Golf on the Brain

Posted Feb 17 2010, 04:58 PM by Cathy Erickson
As I stepped outside at the end of my work day I was greeted by a bright sun and an unusually warm breeze on my cheeks...it honestly felt like golf weather!!  The thermometer in my car said 46 degrees...almost twice as warm as the last time I hit golf balls.  It was a welcome surprise.  Of course it's only February and we've got our share of snow, but for a few moments I let my mind wander and I thought about swinging my driver.  Then I called a favorite golf pal and asked if he wanted to go golfing.  It was great to talk because in the off-season it can get much too long in between visits with golf friends.

I checked my fantasy golf standings and realized that I lost all of the ground I had made up after the big Steve Stricker win last week.  Over at Kerplookee I totally whiffed on my predictions - being the only person not to choose Dustin Johnson.  Whoops!  I'm also way down on on the standing after one week.  This week we've got all of the players who aren' t in the WGC match play, which means you've got quite a few guys you may have never heard of.
 
One guy I have heard of is Erik Compton - he is playing in Mexico this week and I went out on a big limb and put him on my dark horse list - Go Erik!!  I also went a little "old school" and added Steve Elkington...it would be great to see him with a strong finish.  I also decided on David Duval, we'll see if he can ride the wave of his success at Pebble Beach last week.
 
Speaking of Pebble Beach, I was able to watch a little golf this weekend in between cartoons with my 19-month old nieces.  I loved it when Bill Murray took an inflatable chair from someone in the gallery.  But Pebble wasn't without its pain...watching Molder and Goydos make some high scores was tough to watch.
 
A few of us have put a little wager on the WGC this week - and I've already found out that I'm horrible at picking the upsets!  And of course my winner is none other than Steve Stricker!  But I see as I type this he needs to make it through the first round!  (all square through 16)
 
Well, my brain isn't totally full of golf...it's Olympic curling time and I am rooting for Team USA!!  The teams are struggling, but I'm hopeful that we'll put some wins up in the next few days.  It's an unofficial fact that a lot of curlers are also golfers, so all golfers should be watching some curling!
 
I'm also beginning my planning for a trip to Nashville in April - the golf clubs are coming with, so I need to find some good (and reasonable) places to play.  Feel free to share any Nashville/Southwest Kentucky area golf ideas you have!
 
Well, time to watch more curling...and to regroup and root for my players that made it through the first round of the WGC.  GO Steve Stricker!!
 
Update:  Steve Stricker LOST in round 1 of the WGC...oy.  My bracket is crippled in 2 of the 4 groups.  Besides Stricker, I had Kenny Perry going to the final 4-ouch.  Now my only hope is Ernie Els making it to the finals!!  Men's Curling...LOST in an extra end - ouch.  Team Erickson also lost in curling last night...ouch.  Wednesday was a rough day for me!
 
Update #2:  My WGC bracket is in critial condition.  I have only 1 guy left to make it to the final 4.  And neither of my final 2 guys are still in it...I'm completely out in 2 brackets (DANG you Ernie Els!!!).  This is not looking good!  USA curling - still doesn't have a win...my heart can't take many more tight matches we end up losing.  Team Erickson, though, finally broke through with a curling win last night.  And how about Erik Compton!  -4 on day one in Mexico!  Things are looking up!!

Filed under: Erik Compton, Steve Stricker, Curling, Pebble Beach., Dustin Johnson, WGC, winter