7 Irons, 40mph winds and Women stick to the kitchen

Note: When it's 40 degrees outside with head wind strong enough to knock the ball off the tee...it might not be the best time to play some golf.  Also, the bar was closed - that should have been a key indicator,

Economics of the game:  Once again, I'm amazed at how much a bucket of balls cost ($10).  I'm cheap -

It's and up and down game, no doubt about it.  A constant reminder that I need to get a little dirt before contact helps quite a bit.  I usually forget the rest until I can consistently get that ball up in the air.

No real improvement on distance today as the farthest ball I hit with the 7 was 75 yards....maybe 80 but there was a good head wind.  Which brings me to sport of golf that says I should be hitting it at least 120 to 150 with the 7.  Look at this web sites distance chart as it shows that women should not be hitting the ball as far.  Golf is quite the stereotypical male-chauvinistic sport that perception builds.  Ladies ...don't get mad.

*Reference: http://golf.about.com/od/beginners/l/blclubdistance.htm

Club	Men	Women
Driver	200-230-260	150-175-200
3-wood	180-215-235	125-150-180
5-wood	170-195-210	105-135-170
2-iron	170-195-210	105-135-170
3-iron	160-180-200	100-125-160
4-iron	150-170-185	90-120-150
5-iron	140-160-170	80-110-140
6-iron	130-150-160	70-100-130
7-iron	120-140-150	65-90-120
8-iron	110-130-140	60-80-110
9-iron	95-115-130	55-70-95
PW	80-105-120	50-60-80
SW	60-80-100	40-50-60

Cooper on the Links

Ah, first lesson and my journey into the Pro Shop couldn't be more typical.  Old guy, old guy with oxygen tank and my instructor is 10 minutes late.

Instructor - not bad at all considering.  I was expecting some geezer who was going to remind that wood sticks are better but this guy is alright.  A former Lobo basketball player from the right side of the coast.

Notes on the day:  Hmmm - this isn't as hard as I thought it was going to be but it is a mathematical wonder when you hit the ball straight.  Bend this, keep this straight, up and down and follow through...reminds me a little of something else and that sometimes is just as complicated.

Best of the Day - A couple of 150 yard pings down the fairway

The Bad - About 10 chili pepper shots up the alley 

Surprise of the day:  A saw some people there under 50 which is a good sign but mostly I didn't have any slices - lots of hooks.

I've got a 9 hole session with Doug on Sunday so it should be interesting to see if I can really play that much after one lesson and probably 10 buckets of balls for practice.

First golf lesson

First lesson is tomorrow at 9:15am.

I'm sure to get some heat for not wearing any tight pants or not having something like Jr. or the III (3rd) after my name.

I picked up some clubs on Craigslist for $20.   I didn't want to get anything expensive and be accused of cheating when I dominate.

It's all downhill from here

The Setup:  In approximately 30 days I will be attending a bachelor party for my man Maynard in Last Vegas.  

The Problem:  My attempts to play golf before have been few and far between.  I've bought a bucket of balls and taken some swings but never any formal training.  Basically, I've never played more than one hole much less 9 or 18.

Why:  I'm old (36) and I need to live down the past of contact sports and try to play this mundane, ridiculous and high society sport.

Prediction:  I believe that I can keep a 8 stroke average in 30 days and possibly beat 20% of the field.   Bold prediction?  Not really, I intend to expose the perception on this sport being 'hard' since only nerds, geeks and rich fat kids dominate the sport.  Everything is hard for them.  Not to mention the fact that if golf clubs and courses were free for most kids like football and soccer then we would've never heard of any 'Tiger Woods' or that stiff Phil Mickelson.  If you take an athletic person - like me - then this should be rather simple.  Yes, some foreigners are good at this sport but that goes more to the point that this 'activity' (not really a sport) is just an obstacle much like ping pong or shuffle board.

Let the games begin.