I thought a lot about what might be happening over the weekend as my back made it less than possible to actually go out and swing a club and with the index finger not wanting to bend properly I wasn’t able to grip a putter; so took a couple of days off.  While thinking I realized a lot of it was because of the lack of quality sleep over the past few weeks.

I recently moved back into my house in NE Portland after living elsewhere for the past 3 years and when I moved back in I was basically starting over furniture-wise.  I have a chair, desk, few odds and ends and some kitchen supplies, but what I did not own was a proper bed.  When I moved out in 2012 I sold mine and everywhere I have stayed since was furnished so there was never a need to purchase a bed.  I didn’t immediately know which type of what brand I wanted to get so decided to pick up a “decent” futon for the time being until I could find the right bed.  Finally, I found one last week and have ordered it and a good quality sleep should be arriving soon, but I think having tossed and turned on a rock hard futon for the past 3 weeks has taken a little toll on my body.

I was researching the restorative power of sleep and it totally makes sense that my body is not acting in a normal way and fixing these little issues as they arise.  Here is a little breakdown of what I found:

Stage 1

* Between being awake and falling asleep

* Light sleep

Stage 2

* Onset of sleep

* Becoming disengaged from surroundings

* Breathing and heart rate are regular

* Body temperature drops (so sleeping in a cool room is helpful)

Stages 3 and 4

* Deepest and most restorative sleep

* Blood pressure drops

* Breathing becomes slower

* Muscles are relaxed

* Blood supply to muscles increases

* Tissue growth and repair occurs

* Energy is restored

I am not getting into the stage 3 and 4 of sleep as the 2 inch futon mattress makes it hard to lie in the same position for more than about 30 minutes.  I used to wake up very refreshed and ready to go and have never had more than minor injury incidents along this journey, but all of a sudden it feels like everything is slowly breaking down.  This is an awful feeling and I never realized just how important sleep is.  I may be lying prone for 7-8 hours, but I’m not getting into the stage where my muscles are relaxing and tissue repair happens.

So excited to get that new bed soon.  I can’t wait for a good night of sleep.

I’m playing in a two-day two-man best ball tournament this weekend, so I hope the bed arrives in the next day or two, but regardless I will take it light this week in preparation as right now I am not sure if my back would even hold up for 18 holes.  Last time I tried to play 18 was last Friday and after about 12 holes I couldn’t do anything except hit a weak fade.  Not going to work this weekend and I think a couple of light days will lead to a healthier body and that’s what I have to do right now to prepare.

It should be a fun little tournament.  It’s at a course called Rose City and I have played in it a couple of times before.  I don’t like two-man tourneys as much as individual, but it still puts pressure on the game and is always a good learning experience.  In some ways, there is actually more pressure from a team game as you don’t want to let your partner down and if they have a bad miss you know you have to carry the hole.

Over and out for now.  Will report on how much the bed helps as well as the weekend’s results soon.

The next morning we were invited to the Pebble Beach Golf Academy, which is essentially the main driving range for Pebble Beach with a golf teaching school attached, and were able to individually work with four of the instructors there.  This was an amazing experience as these guys have been around it all and are on the top of their respective games. It was two-fold inspiring: I had hands on work with instructors that have helped countless PGA Tour players and at the same time there were a number of big name players on the range working on their own swings in preparation for the week.  I was hitting balls on the same range as guys from Snedeker to Kenny G, who happens to be a 2 handicap.

The outside of the academy:

After a little warm up the lessons began.  My first one was all about putting and utilized the SAM putting lab, which I had been on years ago.  It looks like this and is a machine made to very precisely measure how you aim and swing the putter:

That is putting instructor Kevin syncing my SeeMore putter with the machine.  What he found was that I have extremely accurate and consistent aim as well as stroke, but my tendency is to cut across the ball from out to in which isn’t optimal as it can put a bit of side spin on the putts.  He gave me a few drills to work on to get the ball rolling more end-over-end and then it was off to the second lesson.  Since then I have been working on my putting stroke and have seen some good results.  He also suggested I look into a more face weighted putter as mine may actually accentuate my own putting flaws.  Something to keep in mind down the road.

The next lesson was outside on the range and it was a little more “old fashioned” than all of the others simply because the instructor didn’t use much technology.  But, he had great eyes for the swing and that’s worth a ton in golf.  This is the two of us chatting swing styles:

The coach’s name was Dan and we talked about some issues I was having with my ball striking and he had some good tips to share after seeing me hit the ball. The one that stands out most is that he said my lower body was overactive and I needed to focus more on hitting the ball with my shoulder turn.  Good stuff.

