had to laugh with them because there was really nothing I could do about it.

I ended up birding the hole and winning my match that day.

Has this every happened to you?
Tags: golf, golf story

A 100-Mile Long Golf Ball Rubber Band

When I was about 11 years old me and my brother were always into something. One day we decided we wanted to know what the inside of a golf ball looked like. We had heard all of these stories about the core of a golf ball containing some toxic liquid and that made us even more curious.

So we took a Titleist golf ball and put it into a vice and started to saw the cover with a hacksaw. We rotated the golf ball as we cut the cover, but we cut too deep and the ball started to make this crackling sound and it looked like stuff was trying to crawl out of it. We both jumped back and waited for it to stop and it did after about 10 seconds. We got closer and noticed it looked like a million rubber bands were inside the golf ball. We realized that the golf ball was wound with one gigantic rubber band.

We got another Titleist golf ball out and this time we were very careful not to cut through the rubber band. We peeled off the white cover and saw the wound golf ball. We started to unravel the rubber band from the golf ball and it seemed like it went for ever. As a kid if you asked me how long it was I probably would have said something like a 100 miles.

Now you can only imagine what a 10 and 11 year old boy could do with something like this. One particular stunt we pulled was to take the rubber band and wrap it around the light post from one side of the street to the other. We had created a rubber band barricade that was invisible because we did this at night. We hid behind the pushes and waited for a car to go through it.

And this is when things got really interesting. A guy in a Pontiac Trans-Am was coming and he went through it and immediately stopped after it tore off his car antenna. We all started to run and he put his car in reverse... and the chase was on. We ran down this small alleyway that lead to the school. He recklessly chased us down the alleyway, but it was a dead end for him because it was fenced off and only room for pedestrians to go through.

We all laughed and stayed at the school for a little bit until we thought things were safe... and that's when we saw a car at the far end of the school driving recklessly in the parking lot. The car then made it's way on to the blacktop and then on to the field. It was the guy in the Trans-Am and he was coming for us on the school campus. We weren't laughing anymore and started to run back to where we came from. We all hid in the bushes and waited there until the coast was clear. He did come back through the street looking for us, but luckily he didn't find us.

Do you have any interesting golf ball stories to share?

Tags: golf, golf story

Who Said Lake Golf Balls Are No Good?

If you've been following my posts you know that me and my brother used to sell golf balls on the weekends to golfers. More specifically we sold them along side the 3rd hole at Meadowlark Golf Course in Huntington Beach, CA. We would have them out on display in egg cartons behind the fence right next to the tee box. We figured this was a strategic selling place because the golfers couldn't miss seeing the golf balls as they would walk up to the tee box.

One day a golfer walked up and immediately said our golf balls were no good because they were waterlogged from being in the lakes. We both said that a lot of these golf balls have only been in the water for a few hours and there's no way they were waterlogged. The golfer was convinced that these experienced golf balls were waterlogged and not worth the 50 cents a piece we were charging. Now that I think back we should have been charging more than 50 cents because a lot of them looked like they came from a brand new sleeve of golf balls.

Anyway, my brother was getting a little pissed at this guy and said "Let my brother hit one of these golf balls with your driver and see how water logged they are." The golfer thought about it for a second and then said ok.

I climbed over the fence to hit the golf ball. I was pretty nervous as he handed me his driver. You have to remember that I was only about 13 years old the time. I teed up the ball and ripped one down the middle and the ball rolled up about 10 yards short of the green. I could tell everyone in the group was stunned at how well I hit the ball. It was all it took because they all bought golf balls from us.

From that day forward that same Saturday group were regular customers of ours. It didn't take long for word to spread about our golf balls and business was good for the Smith brothers.
Tags: golf, golf story, golf equipment

He Died While Playing Golf

Fred got home from his Sunday round of golf later than normal and very tired. "Bad day at the course?" his wife asked.

"Everything was going fine," he said. "Then Harry had a heart attack and died on the 10th tee."

"Oh, that's awful!"

"You're not kidding. For the whole back nine it was hit the ball, drag Harry, hit the ball, drag Harry."

I needed a laugh today :)

Got any good golf jokes to share?

Golf's Dreaded Worm-burner

I know most of you know what I'm talking about when I say "Golf's Dreaded Worm-burner." It's that golf shot where you just about get all of it, but it barely gets off the ground flying at a high rate of speed.

I've hit my share of worm-burners playing golf, but one time I won't forget. I was teeing off on the par 5 4th hole at Meadowlark Golf Course in Huntington Beach. I hit a solid worm-burner with my driver and about 50 yards out I hit a mallard duck right in the head. It instantly dropped it to the ground. When we got up to the mallard it was barely alive. At the time I was only 13 years old and it made me really sad that I hit it. A friend that I was with hunted ducks with his dad and said we had to kill it to put it out of its misery.

