Lessons from Playing in a Golf Tournament

I played in a two-day tournament on Monday and Tuesday and it was an eye-opener for two reasons.

First, the Board at my club is currently holding a vote for a proposal to re-do the golf course. I can't tell you more, except new greens are included in it because the Board hasn't told us specifically what they plan to change. Members are told that the course is in poor condition and we need to take out up to a $4.5 million loan to fix it.

The first course I played on the greens and fairways were in worse condition than my course. Do you know the artist, Jackson Pollack? He was a famous painter who threw multiple colors on the canvas off of his brushes. So, his art work had lots of dots on it. Those were the greens we played on. Obviously the greens are badly diseased and were in much poorer condition than my course. The fairways were also not in better shape than my course. I'm sure the initiation fee for that course is multiple folds higher than at my course, so it was great to be able to compare what we have and what we're told we have as a course.

The second thing that I learned is to always check the ball before you hit it. My playing partner and I played with two other women from another team. On a long par-5, we each had to hit three blind shots. On the approach shot, the three other gals hit their balls and I hit the ball closest to the green. I assumed it was mine since the others hit a ball.

Unfortunately, I hit the ball of the other gal's ball. I discovered that we hit the wrong ball when I marked what I thought was my ball on the green. So, we marked our balls, and then went back to hit where each of our original balls were, and played both balls out. We both had a two-stroke penalty for hitting the wrong ball.

I learned my lesson! I have to check my ball as well, and not assume it's mine because it's the only one left.

My team didn't win anything, but it was fun and a definite learning experience!