The week to come

This week started off on the right foot.  I took today off, per usual for my one day away from golf a week, and climbed up Dog Mountain in the Columbia river gorge.  It’s a relatively easy hike, just 7.6 miles round trip and an elevation change of 2,800 feet, but the views are stunning, especially on a nice day:

It’s amazing how much you can learn and realize when you try and forget what you were thinking about.  All week something has been off with my drives and I couldn’t put a finger on it.  I was hitting the ball so well before last week then all of a sudden I couldn’t hit it straight at all.  Nothing seemed to work and I knew it was just a processing issue in my head.  If I can’t imagine what I need to look like at impact then there is little chance I can actually get there and hit the ball.  But, today while wondering through the woods and not thinking about golf at all I had an epiphany about the physics of ball striking and got excited to go to the range and test it out.  Since it’s my day off, I went out and hit just a couple of balls, but it worked!  I was thrilled.

This isn’t the first time stepping away has elicited an epiphany and I don’t think it will be the last.  But, it was a reminder that time away needs to be just that: time away.  If you are obsessing about a problem at hand and cannot figure out a solution step away from it completely.  Don’t just walk away and think about it in another room, try and forget about it and as soon as you really let it go the solution might pop up.

The week continues with an early morning scramble at Langdon Farms Golf Course tomorrow.  I played in this tournament (the Portland State University Viking Classic) last year, but could only contribute with my 6-iron through putter as those were all of my clubs at that point.  My team still placed in the top ten, but this year I have high hopes that we will do much better and that I can add some some good shots to the group from tee to green.

On Tuesday it will be practice as usual then Wednesday is my birthday so I might play an early round and then hang out with my girlfriend in the evening.  Thursday is back to practice and Friday is another scramble tournament, this time out at the Reserve course in Hillsboro where I played last week.  I shot an 81 there on my first time out and know where I hit in the wrong spot, so will be able to contribute to the team.

It’s going to be a great week.  They always are.  Life is a game; play it hard but remember to have fun and don’t let it get to you.