There was no way I was going to do that so my friend took his 5-iron and with one hit it was dead. It was the humane thing to do, but it was still a very sad day. I continued my golf round, but I couldn't stop thinking about it.

To this day when I'm playing golf I make sure the first 100 yards off the tee is clear so that I don't put myself in that situation again because I don't want my day of golf to be ruined by something like this.

Has this every happened to you while playing golf?

Fore On The Tee With A 3" Bump

About 10 years ago I was playing a round of golf with some friends from work at Skylinks Golf Course in Long Beach, CA. The friends I was playing with weren't the greatest golfers, but they were fun to play 9-holes with after work.

We were on a par 3 and everyone hit except for Dave. Dave got up to the tee and pulled the heck out of his tee shot. About 100-yards away and to the left were a line of Cypress trees protecting the tee box on the next hole. We all yelled "Fore" as we saw the ball heading towards the Cypress protected tee box. The ball cleared the Cypress trees and we heard the ball hit a tree pretty solidly... you know that solid deep sounding noise you hear when hitting a tree.

We picked up our clubs and started walking up to the green and that's when two guys came out from behind the Cypress trees with one of them holding his forehead. The one guy yelled over to us saying that we hit his friend in the head. We all walked over their and the guy that got hit lifted his hand from his forehead and my mouth dropped open.

He had a bump on his forehead that looked to be bigger than a golf ball. The bump was so big that it didn't even look real. I was a little scared because I didn't know what was going to happen to this guy. I'm sure he had some kind of concussion because that was one wicked bump on his head.

I realized that from a 100-yards away to hear the ball hit what we all thought was a tree, but in reality it hit some guy in the head was pretty surreal. If you were there and heard the ball make the noise that it did... and know that it was someone's head. Damn!!! That's just not something you want to hear or remember.

Every since then when I hear a golf ball strike a tree with that solid sound it brings me right back to that day at Skylinks Golf Course... and the visual of that 3 inch bump rising from his head.

Have you ever experienced something like that?

Teen Golfer Dowd Makes Ailing Mom Proud

REUNION, Fla. (AP) - Dakoda Dowd had two sets of three-putts, made three bogeys, finished nine shots off the lead and the 13-year-old doesn't expect to make the cut.

And in her mother's eyes, the day was perfect.

"Fantabulous," Kelly Jo Dowd said. "I have to make up my own vocabulary to describe it."

With one swing of the driver at 9:32 a.m. Thursday, and the 73 shots that followed over the next five hours, Dakoda made Kelly Jo's dream came true. The teen made her LPGA debut at the Ginn Clubs & Resorts Open, which extended the terminally ill mother a chance to see her daughter compete against the game's best.

Dakoda finished the day with a 2-over 74, nine shots behind Cristie Kerr. Yet for the first time in Dakoda's golf life, winning wasn't the goal, nor the plan.

"I didn't have any expectations for this tournament, except to go out there and have a great time and look over and see my mom," said Dakoda, a winner of more than 100 tournaments and ranked among the nation's best 13-year-old players. "It did feel good shooting 74. I'm just really happy to be here."

So is her mom, on a number of different levels.

Kelly Jo Dowd is fighting cancer for the second time in four years. She was given a clean bill of health after doctors believed she beat breast cancer, but she learned last year that she has terminal bone and liver cancer — and, conceivably, only months to live.

Click here for the rest of the story

Golfing In A Hurricane

About 15 years ago I was playing golf in the Santa Barbara City Championship in Santa Barbara, CA. It was 2 rounds of golf and I was in the 0-5 handicap flight. I woke up Saturday morning to 30 to 50 mile winds and new it wasn't going to be pretty out on the golf course.

Needless to say the golf was pretty crazy that day and there were some pretty big numbers being posted including me. I took a 9 on a 135 yard par 3 with 2 OB's. This hole was almost impossible because the wind was blowing 30 to 50 mph from right to left with OB on the left. On my 3rd shot from the tee I was hitting a choked down 5-iron and aiming 30-yards to the right.

On the next hole, a 420 yard par 4, the impossible happened. The wind was somewhat helping and quartering from left to right. I was hitting my approach shot from 150 yards with a sandwedge. I aimed about 20 yards left of the green and I watched the wind pull it back towards the hole. It landed on the green about 30 feet away from the hole, but the wind continued to push it towards the hole. I continued to watch the golf ball and it disappeared in to the hole. I went from a 9 on the previous hole to an eagle 2 on the next. Talk about a roller coaster round of golf.

