Friday morning, as we left Hamilton Farm on our way to Maryland, a completely random glance up from my keyboard toward the side of the road revealed “USGA Golf Museum.” As always we were pressed for time (less for the commute to Maryland and more based on our need to get caught up on some tings that were falling behind; however, this seemed like the kind of detour you take on a 50 day golf odyssey, so we did.
The Museum was great, so much history; and I was particularly pleased with the attention to the women’s game that was given (including a nod to Babe Zaharias who I had recently identified on Twitter in #GolfChat as probably my most inspiration player – as the greatest female athlete ever).
There were two specific things that I saw or happened though that made me rethink the next segment of the trip a little bit. The first was this quote in the Ben Hogan display…
I’ve played a variety of sports throughout my life, baseball, football, running (cross country and marathons), and basketball (lots of basketball), but I’ve never been “an athlete.” Any and all successes I’ve had in any venue have come from seemingly endless hours of work mostly on basic repeatable mechanics. As such, this quote really resonated with me.
A few moments later I played the putting course (and got a hole in one and a USGA certificate, thank you). While I did get the aforementioned one putt (and almost a second one on the next hole); however, the results beyond that were a rather mixed bag.
I’ve picked up most of my putts within 2-3 feet on this trip simply as a matter of expediency. We have had six to nine hour drives each day to the next state and chopping 30 minutes off a round here and there really makes a difference. However as a puttered around the USGA putting course, it became clear to me my touch isn’t what it usually is around the cup. I’m still lagging just fine, but actually finishing… not so much.
So I’ve decided (and broke the news to Melanie this morning) that I need to spend some time on the putting green (and really the driving range) after a few of these upcoming rounds. That’s right, what this 50 rounds in 50 days trip needs is MORE GOLF! We have short commutes in the Northeast states, so this is the place to do it if we are going to. Melanie, as usual, is game (“yeah, seems legit”)… such a trooper.
Maybe I can get this draw figured out again while I’m at it. It was working great and at will in Texas, but I seem to have left it there…