ONE SHOT 267 - 09-24-09

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This blog is written by Rick Larrison, middle brother to Roger as a part of a challenge assignment.


This summer I have been play golf in the Conseco golf league on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons after work. Our usual tee-time has been 5:00 PM.  The league ended in early August. Several of us have chosen to continue to play on Thursday afternoon as long as the climate conditions permit. Today should have been one of those golf days, but it rained all day and they closed the course at 1:00 PM. My BLOG today was going to be about golf anyway. So, I shall continue with what I had in mind.

I have been blessed this summer to play a few rounds with Rick Kassel, a man I have know since I was 8 or 9 and he was a teenager. He and his brother Paul used to ride their bikes to our house and Roger and I would join them and we would then ride to Rea Park in Terre Haute to play. Sometimes we would get to the golf course so early that the sprinklers were still watering the greens. Reminiscing with Rick was a real thrill. Rick has a saying “I have three things to say about golf; “I love this game, I hate this game and this game is too easy”.  Rick is a fairly good golfer and he loves to talk. He provides suggestions to his golf mates, usually if they are struggling with some aspect of the game. I hope to get at least one more round in with him before the golf season is over. (I live in Indiana, so unless you like to play in the snow or frigid temperatures, we have a season.)

Most golfers are what are termed “Duffers”. This is a term that represents how well we play. You hit a decent shot followed by a duffed shot. I have been a “Duffer” from the first time I ever swung a club. You will find no “Tigers” in this group. It is just plain ugly golf. So, why do we keep returning to the golf course and paying to play this frustrating game? Some golfers get so frustrated that they give up the game completely. Mark Twain said, "Golf is a good walk spoiled." I think that in every round of golf there is at least one shot that makes you want to come back. This shot is one of those rare occasions when the planets are aligned, your feet are aligned, your swing is perfect, and you hit the ball on the sweet spot of the club propelling the tiny white ball skyward. It flies straight and land exactly where you wanted it to land and it rolls to within inches of the cup. Hopefully this is your second shot, but more than likely it is your third or fourth shot. That really does not matter. The feel of that shot and the result are just enough thrill to make you want to come back. You want to come back and hope that every shot is like that one shot – which, we all know, is never the case.