Putting on the green was a crap shoot. Not only did you have to play the break of the slope, but you also had to play the break of the wind. I had a putt on one hole where on a normal day would have broke 8 inches from right to left, but with the wind it broke about 12 inches from left to right... it actually broke up hill. I even made a 50 foot putt that must have broke 3 times because of the swirling wind. I must have had 4 or 5 3-putts that day and I think I had a 4-putt. One of the 3-putts was from 5 feet because even the 3 to 5 foot putts were an adventure.

I ended up shooting 84 the first day and 82 the second day. I learned that I suck at playing golf in the wind mainly because I hit my irons very high. While I wasn't actually golfing in a hurricane it was the closest I've come to playing in one.

Have you played golf in conditions like that or worse? If so I'd like to here your story.

Golf Cheater Sent Off To Siberia

Now this post might strike a nerve with some of you because I know it does with me. There's nothing worse in golf than someone who cheats on their golf score.

When I was around 13 years old I used to occasionally play golf with my friend and neighbor Todd. He liked to play golf, but rarely practiced to improve his game. I would practice and I was getting better, but I could tell Todd didn't like that I was getting better. I think more importantly he didn't like that I was getting better than him.

Well we were playing one afternoon at Meadowlark Golf Course in Huntington Beach, CA and we were walking off the first green on to the second tee. I told Todd I had a par and he said he had par too. Now I know for a fact that he had a 6, but I didn't say anything. We played the 2nd hole a par 3 and I bogeyed it and Todd said he bogeyed too, but he actually had a double-bogey.

I wouldn't have been as made as I was getting if it weren't for the fact that we placed a $2 bet on the best 9-hole score. Here I am busting my butt to beat him and he continues to give himself scores that he doesn't deserve. I realized that no matter what I scored Todd was always going to score the same or better than me.

So that's when I took out my 7-iron and started to beat the shit out of him until he said he wouldn't cheat anymore. Well that's not exactly what I did, but it was what I was thinking. I was so frustrated that Todd was cheating and he didn't think twice about it.

What should we do with these cheaters? How about we treat them as outcasts and send them off to Siberia?

Do you play golf with someone who's like this? What do you do when they start cheating on their golf score?

Have You Ever Been Drilled By A Golf Ball?

It was a nice sunny day and I was a freshmen playing in a high school golf match against Long Beach Milikan High School. We were playing at Recreation Park Golf Course in Long Beach. After two holes I was even par and we teed off on hole 3, which is a long par 4 with a slightly elevated tee. In my group I was paired up with Lisa who played for our high school, Edison High School, and two other guys from Milikan.

We walked up the fairway and went to our own golf balls. Lisa's golf ball was about 30 yards behind everyone elses ball. I walked down the left side of the fairway in the rough to get even with my ball in the fairway and then wait for Lisa to hit.

Now the group ahead of us was up on the green still, but Lisa was too far out to reach them so we told her to go ahead. I turned my head to look at the green when Lisa hit her 3-wood. Within that split second I heard what sounded like one of those land rockets you can buy at the hobby store. You know the ones that make that loud SSSSSHH sound and go straight up a zillion miles in the air. Well I turned around and I see Lisa's golf ball zeroing in on me. It was one of those low screamers about 3 or 4 feet off the ground. It happened so fast that I didn't have time to react and it hit me square in the back.

I still remember that golf ball coming at me as if it happened yesterday. Now that I think back it was a lot like the slow motion bullet time in The Matrix where Neo is dodging the bullets, but I wasn't able to dodge this bullet. The golf ball hit me so hard that one of the guys in our group heard the thud clear across the fairway. With a golf ball traveling around 110 mph and being as hard as it is I was lucky it didn't hit me in the head.

I finally caught my breath and stood up. Everyone was asking if I was alright and I said yes, but I don't think I was. I think I was a little bit in shock. I lifted up my shirt and asked them to tell me if there was a mark and they said there was a bruise with white spots inside, which we all realized were the dimple marks from the golf ball. I continued playing, which was a big mistake because I wasn't the same after getting drilled with the golf ball. After the 5th hole it started to really hurt, but I stuck it out. I finished the 9-hole match with a 49, which was my worst score ever for nine holes.

The moral of the story. Don't walk ahead of the golfers in your group unless you feel the desire to be drilled by a 110 mph golf ball.

Here's A 7-Iron Right Back At Ya!

I'm sure a lot of you golfers out there will relate to this story. I was playing a round of golf with some buddies of mine at David L. Baker in Fountain Valley, CA. It's an executive golf course that you go out with a 12-pack among friends and have a good time. It was on the weekend and play was slow so we had plenty of time to put down a few beers. By the 5th hole we all were having a great time.

