A Half-dozen Long-Stem Sticks

Bought myself some brand-new G20 irons for my birthday, thanks to yet another price drop from Ping. If only I wasn't a winter baby, I'd be swinging those sticks by now. But this winter season has lived up to the usual stereotype of being cloudy and cold. And not the kind of cold that can be fought off with a thick fleece hat and a cashmere sweater, but the kind of cold that hurts to breathe and chills to the bone. Until the deep freeze lifts, my bouquet of fresh-picked, half a dozen red-stemmed G20s are staying indoors. Maybe I should just stick them in a vase.

Sweet Potato Putts

First round of the new year today. It was supposed to be sunny, in the mid-50s, but there was frost on the cars in the morning, so I knew it might take awhile to warm up. I had a 10:20am tee time with Bea and Seri. At 10am, Bea called me to tell me she just woke up. (She says she has a sleeping problem, but she probably just stayed up late watching Korean soap operas again.) I told her not to worry. I already called the pro shop to confirm that there was a frost delay, so our tee time would be running 30 minutes late. Seri was at the golf course early, of course, diligently practicing her putting. None of us had played for about 3 weeks, and it showed. But no matter, we were all giddy with the excitement of another year of golf stretched before us, starting right here, right now, with this round.

After nine holes, the skies turned grey and drizzly, and we contemplated stopping play. But we forged on like good golf girls. The high point of today's round, aside from the mere fact of being outdoors swinging clubs again, was that Seri brought a bag full of boiled sweet potatoes as a snack. It wasn't the first time she'd brought them, and if I haven't blogged about them before, it's because I have been silently appreciating their utter awesomeness as a golf snack.

Today, Seri doled out the sweet potatoes at the 10th hole, and for awhile everyone was very distracted eating them, in all their sweet, starchy wholesomeness. We had a fourth person along, a stranger who we'd actually played with once before but who I didn't remember at first. He totally dug the sweet potatoes, and after eating one, he kept crediting everyone's good shots to the sweet potato "carbo boost." After he made a good putt, he said, "That's a sweet potato putt!" It was a little annoying that he complimented himself on his own putt, but if I'd made any good putts, I would have called them sweet potato putts, too.

Anyway, below is Seri's recipe for boiled sweet potatoes. It requires plastic bags made specifically for microwaving. I am usually wary of plastics used for cooking, but even Seri, who buys only organic everything, says they are safe to use.

Seri's Sweet Potatoes (Known to Encourage Good Putting)

1. Cut up some sweet potatoes into 2-inch slices.
2. Put them into a microwaveable plastic bag.
3. Microwave on high for 10 minutes.
4. Let cool.
5. Bring to the golf course, and enjoy!

Golf Resolutions for 2013

About a year ago, I started this blog by announcing my golf resolutions for the year 2012. Here it is a year later, so it's time to take a look at how well I did.

Resolution #1: Get longer. Did it. I have achieved above-average driving distance with regularity. I credit better technique and better equipment to getting longer. From the Teddy Bear drill to my new Ping G20 driver, it was a year-long obsession, but Big Bopper is here to stay.
Resolution #2: Enter a hole-in-one million-dollar shootout contest. I totally forgot to do this. Usually, my email in-box is littered with announcements on the local million-dollar shoot-out, but somehow, I managed to miss them. Or maybe the local million-dollar shoot-out contest decided to omit me 'cause they knew I'd win. ;)
Resolution #3: Break 90. Did it. I broke 90 and shot an 87 back in October.
Resolution #4: Join a women’s league. I was still to chicken to sign up for an official women's league, due to my unpredictable work schedule and horror stories about one of the local women's leagues demanding new golfers to "audition" for a spot. However, I did form a league of my own, of sorts, consisting of Seri and Bea and me as a regular threesome, with a field of various players stepping in as the fourth.
Resolution #5: Play another charity tournament. Did it. In fact, I played several charity tournaments this past year. Didn't win any trophies, but I did win prizes for closest-to-the-pin and longest drive.

Okay, so 3 out of 5 ain't bad. How about this year? Here's my new list of resolutions for 2013:

Resolution #1: Get longer. Last year I gained about 30-50 yards in driving distance, with an average drive of 180 and a maximum drive of 230 yards. This year, I want to gain another 10-20. I want to average 200 and achieve a maximum drive of 250 or more. 
Resolution #2: Enter a hole-in-one million-dollar shootout contest. I still want to do this, if I can remember. One of the local golf courses usually sponsors one in July. But please email me if you hear of one.
Resolution #3: Break 80. I hope I can do this, or at least score in the low 90s all the time.
Resolution #4: Join a women’s league. This will have to wait till spring, most likely, as most of the golfy women around here pack the clubs away when the temps fall below 50 degrees. 
Resolution #5: Play another bucket list course. Last year, hubby and I played TPC Sawgrass. It was an awesome experience. This year, some of the possibilities include Torrey Pines and Bandon Dunes. I'm not quite ready for Scotland yet. Maybe in another year.

Now if only the temperature would climb back into the 40s, I could start on my resolutions. So far, 2013 has started with a cold, cloudy winter. But the forecast says a warming trend is in the near future. In the meantime, Ping gifted golfers with another price drop, so I will keep myself busy by trying out those new G20 irons. I'll keep you posted...