Golf Ah, spring. Just saying the word evokes joy. As you hear the first robin’s song in the morning or you see the first tulips peek their heads from your flower beds, how can you not smile? And, as the Russian novelist, best known for his opus War & Peace, sums up in the eight-word epigram above, spring is a time for action and a time to renew. Who said the new year is the only time for resolutions?Welcome back from your winter home and to your home course, or to your regular playing group. This is the time to renew friendships with those who were not so lucky to enjoy your winter sojourn with you. It’s also a time to renew your love for this great game. Speaking of renewal, what are your golf goals for this season? For me, it’s simple: play more golf. I’m ashamed to admit that while I write this regular column, I’m the president of the Golf Journalists Association of Canada and I worked at one of the top golf courses in this country all season last year, I only managed to tee it up a half-dozen times in 2018. Pathetic, right? I hope to at least double or triple that number of games this year. I’ll let you know how this goes in a future column. How about you? Is your goal to also play more? Or, maybe you want to work on a specific area of your game, such as chipping, sand play or putting? As the flowers bloom and the green grass returns, start chasing those goals. Maybe this is the year you want to shoot your age? You are never too old to make goals and to keep improving – or at the very least to renew your commitment to the game and to simply having fun. At the private course where I work part time, we have a member in his ninth decade who still plays more than 100 rounds. Not only that, but he walks and walks fast! Watching him, you might think that he invented speed golf. How is that for inspiration? This spring is also a time to get reacquainted with the different playing conditions of your home courses. Maybe you played in Florida or somewhere else south of the Carolinas on Bermuda (or bent grass) greens, where you had to read putts and what they might or might not do against the grain, where the ball tended to break towards the direction the grain grows. Or, you played desert golf in Arizona all winter long, where out of bounds was Saguaro cacti and sand, not a mature forest of trees. You need to make a few adjustments to the conditions back home. Give yourself time to readjust. Do not get frustrated. Remember, too, to give your superintendent a break. These are the unsung heroes of the golf industry in this scribe’s humble opinion. They use their knowledge and expertise to grow grass but, at the end of the day, Mother Nature is in command. Don’t expect pristine conditions immediately when your course up north opens. Be patient. And, if you see that greenkeeper, thank him or her and the crew for the work that they do to keep your course in tip-top shape. Speaking of top shape. Spring is a time to take stock of your fitness goals andmake sure that your body – andmind – are ready for the golf season. The first thing to go as we age is our body. Unfortunately, it’s a battle which we cannot win in the long run, but we can do our part to stay in the best shape possible. This starts with stretching. Before each round, and before your first swing on the range, don’t forget this important step. Stretching helps to maintain your flexibility and also helps to YOUR ANNUAL RENAISSANCE 40 | www.snowbirds.org
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