The next stop was with something that I had never seen in person and was pretty excited about.  It was with Scot Nei and his Robo Golf Pro robot.  It’s probably easier to show this rather than try to explain it:

It’s a robot that you can program to swing any type of swing at any speed and then you hold on to the club and it moves you through the motions that you are trying to learn.  I found it interesting as instructors have told me to “feel” certain things in the past and have even been hands on trying to place my swing in specific positions, but with this robot you can actually feel exactly where an instructor wants you to be through an entire swing.  You let it guide you for a handful of swings and then turn around and hit a couple of balls and you can immediately feel the difference.  I hear there is one up in Seattle, might have to make some trips up there in the coming months to get more reps in.

The final lesson was with Laird Small, who has been the director of the Pebble Beach Golf Academy since 1996.  Laird’s strength, outside of massive experience in the golfing world, is his ability to communicate what needs to be said.  There are a number of people who are extremely intelligent when it comes to golf biomechanics, but far fewer who can reach people in a way that makes sense.  This was the case with Laird and what he told me (we talked about my turn, chess positions, arms, etc) made sense to me and I have been able to implement some of it already.  He’s the kind of guy you want to see weekly and if he was in Portland I would most definitely do that.

That was a great start to the day.  I wish the lessons could have been all day, but with such a busy week there was a lot of work for the guys to do.  We spent a little time on the range watching some Tour players hit balls and then hit the road.

The next stop was lunch and the whole group sat down at a table with a guy eating by himself.  About 30 seconds in I realized it was David Duvall that we happened to be sharing a table with.  Here is Tiffany showing him how to take a selfie:

He was a upstanding gentleman and we all had a nice lunch chatting golf and life.

The rest of the day was filming a few interviews and random things for the story as well as a bit of down time in the late afternoon before heading to dinner.  Where we were able to eat dinner this night was at the players “tent” as part of the Pairings Party that happens after the official tournament pairings are released.  The party and dinner were good and it was fun to celebrity watch. But, the most fun came when this man randomly came over and asked if he could join our table.  Completely random, and amazing:

It was a treat like no other.  Bill Murray just happened to join our table and hung out with us for the better part of two hours.  That is him and one of our hosts for the week Jena.  Bill was incredibly kind and, of course, funny.  He talked golf, wine, life, charity work, art, etc.  I could not have been happier as he is perhaps the only celebrity alive that I really wanted to meet.

Honestly, I could have left that night and felt like it was an incredible trip.  Played an amazing course, had lessons with four incredible people, got lunch with David Duvall and then spent an eve with Bill Murray.  Life was feeling good and it was literally just the third day of the trip.    See, it’s hard not to sound like I’m bragging, but at the same time I can’t imagine not writing about this experience.  I won some sort of fantasy lottery.

The next day began with a historic tour of Pebble Beach. We had breakfast at Pebble Beach’s famous The Bench restaurant and then got in carts and toured the 18 with historian Neal Hotteling (who literally wrote The Official History of Pebble Beach):

Neal showed us around the course and described some of the more interesting ways in which things have changed over the years as well as the history of the property, which was originally purchased for $500 a couple hundred years ago.  We also got to stop by and see Bing Crosby’s house, which has an amazing putting and chipping green in the back yard and overlooks some of the better holes of the course.  It was great to get his insight into the course.

After that I was able to watch some of the celebrity shootout that happens on Wednesday and see the groups come in at 18, which might be one of the most beautiful finishing holes in golf:

And…  Just when we thought the day was over and had been blown away by everything so far, AT&T Fans Eye View had another surprise for us.  We got to meet one of the golfers and Katie was actually able to have a short putting lesson from this guy:

Jordan Spieth was a really good dude.  Wise beyond his years and a nice guy all around.  He signed stuff for everyone and I got the flag on 18 signed for my buddy Eric, who I think loved it:

We were all pretty blown away by everything that had happened so far.  It was incredible and seemed to just keep coming.  So, by the time dinner rolled around and we were away from the course we all assumed that the day was over.  But, there was one more surprise that nobody saw coming.  As part of the kickoff event a bunch of the celebrities were putting on a show down the street.  AT&T invited us to not only watch the show but we also were able to go backstage and shake hands with a bunch of them including Larry the Cable Guy, Colt Ford, Jake Owen, Michael Bolton, Kenny G, Clint Eastwood, Ray Romano, Tommy Gainey and a more that I can’t seem to recall right now.  It was great.  After our 15 minutes backstage, the group was leaving but I kind of “lingered” and got lost and then ended up getting to spend the next couple of hours back there.  It helped that I was a photographer in my past life as there were a number of active-duty marines who got the same meet-and-greet treatment that we did who also wanted photos with the big names and I wasn’t afraid to go up to people like Clint and ask if he would take a photo with those soldiers.

