The quest formally begins...

... on a massive low note. Sunday I skipped church to go golfing with my dad. We met at a place called Chestnut Ridge, which is between where each of us live. It's a very nice course, although a bit pricey for me. Dad usually pays. There is another course there, Tom's run, which is even more expensive, but rated slightly higher. The course is usually very well maintained, although it can be a bit soggy in places. The highlights for me are the eleventh hole, a 339-yard par 4 that begins with a severely elevated tee. It plays over a portion of lake, with additional water off the right. It's the ultimate temptation hole. Even for a decent amateur, the green is reachable with the elevation change. I hit a low draw, which barely would have gotten off the ground on a flat hole and still managed to be in the fairway at about 240 yards. However I'm sure that water has swallowed many a slice that resulted from a swing that had a little too much "Watch this!" on it. Holes 14, 15, and 16 go par5, 3, 5 and wrap around a picturesque pond with a stone wall and cattails framing it. Here the course opens up from a typical Northeast tree-lined routing to a links type of feel.

So, given that I was playing with my dad, and on one of our favorite courses, I should have had a great day right? Wrong! In trying to fix my swing, I have managed to destroy it. Even when I hit a good shot, it went wrong. Twice I underestimated my shot and launched a pristine gap wedge over the green. Add some atrocious putting and I scored a 115, one of my worst scores in a significant while. This gives me a tidy 41.0 handicap, using the Swingkeeper page at Sir Shanksalot. Sir Shanksalot is a great site, with advice, drills, a handicap/statistics page, and even a place to upload a video of your swing for review by fellow golfers. I will be using the handicap from this site until getting an official handicap. The good news is that with a 41.0 handicap, there's nowhere to go but up (or is that down?)

Stats:
Handicap = 41.0
Money spent = $55
Time spent = 6 hrs.