It’s almost the end of February and I have finally decided that it’s time to focus on my resolution for the year. Call it cabin fever—or maybe just a sudden urge to improve—as I watch the outside temperature creep above freezing again. And let me remind you, I live in Texas, where global warming in the winter belongs on the bookshelf with other fairy tales.
I am ready to play golf. Not on a simulator where I can easily find my ball, or with a waitress at the ready pouring a double bourbon neat. No. I’m ready to get pissed off! I’m talking about watching my drivers take an unexpected right-hand turn 200 yards out, my fairway wood covering the distance of a short putt, my approach sailing to the next tee, my chip shot not going anywhere, and three-putting from 10 yards out. And where’s the cart girl to ease the frustration with a cold beverage?
Yes, I am ready for that kind of golf—the raw, unfiltered version that challenges the self-proclaimed golfers.
So, the resolution: play more, write more, and hopefully get better.
I’ve long considered taking lessons, but I’ve found that simply getting out on the course has helped a lot. In fact, in 2024 I tracked and lowered my handicap index from 24.9 to 21.6. For the first time, with 16 rounds recorded that year, I broke both 100 and 90—though only on two occasions. I’ve scored as high as 117 but average around 104.
That was the most golf I’ve played in a single year—and probably the only time I kept an honest score instead of joining a best-ball scramble. As I played more, my stroke count did improve over the year, albeit inconsistently. I’m still perplexed that two of my all-time scores occurred on courses I’d never played before; I figured my home course would give me an advantage. Not so.
I haven’t set a specific target for how much golf I want to play, but if Texas weather ever emerges from under its Canadian curse, I can start earlier this year and easily get more rounds in. My ultimate goal, however, is to shoot an average of 100 in this year’s Texas Firefighter Summer Games golf tournament—especially after averaging 110 strokes last year.
So here’s to the game that challenges us, tests our patience (and senility), and to those who offer a cold remedy on the course. Off to the turf and vinyl fairways I go—and please, make it a double.