After that I hung out and got to know a few of the guys:

I’m not sure I even scratched the surface of what it was like.  I can’t imagine two more amazing days than these.  And, the tournament hadn’t even started yet.

On the final installment of this series I will talk about the tournament itself as well as what it was like to play Pebble beach from the same boxes as the pros and to the exact same pin placements.  That is coming in a couple short days.

Taking off from Chicago, one of the last images of the states I would have before rising above the clouds was that of the city outskirts snuggled into a nice Fall evening:

I landed in Zurich on what was to be their first true day of Fall and sluggishly found my way from the airport to my brother, who I hadn’t seen in the better part of a year.  He has made this city his home for 3 years and I haven’t had the ability to visit until now, but am very glad for the opportunity to see the life he has created here.

I explored the city the first day, and enjoyed watching the people and seeing the buildings and old cobblestone streets.  My former sister-in-law took me around with her new baby boy:

We got some good coffee and some local dessert and then checked out a handful of architectural sights before heading back to their place for an evening of family catch-up. The next morning a new friend, who found me through this website, picked me up and we set off to play my first round of golf on European soil.  From first appearances, golf in the outskirts of Zurich looked very similar to Oregon with the lush greenery and trees surrounding the course.  It was rather cold that day so Robert and I had on our winter golfing gear for the round:

It was my first round in rain gear since the Spring and it took a while to both warm up the body and get used to golfing in multiple layers again.  The round was fun and the course was quite a challenge, especially for being on the shorter side.  In 40 degree weather with winds and very moist soil you found yourself with long approaches on shorter par 4s.

The rough was different too.  I think it may have been from the fact that the course is closing for the winter next week and because it dumped rain two days prior, but this course had some of the longest and thickest rough I have ever played on. When the ball landed off the fairway in the deep rough you literally had to hit a wedge 20 yards back to the fairway instead of trying to advance the ball.  It took a couple of tries to hit long irons or hybrids out of it to realize that was not going to be possible.  Once you learned what your options were it was a good challenge and a fair course.  Had some pretty holes too, especially the par 3s:

The grass on the greens was different too, it was like a combination between bent grass and bermuda.  I’m not sure what it was, but it looked like bent but had grain similar to bermuda.  I’ll have to do some research and figure it out.

The round was a great introduction to Swiss and European golf and I am excited to explore some more courses while here.  In the meantime, though, I went on a nice hike with my brother the next day to do some exploring and catching up.  The landscape here is incredible, it truly lives up to the reputation:

One more with the author getting a bit lost in the woods:

I have another round scheduled for Monday and some practice to do tomorrow morning and Tuesday, then it’s off to Gothenburg for a couple of days before returning to Portland.  Let me know if anyone is around southern Sweden, I would love to meet up and tee it up if possible.

There are a few things going on right now.  Practice wise, I have still been improving my chipping, putting, pitching and general short game as well as getting my full swing on a better plane for increased consistency and power.  Here is a short video of my swing a couple weeks ago and then from yesterday.  I have done some voice over for the details of what I was trying to improve:

Sorry about the quality of the second clip, it had to be hand-held and was taken during dusk, which is coming at 7pm these days.  The vernal equinox is right around the corner, meaning it’s time to start thinking about winter plans.

Before I get too carried away about early 2015 there are a few things to chat about.

I’ve been in a swing-focus mindset for a bit of time here and haven’t paid too much attention to how the game is breaking down on the course.  I have some more work to do before I really get into serious score mode, but it shouldn’t be too long now and I am starting to really hit the ball well once again.  So, give it another week and then I plan on getting my recorders out and capturing some updated stats for the site.  A lot of people have been emailing me about updating that page and it’s time that some new numbers are put up.  Soon.

