Wednesday, June 1, 2005

I've never had a new set of golf clubs before. Ever. In reality I've probably never played more than a dozen or so rounds of golf in my life, so it really didn't make sense to make much of an investment. Plus the clubs I've been using have great sentimental value - I've been using my grandfather's clubs, which he gave me the last time I saw him just a couple of months before he died, and my dad's clubs, which mean a lot as I know how much he misses being able to play.

There are other reasons that I've resisted getting new clubs as well. I've never liked the sound of metal woods, for one. I can be a traditionalist about really bizarre things and that's been one of them. I have also thought that there just can't be that much difference between an old set of clubs and a new one. Hell, guitar players spend thousands of dollars for a 1958 Gibson Les Paul Custom or even 50's vintage PAF pickups so why shouldn't I play with thirty-five year old clubs? Well, I should have been able to answer that question myself a couple of years ago, when I finally traded in the Jimmy Connors-era Wilson T2000 tennis racket I'd used since high school for an inexpensive Wilson with a head the size of a movie screen. Way more reach, huge sweet spot and about 50 pounds lighter so yeah, it really did make a difference.

So I bit and bought a cheap new set from Dick's last week  - some off-brand with the requisite metal woods and graphite shafts all around. Got them out to the driving range last Thursday and damned if they didn't feel just right. I was actually able to make good contact with the cantaloupe-sized head of the driver and smack a few reasonably straight and reasonably (for me) far. The graphite shafts on even the short irons made for a slightly bigger grip but the light shaft weight made for a really nice swing arc with all the weight in the head of the club. So we're going to hit the driving range a few more weeks, maybe get another lesson for JennySlash, then maybe she'll be ready for Twin Lakes. Or better yet, we'll invite ourselves up to PC's and go terrorize his students on their campus golf course.

Of course, now I guess I need a new putter.

Didn't realize that it'd been a week since I posted, but what's really bizarre is that it's June freaking First! I never seem to see June coming, despite the fact that May's a long month - one that you'd think you'd be ready to see the end of. I suspect it has to do with June being the first month of summer so it's like "Dude - it's June and you have NO IDEA what you're going to do for fun this summer and it's going to be too damn late to get the dog boarded any weekend when anything cool is going on out of town so you're screwed!"  The other month I've never gotten the hang of is August.  I just start getting used to it being June and start getting into the laid back Chapel Hill summer groove thing and suddenly I look at my watch and it's August and it's like summer's over and I only had the kayak out twice and I still haven't fixed the screen door on the back porch and next thing I know it's going to be Hallowe'en. Which is all kind of silly since we don't have kids so we don't have to conform to everyone else's idea of when summer activities have to start and stop and we live in a place where it's warm enough to do stuff outside pretty much year round.

Happy June, anyway!