Visitor

My mother is visiting Portland this week. My parents have come out a couple of times together since I moved here in 2006, but this time my mom came solo to take a short vacation. It’s great to have her out here and to be able to show her a little slice of my life.

Yesterday she walked 18 holes of golf with me. It was the second time she had ever been on a golf course, the first time being a driving range back in February while I was visiting Georgia. We had a good time and it was fun to demonstrate what I have been working on for the past two years. She was very encouraging (as moms tend to be) to the point where even if I hit the ball way into the trees she would say “great shot!” To that I would reply: “Thank you mom, but technically that ball is out of bounds and I get a penalty stroke.” And she would reply: “that doesn’t seem fair.”

“I couldn’t agree more, but that’s golf.”

It was a great round. I didn’t shoot my all-time low score or anything, but we enjoyed a beautiful day outside together and some good shots were made as well as great conversation throughout the round. I’ve never been as proud to take a parent to work with me as I am now and I feel very fortunate that I have the type of parents who understand what I am doing and encourage me to continue down the path.

My mom arrived last Saturday and is staying until this Saturday, so I apologize that I have been less diligent with keeping up the blog right now, but promise that I have a lot of good stuff to talk about in the coming weeks. I’m signing up for a couple of tournaments in late August through September and am really starting to get a groove going with all of my new Nike irons. The training wheels have been off for a while, but I’m just now learning how to stand up and peddle with some power. Good things are always around the corner.

Will be practicing hard during the day and spending the eve with my visiting mom. Life is good.

In non-family visitor related news, I shot a 36 on the front side of Columbia Edgewater today without even realizing it until I had finished the 9 holes. I felt like I was playing decent golf and had just missed a couple of 6-8 footers for birds on the side, but did manage to drop one birdie from 3 feet on the 8th hole to counter a bogey I got with a missed 6-footer on the fifth hole after an attempted up-and-down from the bunker. One bird, one bogey, seven pars for a 36 from the blue tees. it’s not the first time that I have shot even on that side, but it was by far the easiest time. It just felt like I was playing boring golf. My tee shot was never blocked by a tree and I hit almost every GIR then two putted for pars. The cool thing is that it was just a couple of months ago when I shot my first even par 9-holes, now it doesn’t even surprise me or feel like I played really good golf, I just didn’t make any big mistakes and cruised through the side. I wanted to keep playing, but had dinner plans with my mom and girlfriend so had to call it a day after the nine, but will have a chance to practice and play 18 tomorrow and can’t wait to see what type of golf I will be playing then. One shot at a time. I will definitely be excited the first time that I shoot a full round at par. Nine holes is one thing, 18 will be a treat.

It has been 7.5 months since I started playing rounds with a full set of clubs. How long do you think it will take me to shoot an even par round?

Brendan says:

August 15, 2012 at 4:08 am

Dan-
Grab a buddy to keep score and play TWO balls for 18. You will lose track of your score (focusing, instead, on ‘one shot at a time’) and probably break par on one of the balls. Keep up the good work!
Brendan

Brett Slater says:

August 15, 2012 at 4:45 am

Nice goin’ on your 36, Dan… Although I’d be lyin’ if I said I wasn’t starting to get a little jealous that after 7.5 months playing with a full set, you’re already passing my game, and I’ve been playing for almost 30 years… I know, when it comes down to hours of “deliberate practice” time, you’re ahead of me, but still…

Been enjoying watching your progress… Keep it up!

Kurt says:

August 15, 2012 at 1:32 pm

I keep up with you on Twitter and check the site to watch your videos. I predict that you will shoot par by October 5th.

Keep up the work. I’ve been playing 3.5 years now and recently shot a 77 as my lowest round. It felt great breaking 80 and I look forward to hearing about it when you do shoot par!

Also Dan says:

August 16, 2012 at 3:17 pm

You got it before Halloween, Dan. I’ll wager a round of beers on it.

Charlie says:

August 17, 2012 at 7:32 am

First round of par will probably happen before Valentine’s Day, provided you’re playing at one of the 2-3 courses you know well.

The more interesting question is when will you shoot back-to-back rounds of par. Then, the more interesting question is when will you be able to shoot back-to-back rounds of par at two courses you’ve never seen before. Lee Trevnio said that to make it on tour you should be able to tee it up from the tips at 10-12 courses you’ve never seen before and shoot par or better. I consider that daunting but not unreasonable.

August 17, 2012 at 7:34 am

The more interesting question is when will you shoot back-to-back rounds of par. Then, the more interesting question becomes when will you be able to shoot back-to-back rounds of par at two courses you’ve never seen before. Lee Trevino said that to make it on tour you should be able to tee it up from the tips at 10-12 courses you’ve never seen before and shoot par or better. I consider that daunting but not unreasonable.

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