There is a three-day tournament in October that I am beginning to gear up for.  It’s the Puget Sound Scratch Championship which takes place October 17-19 at three different courses:  The Home Course, Chambers Bay and Gold Mountain.  It should be a great tourney and I can’t wait to play in it.

Before that I am heading to San Diego next week for a 3 day Vision54 course.  I love working with those ladies and am very excited to have a chance to see them again; this time for 3 days.  I fly down there next Thursday and the course is just outside of San Diego at the Grand Del Mar.  While down there I am going up to Carlsbad for a meeting on Monday with a potential sponsor.  Unfortunately I cannot mention who it is quite yet, but I am hoping to amp up the game and the site in 2015 and with the help of a sponsor that will be possible.  It’s still been just a one man show to date, which is great and all, but there are a handful of things that I would do different if a budget existed.

In a similar vein to the Carlsbad funds quest, I have been working on acquiring funds for a TV pilot.  I have a great idea of a show that’s underlying story arc is my journey, but would be appealing to a wider-than-golf audience through themes of skill acquisition, talent versus practice, human performance and the ways and means of achievement.  The best part is that outside of being entertaining it would also allow me access to the mini-tournaments and coaches that I would like to be exposed to for experience and wisdom along the way.  It’s a win-win that will be funded, just not sure how quite yet.

That’s a bit about what’s been going on.  I should write more about all of this soon.  For the time being I have been spending the evening hours brainstorming and putting together presentations.  Just searching and waiting to find the right partners.

Also, please don’t forget to download and read the entire blog from start until breaking par just a few months ago.  It’s a great way to catch up on all of the action and the highs and lows that come with dropping everything to pursue a completely new direction in life. Download it on Amazon here:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MTC0NJA/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00MTC0NJA&linkCode=as2&tag=thdapl05-20&linkId=NQ72WF55IIVE2AQ2

Thank you!

I was going to make it a pdf download and ask people to contribute what they thought it was worth, but I thought if I put the book up on Amazon’s website it would be better formatted for all types of digital readers.  If this doesn’t work after a couple of months I may put a link to the pdf up as well, but for the time being please think about supporting The Dan Plan by purchasing the book here:

Amazon Unites States:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MTC0NJA

Amazon UK:  http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00MTC0NJA?*Version*=1&*entries*=0

Amazon Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00MTC0NJA

Amazon Germany: http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00MTC0NJA?*Version*=1&*entries*=0

Amazon Japan: http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B00MTC0NJA?*Version*=1&*entries*=0

And most any other country, email me if you want a specific link or search for “The Dan Plan”.

I wish to apologize in advance as a few external links did not translate to this format.  One of the most blaring absences are videos.  On a few occasions I talk about watching a video and it’s just a blank on the page.  Outside of that the content is whole.  I edited out about one third of the posts but there is still quite a bit of content, too much in a lot of ways.  Down the road at some point I will have a professional editor (or a well versed friend, or myself when the amount of time in a day magically doubles) take a gander at the content and polish it up.  For now, this is the story, more or less, word for word from the beginning.  I hope you enjoy and get some value out of the content.

For every book purchased from Amazon almost $5 goes to The Dan Plan.  Thank you for reading and please help spread the word to anyone potentially interested in seeing what it takes to make such a drastic change in one’s life.

Cheers!

The next day I had been invited to play a track I’ve never teed it on so had to make sure the requisite energy stores were replenished enough to last all 18 holes.  It was a hilly course on the side of a small mountain (or large mound might be more accurate) out in Gresham Oregon called Persimmon.  The track was an interesting course built, I think, mostly for some amazing views:

It’s hard to see, but that’s Mt Adams in the background.  Mt St. Helens and Mt Hood were also visible making it quite the scene in person.  All of them were much clearer through the human eye than through the wide-angle lens on my phone.

Apparently, though, being on an exposed hillside on an extra windy day makes for some interesting shots in golf.  We had about a two-club wind and the guy who invited me said it was the windiest he had ever played the course.  It was still fun and despite a hilly 18 hole walk I managed to keep my strength through the day and shot a decent score considering two shots I hit that were exactly what I thought I wanted to do ended up blowing long OB in the wind.  It’s tough enough to play a new course for the first time, add some wind…

The next day I headed out to Stone Creek to play a practice round before the Oregon Am qualifier come up on June 3rd.  I registered to play in that qualifier but have only played at Stone Creek once so wanted to refresh my memory on the layout and the how the greens broke.  Unfortunately the greens were recovering from being punched and they had top dressed, but I still got a good look at where to hit tee shots and approaches on each hole and what parts of the course are dead zones.

