Planned a day trip to palm springs and the day we went was a scorcher. Ice soaked towels provided by the palm valley staff  really helped  and lots of water kept us thinking straight. The course was in good shape but the greens were hard as a pool table. We teed off at 9 am and finished at 1pm , by the 18th  I wanted the round to be over and I dont think I would play two days in a row but  testing our game in that weather was fun. The course played fair but  flying the ball onto the greens was  not the smart play no birdies were made my 88 seemed pretty good thou with winter soft green I know I  could play at least six shots better. Lunch in the AC cooled club house was great and we drank our weight in  ice tea. If you get the chance to play in palm springs
do it dont think about it just go.

 Just when business was getting good the economy takes a dump. Do I need my IRA  money now , no not for another 10 years and do I have a second on my home no . So how does this effect me well my customers lines
of credit have dried up and my accounts payable total is going through the roof that means yours truly has to think
about giving up that private club deal. Man I was really getting used to fast greens and golf on demand. It really
 makes me want to kick banker or broker in the nuts. I think I will give it another month then see if this thing calms down. Let me know if the economy has cut into your golf and how its good to vent.

I took out a second morgage yesterday and we drove down to Torrey Pines and played the south course . My
 buddies and daughter wanted to break a 100 and I wanted to see if  I could still shoot in the 80s, one guy shot 101 but the rest of us pulled it off . The weather was 25 degrees cooler than inland so it was a perfect cloud free day and the staff was great . The round took 5 1/2 hours and every par felt like a victory, the course is so long and narrow, you dont lose your ball , you just cant do much with it when you find it in the ruff.
The back tees were closed but they lookes so tuff it was funny. At the end of the day we had a beer and drove home tired I slept late today and didnt even want to see my clubs today. Oh yea I had 2 sandies 1 birdie and
1 triple the rest was a blurr but I shot 89 and my daughter shot 93 , we both feel we wasted about 3 or 4 shots
but I wouldnt bet the house on it, at least not next week.

 I just watched the convention and I want to know who speaks to my needs . OIL CRISIS, the only electic car Im gonna drive is a golf cart. EDUCTION, 6 half hour golf lessons are 150 bucks  wheres my student loan .
FOREIGN POLICY, please find out from the scottish what kind of groves we can use and find out why Asia makes such ugly golf bags . Most importantly on  ECONOMIC POLICY, 8 years ago  no courses on public
land cost me more than 50 bucks to play now ,I know more than a few munis. that charge more than c note
I hope the republicans address my issues VOTE IN 08

Well we joined a private club and it seems like a real deal, unlimited golf for the whole family and use of the range and health club for 400 a month . The course is very tuff I can kiss my 10 handicap good bye heck I have not broken 85 yet and Im losing 3 balls per round. Ihave putted the ball of the green twice, the fairways look as narrow as sidewalks so my driver is collecting dust. Its gonna be fun learning to play a differant game. Now if we can stop keeping up with the Jones, there was a new bag, shirts and a hat for the wife. New cloths and boxes of balls for the kids and to be honest I couldnt keep playing that ratty old ping  putter not while they were having a sale on Scotty Camerons . Thank god we have a decent car I bet a new jaguar would help me hit the ball straight
 just kidding.

Well we just flew back from oregon and boy is my credit card tired. That state has more water hazards than a resort course in Florida , and talk about  green it was 81 degrees in july and there was still snow on the ground
 in the shade. California really seems like crusty desert now that we are home and my first round back was a six and half hour mid day death march around an ugly urban track and I wasnt to happy before ,during or after the  the smogfest . Im thinking depression could be setting in so spent last weekend shopping for a new driver and or putter by day and drinking whiskey and listening to Gram Parsons albums at night . I think the treatment
worked after watching 2 days of British open coverage Im pumped to go play Sunday and test my new driver,
god is that why my wife has so many hand bags.

 Ok so my wife is on her third set of six lessons and she is doing really well, but the girl cant putt to save her life.
 So I asked the pro to work on it with her and at first he says ok but she gets even worse the next time we meet I ask what up and she needs more work he just laughs and tells me to not expect to much. Now I am the first to admit that I have kinda high standards but I gotta believe that 36 putts for 9 holes is sub standard for anybody with half a thought proccess . So I figure you want something done do it yourself so  off we go to the putting green and I explain to her  that 3 putts per hole is cool but 4 aint gonna cut it and she seems to get it , then locks up tighter than bugs rump the hole is jumping out of her way . Heck not only is my little pony 4 putting but  shes taking 5 minutes to do it I mean she is just standing there the putts keep getting longer and the hole is getting smaller. I do the smart thing and stop her for about 2 weeks and the next time we go out I teach her that the bobby locke stroke you know the "the you will never be a great putter but you wont put your own eye out cause you got a plan stroke " and BAM my little lover 2 putts the first 3 holes I couldnt have been more proud and we are over the hump right? wrong on the fourth green she tells me she feels stupid and doesnt see anybody  else putting like that so back we go to 4 puttville. Now I  know what your thinking if she doesnt care why should I well I do and down deep I gotta believe she does too. She puts on make up in the morning  and picks all the hot young girls in the bar apart and had a good job before our kids sucked the brains out of her so she must care . I have done some things in my life Im not proud of and like most of us made a few mistakes but I have to believe that the girl of my dreams  wouldnt be the nightmare of my greens!

