Derek Bobo's Blog

I used to be quite the golfer. As a freshman in high school I received letters from colleges trying to recruit me. When I started dating my girlfriend (now wife) I perhaps refocused some priorities and golf took the back burner. I had a pretty good experience as a high school golfer but didn’t end up playing golf in college.

For the last 4-5 years I’ve only played golf a handful of times each year. This was quite the change when you go from playing almost daily to rarely touching a club. My game lost a lot of consistency mainly with the short game, but my temperament has improved so I feel like I’ll be able to reclaim it.

That being said I played in my first truly competitive golf outing in about 5 years. I mean sure I played in a handful of scrambles but those don’t really count. This was a two day event with prizes for the first 3 players in each flight. The rain kept me off the course all week. I snuck a few holes in late Friday night but otherwise had no opportunity to really prepare.

Saturday was an absolute hackfest. I played the best round of golf I could, but it was one of those days where anything that could go wrong did. I’d hit the driver well and then get to a par 5 where I should have a huge advantage and then I’d duck hook it, I’d burn the edges with my putts, my ball would be in a buried lie or under a tree. It just seemed like everything was against me. The result was horrendous, I shot a smooth 48-45 for a total of 93 for the day. It was unbelievable. I couldn’t even tell you the last time I played so horribly. It could possibly be when I was in junior high school.

It was lovely though. I decided to play 9 more after my round to get some swings in before Sunday. This time I shot a two under par, 34. How can you go from shooting 48 or 45 to a 34? It’s just baffling. By this time all of the other golfers were in and I saw that I was sitting in second to last place in my flight.

Sunday afternoon I played much better but still didn’t feel like I played as well as I could have. I shot a 38-40 for a 78. The course was playing much more difficult on Sunday than it had previously and I still improved my score by 15 strokes. Unbelievable. This score ended up being the lowest round of the day in my flight but I was just too far out of contention, from my first round, to get back in the prize positions. I ultimately finished 6th.

I’m trying to review this weekends events. I played as well as I could have on Saturday. The focus was there, but perhaps I played a bit too conservatively. Sunday I played much better and I was playing more aggressive. I was trying to throw shots close and hit the long ball.

Did I choke? Was the problem just that I have been out of competitive golf for so long? I’m not sure yet, but I know my game will only continue to improve. I’m already planning on playing in another tournament in a couple weeks. If nothing else, this weekend only added fuel to my desire to reclaim my game.

Against my better judgement I signed up for a golf tournament this weekend. While I know golf very well I have not played much in the last several years. I’m currently on a mission to reclaim my game but so far I’m no where near the player I once was.

The tournament is a 2 day event with about 16 people in my flight. First prize is a set of irons, second a new driver and third a golf bag. I love the game and will really enjoy the competitive nature that comes with a tournament but I wish I was more prepared. The dang rain we have been getting all week hasn’t helped my chance of preparing for the big day.

I guess I’ll check the forecast again shortly and see if I can squeeze in a few holes between showers but it’s not looking promising. Perhaps tomorrow…