There are about three weeks until that qualifier which is plenty of time to play another practice round once the greens finish healing.  I’ll probably head out in late May to give it a go.  To me, that is the most important part of a practice round at a course you don’t have experience on.  Ball striking is often up to distances and knowing which side of a fairway to aim for, but putting can be subtle and easily add strokes to someone unfamiliar with the undulations.

I’m excited about that qualifier.  This is the first year that I have had a low enough handicap to have a shot at the tournament.  Last year I missed the handicap cut by about one stroke, but am pretty sure I will be in the qualifier playing field this time.

Speaking of tournaments, I have budgeted $1,000 this year for those events.  So far I have spent just over $200 in 2014 on tournament rounds.  The Oregon Am is $100 for the qualifier and an additional $100 if you make the actual playing field.  I hope to play in the Oregon Mid-Am and Oregon Stroke Play which are $175 each.  That means I have either $350 or $250 remaining depending on if I get into the Oregon Am in mid June.

The majority of that will go to the Royal Oaks Invitational if I get the invite for that event.  I’ll know more soon, but the ROIT is a good tourney that I really hope to play and it costs $275 for the three day tourney.

I also plan on playing in the Forest Hills Am and the Portland City Championship at East moreland which cost about $120 each.  I suppose I’m going to go over budget by a few hundred this year all said and done, but it’s important to get that experience so I suppose I should up the amount I can spend on those events. $1,500-$2,000 seems more reasonable this year as I would like to play in 8-10 larger events.  Next year I will have to find a sponsor as the bigger scale tournaments (like the E-Tour or Pepsi Tour or Gateway Tour) can be between $500-$1,200 per weekend.  But, that’s for down the road and there is plenty of time to figure that out before then.

There are tons of smaller events that I have been and will continue to play in, too.  The easiest way to get at least a minimal amount of tournament pressure is by playing in the regular Thursday and Saturday games at Riverside and other golf courses.  Although there isn’t the same pressure as a once-a-year event, it is at least a way to play in something regularly that you are directly competing with others and have to turn in a scorecard to a third party at the end of it.  Those just cost 5-20 bucks a day and are good practice.

When other events come up I will post them and I hope to play in a couple member-guest events, the Riverside club championship, more NW Golf Guys Saturday tourneys a piece, some match play rounds, etc.  But, for the most part my main events coming up are the larger OGA tourneys of the year and I am excited to be in the field.

One more thing…  I was also just informed that there is a Web.com event at Pumpkin Ridge this year.  That’s just outside of Portland and I here there is a local qualifier.  Not sure what type of qualifications you need to enter, but if I can play in that qualifier count me in!

Has your sense of smell ever brought you back to a time long forgotten?

That’s the Atlanta air in the Spring for me.  Everywhere I went my heart was heavy with memories of my childhood.  It didn’t hurt that one of the courses I played while there happened to be about a half mile away from where I lived from birth until 8 years old.  I couldn’t hide from being overwhelmed by visions and thoughts that had not been in mind for years.

It wasn’t a bad thing, by any means, just contemplative.

On Thursday morning I met a group of guys playing in a small annual charity tournament at Peachtree Golf Club.  It is a hidden gem of a course built in 1947 under the orders of Bobby Jones and happens to be the most aesthetically pleasing course I have ever had the privilege of playing.  It was about as magical a track of land as I could imagine and I was surprised that it was just that half mile from my childhood home.

After the round I decided to drive by the old neighborhood to see how things had changed.  When I got out of the car and smelled the air I remembered playing tee ball in the front yard, riding big wheels down the street and wandering through the small creeks that seemed so huge as a wee lad.

The house was a lot smaller than I remembered too, but it was still very adequate for a family of 5. Nothing compared to the mini-castles that are being built where some of my friends old houses were town down, but plenty of house and a great yard for a young family.  I knew I had a fortunate childhood and standing there I realized that I need to do more to make sure others enjoy a similar childhood.  I am not sure exactly what that means right now as I write this on the return flight, but I know that I have more to give.

After taking in the scene I remembered there was a small lake next to some tennis courts that we often walked to.  Instinctually I began the short trek and with every step of the way it felt like yesterday when I last hiked the path up to Silver lake through the woods along a small creek.

