This past weekend I played my first round of the year at Parkview Golf Everything was going well until I reached green. I can best describe my putting in one word. Bad. I was striking the ball pretty well with a couple of mis-drives here and there. I'm actually happy with my 7-iron right down to the wedges. I made good decisions when inside 130 yards. Even around the green, I had the touch that I needed to get my ball in tight. Not that it mattered because I couldn't hit a 3-footer if my life depended on it. Through 18 I had 3-putted 8 times. Regardless of my "ever-impressive" 103, I still had a great time. I was really lucky being the first group out because while my four-some was finishing up the 18th, I found out that the group behind us were still on the 15th. I guess it pays to check in every day to find out when the course would open. On top of that, the course was completely booked right up to 4pm.
That morning, I learned something about greens and taking care of them. Due to my excitement with playing that day, I had arrived at the course one hour prior to my tee time. To my dismay, the clubhouse wasn't open yet so I couldn't go and have a coffee. So, I decieded to work on my short game on the pitching green. Shortly after, a man yelled out from the clubhouse "Sir! There's frost on the greens, could you please get off." I yelled back, "Sorry!" and shuffled off back to the clubhouse. I went in and asked why it was bad to be on the greens when there was frost. He explained to me that when you walk on the greens while there is frost, you risk leaving black marks with every step, thus, ruining the turf for the season. Go figure, all that work on the greens could be ruined in a heart beat. Maybe that's why my putting was so terrible; the greens were not happy that I had made the mistake of stepping on them when they were not ready. You can bet that I won't make that mistake again.
All in all, a great day for golf with good company, but maybe it is time to look for a new putter.