This is about the time things started to turn ugly. We had a group of golfers behind us that I could tell didn't play golf very much. On the 6th hole, which is a short par 4, we got hit into by someone in the group behind us. We all would have been ok with it if they had yelled FOUR, but since they didn't we all got a little pissed off.

The next hole was a par 3 and it was a little backed up so we we had to wait before we could tee off. The group behind us caught up with us on the tee, but made no apologies for hitting into us. I spoke up and told them they need to wait until we're out of reach before hitting up and to yell FOUR next time. They didn't seem to receptive to my words of advice.

Well that wasn't going to affect how much fun we were having that day. In fact me and my buddy removed the straps holding the golf clubs in my brothers golf cart. When we finished teeing off my brother gunned his golf cart and both sets of golf clubs flew off the back of the cart. His reaction to his golf clubs falling off was a little slow because he drug both sets for a good 20 feet. That was one of the funniest things I'd ever seen on a golf course. I was laughing so hard that couldn't breath. I'm sure the 3 beers I had by then made it funnier than it was, but it was damn funny at the time.

We finished playing 7 & 8, which were both par 3's, and we came to 9, which was a par 4. Again we had to wait for the group of golfers in front of us before we could tee off. It's was my turn to tee off. I get settled behind the ball and I'm about to tee off when all of the sudden I hear the sound of water pouring. I look back at my golfing buddies to figure out where that sound was coming from and I almost fell to the ground laughing. One of my buddies was sitting on the edge of the golf bench with his dick hanging out of the bottom of his shorts and taking a piss. He was just sitting there as if it was no big deal. I thought the golf bags flying off the golf cart was funny, but this topped it off.

By the time we all stopped laughing the guys behind us reached the tee. Our grouped finished teeing off and we went up to my buddies golf ball, which was about 150 yards off the tee in the rough. He spent a few minutes looking for it when all the sudden a golf ball lands 10 feet from hitting me. The guys behind us hit into us again and I couldn't believe it. I said fuck it and grabbed my 7-iron and walked over to the ball. I lined myself up at the 9th tee box and fired away. I hit it pure and it was heading towards the guys on the 9th tee box like a heat sinking missile zeroing in on an Iraqi tank. The guys on the tee box looked like they were running for their lives.

My buddies were laughing so hard that they fell to the ground laughing. We finished the hole and went on to the 10th. We were waiting for the golfers behind us to come up, but they never did. I guess they didn't want a piece of me.

The moral of the story... don't hit into the golfers in front of you unless you want to be drilled by your on golf ball in return.

A Day Of Trash Digging Started Me In Golf

I actually started playing golf by accident. One morning when I was about 10 years old me and my brother headed out to do some trash digging in the neighborhood to see if we could find any treasures to take home. Boy did our parents love that. We would do this every Saturday morning because that's when the trash man came to pick up the neighborhood trash. During our hunt I found an old Spalding 6-iron golf club with a leather wrapped grip. The golf grip was old, hard, and very slick, but I didn't know any better. I was so excited about finding it that you would have thought I won the US Open or something.

When we got back home we went into the garage and got a handful of golf balls. We had a ton of golf balls because that's how me and my brother made a few bucks. We would find the golf balls that were hit over the golf course fence and we'd sell them back to the golfers at Meadowlark Golf Course in Huntington Beach, CA, which was only a block away from our house. That's another golf ball story for another day and actually very interesting and funny. Anyway we got to the neighborhood school and just started hitting golf balls all over the place. Now I know where I got the idea of hitting golf balls at the school. I actually picked it up pretty quickly, but my brother was the shank-master. Several times he hit it into the backyard of some of the houses surrounding the school. Luckily he didn't break any windows, but I'm sure the neighbor loved chewing up a golf ball in his lawnmower the next time he mowed the lawn. It was evident that golf wasn't for my brother and to this day it still isn't :-)

So as you can see my start in golf wasn't your typical start like most kids. My dad didn't buy me my own set of golf clubs and drag me out the the golf range for hours on end, but I think if he would have I probably would have liked it. Ever since then I've been playing golf, which is now going on 33 years. I played some junior golf, played high school golf at Edison High School, and played many years at Meadowlark Golf Course as a men's club member.

In college I was going to go out for the golf team at California State University of Fullerton, but after talking with the coach and some of the players I realized that I wouldn't be able to get my computer science degree with all the travel required. So I would say my first big life decision was to pursue a career in computer science instead of one on the PGA Tour. Eventhough the odds of making it on the tour were slim, I still think now and then where I'd be if I took the path of a career in golf.

Anyone out there have an interesting story to tell about how they got started in golf?