I've always loved following golf dreamers. Over the years I blogged several times about stories of those working their way to make golf their dream, and I was a huge fan of the Q-school process (before they changed it) because there were literally hundreds of dreamers working towards goals imagined. After spending the week uploading several years worth of old posts from my time at Tees2Greens, I re-read several posts about some of those dreamers and I thought I should follow up on some of those names and stories.
1 Comment
Happy New Year! It's Crystal Golf Ball time again!! I'm optimistic about following the PGA Tour again after feeling a little disconnected this past year. I've got my accounts set up for Fantasy Golf and I've been reading up on some of the new players on tour....but as you know, my heart often wins, so you'll probably be seeing some of my old favorites, too. Let's get to it!
I find it so interesting that dates, milestones, or events give us the opportunities to clean the slate or start anew (I'm trying to avoid the dreaded new year's R-word). I cannot tell you how many times I've said, "next week I'm going to..." or "starting tomorrow I will..." My co-workers can attest to how many times I've said, "As soon as this project is over I'm going to get my life organized!".
But as I sit here (so grateful that I'm able to blog after some technical issues), I must acknowledge that I've failed more times than I can count on so many things I had either hoped to accomplish or wanted to improve....both in life and golf. It's a cold December morning in Minnesota and on days like this my mind tends to wander back to summer and golf! And as we see another year come to a close I also think back to my yearly predictions. If you have followed my yearly crystal golf ball posts you probably know that these are usually more entertaining than accurate, but on occasion I have some good guesses! I'm cringing just a little to read what I predicted because, honestly, this wasn't a year where I followed the PGA Tour very closely. So I apologize in advance if my crystal ball is more horrible than usual - I'll be researching as I go, so let's get to it!!
As per tradition, I will do the Majors first. You know who I want to pick for the Masters. I mean I REALLY want to, but even though he has recently had surgery and hopes to be 100% this spring, I'm going to forego my obvious heart pick and go with my other heart pick - Matt Kuchar. Kuchar held a share of the lead in the final round in 2014 but just couldn't keep it up going into the back 9. He's SO due for a Major and I think this Georgia Tech grad would be a perfect pick for 2015. Well, this didn't go well! Kuchar made the cut but ended up with a T46 finish at +2...he had 3 even par rounds and a 2nd round 74 which never got him rolling. As I'm sure you remember, it was Jordan Spieth who donned the green jacket with a 4-stroke win over Mickelson and Rose. I'm not going to lie, I did give Spieth a standing ovation in my living room...it was a great Masters!! Each year when October rolls around, I'm usually feeling a sense desperation as our golf season in Minnesota is coming to an end. Some years I might find myself playing into early November (and there was that one time in December!), but sometimes Mother Nature closes the window of opportunity sooner rather than later. This year has been a great Fall in northern MN and just yesterday I made a quick road trip to Giants Ridge...it's usually a goal to get there at least once a season, but it took me until yesterday to find the time to go. And it was so worth it!!
The September/October time of year is also the ending/beginning of the PGA Tour season. I'm still not sure I've accepted this new "wrap around" season, but I think it's here to stay. I'm not sure it's a whole lot different than it was before other than the events in the fall now count towards FedEx cup points for next year, which helps what used to be the fall finish for those players trying to get into the Top 125 and keep their card for next year. (If you know me you can guess I'm still a bit bitter about the loss of Q-school and the Fall season, but I'll save that for another day!) With Labor Day just around the corner I'm reminded about one of my favorite golf days ever - lots of memories come to mind as I re-read this. (And thanks to the folks at Tees2Greens.com for letting me download all of my old posts). It's a long one, but it totally makes me smile all over again. I hope everyone has the opportunity to have days like this on the golf course..."Livin' the Dream" as Steve Anderson would say. We all find ourselves out on the golf course for different reasons and with different people depending on the day. Today, I had the great fortune to play golf with four awesome women at an event to honor our friend Steve Anderson who passed away a few months ago. It all came about at the last minute for me. A few days ago one of my favorite golf pals, Deb, sent me a note saying they were short one person for the event and wondered if I could play. My work life has been a little nutty lately and I just wasn't sure if I could commit to taking part of the day off, but I told her I'd see how my day went, and if I got a lot accomplished I would make it work. By the end of Wednesday I thought I could swing it so I said yes...I knew it was just what I needed after several weeks of feeling overwhelmed.
Shoot...again it's been a month since I've posted. It's not that I don't think about writing and sharing thoughts about golf...I do! But life sometimes gets in the way, and I guess it takes a trigger, like the US Open, to get me back to my writing happy place!
I can't believe I didn't post anything following the 2015 Masters win by Jordan Spieth. But as usual, Masters weeks takes a lot out of me! Even though Spieth was in the drivers seat all of Sunday, I was exhausted by the time the Green Jacket ceremony was happening. My Masters tradition of watching it alone at home stayed in tact and there was barely time to have my lunch and snacks since there were so few commercials. I suppose Masters Sunday could have been boring for some, but I think part of me wondered if Spieth would be able to withstand the pressure of it all and seal the deal. Having Phil Mickelson in the mix was fun for me and all of his fans, and honestly, having Justin Rose trying to make a charge was fun, too. But the truth is, I was thrilled for Spieth. He's a great golfer and a great ambassador for the game, and he seemed to love every moment of it, too. He received my standing ovation in my living room and when he went to Harbour Town the next week I had even more respect for him. The Masters lived up to my expectations, and more!
Note: I wrote this back in 2009 after being offered a blog spot on my favorite golf message board, Tees2Greens. Happy Memories and still rings true today. So on Masters Saturday and the opening day of Lakeview National, I'm thinking about Bob. What About Bob...
Written By: Cathy Erickson on Mar 17 2009 While still in the last few weeks of the golf "off season" my mind wanders to golf people, places, and things that have influenced me. There are many that come to mind, but lately I've been thinking about my friend's Dad, Bob. Bob is what I would describe as the "classic golfer". He had his ‘regular guys' that he played with, was active in the leagues, had respect for the rules and the courses he played, and he wore his passion on his sleeve (literally, too - he had great golf clothes!). Bob was also one of those guys who could pull off the Greg Norman straw hat (now that's a classic golfer!). He didn't need the latest and greatest of everything, but he invested in clubs that would best suit his game. (He was the one who got me hooked on Callaway, his "go to" club was his Heavenwood.) You know that feeling you get when you see the Post Office, UPS or FedEx truck pull up and you know they are bringing a box to your doorstep? ( Actually, that happened to me today! - new golf shirts!) That same excitement and anticipation is how I feel as Masters Week approaches. The Masters has been my favorite week of the year ever since I was rooting for Greg Norman in high school...I still remember that fateful Sunday and friends actually calling to see if I was okay. Ah, the Masters.
|
AuthorI love golf and I love to write, so I can't think of anything better than having a happy place like this to write about golf to my heart's content. Thanks for joining me! Archives
April 2021
Categories
All
|