Friday, October 3, 2008

Turning Stone Thursday: Oh, the Joys of Central NY Golf!

Reading the PGATOUR.com game story on the Turning Stone Resort Championship and noting the opposite fortunues of Korean-Australian sensation Danny Lee (75, T80) here and Korean-American rock star Anthony Kim (64, 1st) at the KOLON-Hana Bank Korea Open on the Asian Tour, I had some flashbacks to my own college golfing experiences in central NY in the fall. Like the time during the ECAC Championship qualifier at Colgate University's Seven Oaks when the driving rain turned into swirling snow flurries. Come to think of it, it wasn't just during the fall that we had to deal with bizarre weather. My worst-ever round at the Utica City Amateur came during a rain/windstorm so intense that when it both broke and blew away my heavy-duty golf umbrella on the 16th fairway, I didn't even bother trying to chase it. Oh, and then there was the 1 and only time in my life that I qualified for the New York State Mid-Amateur one fall. It was being held in Buffalo that year and I worked so hard during the 1st round in soaking rain and freezing cold to stay only a few over par until it was called when I had only 7 or so holes to go and our scores were erased that when I came back for my early starting time the next day I was so sick and tired that I came in, uh, last. Just like that windy day on Bethpage Black.... (Wait, maybe those last 2 shouldn't count b/c of their western NY and Long Island locations. Nah, it's all "central" NY!)

Why is it the traumatic golf memories stick with you so much more intensely than the good ones--like during that year when I got a hole-in-one and an eagle with the same 3-wood? Or my 66? Just goes to show it's much easier to blog about competitive golf than play it. Do we keep coming back to the game because we love it or because of PTSD?

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