 We knew this weekend would be hot  so we decided to play the local muni, its close enough to the beach to catch a breeze. The wind came up right on que and we got paired with a really nice lady she gave my daughter a run for her money which is always nice to see .In four and half hours we were in the bar watching Adam Scott
win his playoff. The adults tried a new blended rum drink the bar had on special a Banana Ball and my kid had a basket of fries and a Shirley Temple. LIFE IS GOOD.

 What a great masters ,a new guy won and at least on tough courses Tiger and Phil have a new crew of guys
 to worry about. As is usaully the case the cream rose to the top  both Tiger and Phil finished near the top. Trevor earned his green jacket , he hit every kind of shot when he needed it hooks on the par 5s cuts on the par4s. But what he did best was not panic when he made mistakes and took his medicine with out trying for miracle recovery shots and we can all learn from that. Seeing him struggle on the last two par 3s then regoup and keep that the damage to a minumuim. is the best lesson any mid to low handicaper could learn. Hats off to all the
 guys the weather was great and so was the play. The next major is at TORREY PINES a course  most  california guys can tell you is brutal and thats before they make it tourniment tough. My money for a change will be on Tiger , but if phil or trevor win I wont e heartbroke.

Golf if played right wont lie to you. If your getting better or you are not practicing your score is going to show it.
As people improve most start to play matches, few things feel as good as looking another player in the eye and knowing at least on that day you were the better player. Its a shame the internet isnt like that, people that hide behind cartoon faces in thier living room typing things they would never say to your face are pretty sad.
I feel this type of person will never have the guts to show up at a course and put his game or his money on the line when you do that your being honest about your game and yourself.The kind of person who tells us he is a scratch player in one forum and then asks if we can help him with his slice in another then tells us he hits his drives
300 yards isnt fooling to many people. Im not real sure this type of person isnt the sort to pose as teen age girl
on other sites, who knows? I saw a post a few weeks ago that said golf is the truest test of character, maybe the internet is an even better test if  we are honest with ourselves.

 I play almost all of my rounds with my kids or my wife. But today I played with four adult males, what a great
time I had . I didnt have to give any pep talks mid round, Yes Manly Man hit his 4iron off the first tee futher than me but I was close. We played for real money not a lot but it was real for a change. We told dirty jokes, and at
the end of the round we had real beer not rootbeer man it felt great. I wont stop playing with the family but I am gonna make a effort to get out with the boys more often. You guys with a regular group, your buddies might #@!$ you off once in a while but take it from me you got it good. We made plans to over night it in palm springs in a couple of weeks, hell I might even order a steak for dinner.

 Westridge hills in La Habra california is a great track , I would say the course was in the top 10%  of all we play
and we play a a bunch. To bad we left feeling taken advantage of. No shuttle between the parking lot ,range and course no big deal exept the three are a long way apart . The staff was rude the marshals were pushy  the bar was expensive , oh and I  know if my clubs get stolen its not thier fault I dont need 8 signs to tell me ,yes 8 we counted. If you pay close to a c note for golf  the course doesnt owe you good weather or a good score
or even a good time, but they do owe you a little respect for the money your spending with them. Oh by the way
 this is the only course with in 50 miles of my house that has no kids rate.  We wont be playing here again soon
 and we didnt see  many other groups out there either. One day soon that hill is gonna be all houses , to bad
it was a nice track but the owners had no class

I have played some real dogs in my time enough so that when I see a real gem I know it .If you are get the chance to visit the town of borrego springs run dont walk, this town  offers art , motor sports and golf as well as great food and nice people. This town has more golf courses than gas stations more nice lounges than
fast food joints and more offroad trails than stop lights. The town wants to be palm springs but its way to cool.
Ok I know what your thinking  no I dont live or work there but I have spent enough money  in quote resort towns to know a real winner ,how can you beat a 20 mile jeep ride throu the desert followed by dinner and drinks in a bar visited by movie stars since the 40s then golf  at one of the towns seven courses the next day all in 70 degree weather in febuary

 Well my two man best ball got rained out, sorry coyote hills a hundred bucks is to much to play on greens with puddles as big as sand traps on them .Shame on you for even staying open. Then I come home to see Tiger  roll over the other players in dubai like the tide on a flat beach. Shame on me for thinking anybody  could beat Tiger in a event he wanted to win. But then it happens the best football game I have ever seen and to top it off the right team won . Congrats NY Giants you made my weekend, in this case one out three aint bad

 Does Ernie Els know more people are rooting for him tomorrow than ever before, does he know if he wins  he will be welcome at any major for the rest of Tigers career. Does he know more people will watch the Dubai classic than the FBR open . Those of us on the edge of our couch tomorrow dont hate Tiger we know he is great but we love golf  on sunday we dont want to know on to saturday night who will win  sunday. We are sick of Phil winning behind Tigers back or other no names and also rans wilting the last day even before they tee off .Come on Ernie do you know there is no pressure if Tiger wins you can still be  the best of the rest but you could be our Arnold Palmer we want to join your army . we dont hate Tiger we just want someone to love.