Gardening Phase I: The Side Of The House

Rae and I got up early on Saturday and went to the farmers market with some friends. Nothing says farmers market like a homemade donut. They serve them up right as they plop out of the machine. Once we were on a sugar high, we waded through the massive number of vendors and picked out flowers. We also got some cheese, and I picked up a mini banana cream pie baked by an Amish guy.

We got plants for the front, side, and back of the house. We got the ones for the side of the house in the ground on Sunday. I should have taken a before picture, it was all overgrown with weeds and there was no little rock wall. We put down some grass seed outside the rocks, hopefully the lawn will grow in!

By the way, this is post number 100!

Career Day On The Links: 9.6

Big day for me on the golf course, I shot an 81 at Arrowhead! I drove the ball like a champ, and my putting was otherworldly. No three-putts, and I made at least three from over fifteen feet. Two birdies. And we saw some goslings on the course (bonus!).

I keep track of my progress using the USGA Handicap System. Its main purpose is to provide a pseudo-fair way for players of different abilities to compete against each other. It also provides a way of comparing scores shot at different courses or from different sets of tees. For each round, you do a little math and come up with a handicap differential. Prior to today, my best round was an 84 I shot in Michigan, which came out to a differential of 14.1. I shattered the record today with a differential of 9.6. Sweet.

Rae Runs The Mountain Goat

In case you haven't heard, Rae ran the Mountain Goat on May 6th. Hurray for Rae!! The Mountain Goat is a ten-mile race that includes a few monster hills. Here she is pre-race, with her running partner Sarah. Congratulations Rae and Sarah!

Her official time was 1:44:19, which corresponds to a pace of 10:26 per mile. Very impressive!

The overall winner of the race was Alene Reta, who finished in 49:42, which corresponds to a shockingly fast pace of 4:58. As far as I know, that's like a full-out sprint for ten miles. The winner in Rae's division (women age 25-29) finished in 1:00:51. I think I could run that fast for about a quarter mile, maybe a half mile.

Book Review: Every Shot Must Have A Purpose

I just finished reading Every Shot Must Have A Purpose, by Pia Nilsson, Lynn Marriott, and Ron Sirak. It took me a while, because, well, it's not that great of a book.

Here's my review:

This book is focused on the mental and emotional approach to golf, as opposed to swing mechanics. I think that's great. You can pick up some useful insight, and hopefully you can get advice on your swing mechanics in person from a qualified instructor (definitely the best way to go).

The authors give some good advice on how to approach the game. They talk about a "think box" and "play box," which are useful concepts. I picked up a good slogan, "achieve and leave," which I now say to myself when I start getting compulsive on the practice range.

The bad news is that I found the writing to be full of gimmicks and advertisements. They use a lot of UPPERCASE LETTERING for emphasis which drives me crazy because I feel like they're shouting at me (okay, I may have some personal issues here...). They went so far as to trademark the name GOLF54, and they shamelessly promote their schools and some pseudo-science nonsense called HEARTMATH.

If you're looking for a good book on the mental game, check out Golf Is Not A Game Of Perfect (Bob Rotella), Fearless Golf (Gio Valiante), or Extraordinary Golf (Fred Shoemaker).

Rock Zach, Rock!

My second consecutive charity-related post goes out to Callum Robbins. I learned about Callum from my rock-star cousin Zach. Zach played in the band Jawbox with, among others, J. Robbins. J. and his wife Janet Morgan have a son Callum who suffers from Type 1 Spinal Muscular Atrophy.

Callum's friends and supporters have put together a compilation album to help raise funds for his care. It is available here from Catlick records. Alternatively, direct contributions may be made here.

Run Rae, Run!

My lovely and inspiring wife is participating in The AIDS Run on June 3rd. Follow the links below to support her and AIDS Community Resources.

Golf League

Tonight was my first time out with the "No Name" golf league. I jumped blindly into the whole league thing--I just happened to meet a guy on the practice green a few weeks ago who knew of a guy who had open spots in his league. First impressions: I'm the youngest guy by twenty years, and the skill levels vary wildly among players. I'm cool with that. Tonight I put a woopin' on the other guys in my foursome.

Rae thought I might feel bad about beating guys my dad's age, but I don't feel bad at all. First off, age doesn't really mean so much in golf. Just a few weeks ago, I got crushed by a guy who is well into his seventies. Old guys tend to have wack swings due to a lack of flexibility and balance, but some of them can keep it in play off the tee and then kill you inside a hundred yards. Secondly, I've paid some dues in golf. I'm no natural, I spent years as a frustrated hacker and am just now getting into the respectable range.

By the way, here's Dave's golf scale:

100+   Hacker
90s     Reasonable
80s     Respectable
70s     Player

Also, as you can see I've added a permanent Golf Tracker section over there on the right (partially inspired by Rae and Kate's crazy computerized running logs). Wish me luck!