When I reached the lake I was flooded with more memories.  Fishing, catching tadpoles, jumping off a diving board for the first time, getting a fishhook through my hand, a friend stepping on glass and cutting her foot, thinking the lake was endless and impossible to walk around or swim, and a man who used to hit beat up golf balls into the water with his son.

I lingered on that last memory and recalled a time when he let me hit some balls.  I must have been 5-years-old and was a pretty shy little kid, but it looked like a ton of fun so I tried a few swings with the short right handed driver that his son was using.  I didn’t make very good contact and basically just spun around every time I made a swing, but then he asked me if I was a righty or lefty and I told him I wasn’t sure.  At that point, and still today, I did a lot of things with each hand.  He told met that he would bring a lefty out next time to see if that fit me better.

About a week later (in kid memory so it could have been a day or a year) I saw him again hitting balls into the little lake.  He had followed through in his promise and had a short left-handed driver for me to try.  I got over my shyness and gave it a couple of swings.  Surprisingly, I hit the ball pretty well and sailed a few into the lake.  I remember how it felt coming off that little wooden driver face and liked it.  I ran off to play with my brother, but before we walked home we bumped into the man at the top of the trail towards home.  He had the driver in his hand and told me that he wanted me to keep it.  I was, again, shy and didn’t say anything but took the club.  My brother told me to say thank you and I think I managed the two words before the man told us that he wanted to give me golfing lessons.  He said next time I see him that he would start teaching me how to make a good swing and what the game was.

We left and I cherished that driver.  I didn’t have any golf balls and instead of using it I kept it at the foot of my bed and was looking forward to bringing it back to the lake to learn how to use it.

I brought it with me every time I went back up there and always looked for the man but never saw him again.  After a while I stopped taking it with me and the club ended up living in a large chest that contained other sporting odds and ends.  The most use the club ever saw was hitting pine cones around the yard a few summer nights.  As a young child’s attention can meander, mine switched to other pursuits and I forgot about that small driver.

I found out a few years later that the man had died in his sleep just days after gifting me the driver.  In retrospect I know he must have been young, maybe 45 at the oldest.  He had a heart attack that ended his time far too early and despite never having given me a lesson I think he was a large part of why I am doing what I am doing now.  It only took a couple of minutes and the gift of a used child’s driver, but here I am almost 30 years later dedicating myself to becoming the best I can be in this game.

I’m not necessarily saying that those experiences led to my decision, rather I was pondering how much a quick interaction can influence a life.  I stood there looking out at that lake wondering where I would be today if not for that memory.  I didn’t have an answer, but felt happy in the moment and knew that meant I was doing what I needed to be doing.

The funny thing is that just hours earlier I was debating my path as I played the incredible Peachtree Golf Club without being able to hit a single decent shot.  I was caught in the moment lingering on my shot by shot performance rather than being able to step back and appreciate how far I had come to date.  And, I was letting it get me down while playing golf on one of the more special courses in the world.  Don’t get me wrong, I fully appreciated the experience and was in awe of all three courses I got to play while in Atlanta, but was getting in my own way by being frustrated by shots instead of playing each one as a unique experience.

Frustration doesn’t accomplish anything, it just interferes with both happiness and progress.  The next day I took that thought into the round and even though I started 6 over after 6 holes I staved off that emotion and ended up shooting a 76 on a par 70 course. That was about 15 strokes better than either of the first two days and wholly because I kept my mindset in check.

The lake and those memories helped me, the trick now is to keep that in mind while continuing the push forward.  At any point it’s easy to pull on either positive or negative memories and the good thing is that I think it’s a choice we can make for ourselves. And, I think that with practice it’s possible to change anything including out emotional responses to a given situation.

Golf notes:  over the first two rounds I hit more driver shots OB than in the fairway.  For the third round I hit the driver once and snap hooked it so went with 3-wood for the rest of the round and hit almost every fairway.  I played East Lake, Peachtree Golf Course and Capital City Brookhaven.  I have never in my life seen greens quite like Peachtree and hear they are similar in style to Augusta, which makes me really want to see that course.  I hit it well once I got out of my own way.  My putting was solid, I need to learn a technique for chipping/pitching from tight bermuda lies.  Driver must be improved.  I can rely on the 3-wood and get it out there 260 yards on firmer fairways.  For fluffy bunkers you can really use the bounce unlike the muddy/firm bunkers through the Portland winter where it needs to be hit down on.