Personal Note: Played 7-Hour Round + 5 Holes

Am I the only person who has a let down after the Masters or any other Major? I just couldn't get into the last two tournaments. I was interested to see Tiger racing stock cars and bungee jumping in New Zealand while attending Stevie's wedding. And, I was saddened to hear that Tiger was taking time off until the U.S. Open, only because I'm assuming time is short for his father, who is battling terminal cancer.

Speaking of fathers, on Sunday, I played a seven-hour round during the first round of a golf tournament with my father. It took five hours to play the first 18 holes! It was so slow because it was cart path only. I know to bring extra clubs, but in wet and heavy grass conditions, I would sometimes have to get more clubs to hit the next shot. I'm in Northern California where we've had more rain than ever and the grass was 5-7" long in the rough and 3-4" in the fairways. So, we spent more time looking for each other's balls.

In this tournament, we had three matches against our opponents. Two individual matches based on handicaps and then one team match based on best ball. After 18, we split the individual matches and tied on the team match. We had sudden death and finally my Dad and I won on the fifth hole.

Seven hours later, my father and I walked into the Clubhouse where he and my mother were hosting my niece's sweet 16 birthday dinner party. By the time we arrived, guests had finished eating and applauded when we walked in because they had heard we had won.

Talk about an exhausting, stress-filled lengthy battle. Imagine if we had lost and then still had to go to dinner...it would have been even more embarrassing given how late we were to our own party.

Here are a couple of reminders for speeding up play. Instead of taking the time to put your clubs back into your bag, hold them, and walk or ride to the next tee to put your clubs away.

Also, don't stop at the putting green to keep score. Walk ahead to the next tee and get everyone's score then, so the players behind can hit their approach shot.

Finally, especially in the conditions that we were playing in, try to help your playing partners and opponents spot their balls and help them look for them.

I can't wait for the sun to shine in Northern California!