“We have a great bunch of outside shooters. Unfortunately, all our games are played indoors.” —Weldon Drew

Friday, July 10, 2009

I'm no slouch myself

Judge Smails: Ty, what did you shoot today?
Ty Webb: Oh, Judge, I don't keep score.
Judge Smails: Then how do you measure yourself with other golfers?
Ty Webb: By height.

I've never bought a golf ball in my life.

Oh, I play. I'm what you might call a social golfer—mostly wedding parties and client outings and vendor spiffs. When I was younger I played reguarly. I suppose my friend Bob staked me with a few balls my first time out, and like Warrent Buffet's first dividend check I've parlayed it into a 1,000% return. Over time it's become a point of pride, a conversation topic on the course.

One time, I played with the same ball for a year and half. Back then I could hit straight. Now, I just count on finding more balls than I lose. For example, here's the scorecard from my most recent round, at InverWood:

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Total

Lost

-

2

4

-

-

-

1

-

-

7

Found

-

5

-

-

-

1

5

-

-

11

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

Total

Lost

1

3

1

3

3

-

-

1

1

13

Found

1

3

2

3

8

2

-

1

2

22


Lost: 20
Found: 33
Total: +13

You might infer from those numbers a generous approach to mulligans. You would be correct, at least regarding tee shots. But for the most part I take the drop and add the stroke. And if I take a somewhat roundabout route to the drop zone, who's to say I won't turn a quadruple bogey into a Titleist HP Tour windfall?


Another thing I've never done: Skip hoops at St. John's to play golf (cough) Ian (cough). Happily, we retake the hardwood tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. Please let me know if you will or will not be playing.