Do you ever have the feeling that your golf clubs have a sixth sense? I think my clubs might.

See, last week, I went to one of the local golf stores, looking at new equipment.

Since my golf clubs are kept in the trunk of my car — and some of them had even been purchased from this particular store — I wouldn’t be surprised if they started talking amongst themselves, knowing where they were from memory. I’m sure, like a dog outside the veterinarian’s office, that just being in that parking lot was making them nervous. What was going to happen next?

Were they going to be traded in?

Would they be pushed to the back of a dark storage room, waiting forever for someone to take them out and play with them again?

Or was she just buying some new balls?

She’s certainly in there for a long time.

Oh my! What’s going to happen to us?

In fact, I wasn’t all that happy with my performance on the golf course and sometimes a change of equipment is exactly what we need to get better once again. I tried out a wide selection of drivers and irons — but to be honest, none of them felt as good to me as what I already have in my bag. But I didn’t tell that to my clubs.

Somehow that little tire-kicking expedition made my clubs decide that they had better perform — and on our next trip to the golf course, they all performed beautifully.

Elbow Springs

Thursday, July 28, 2015 started out without a cloud in the sky and a temperature of +15 C.  It was cool when we arrived for our 8:00 a.m. tee time at the Elbow Springs Golf Club to play the Mountain Nine and the Elbow Nine.

We proceeded to the 1st tee of the Mountain Nine and met our playing partners, Brad and Josh.  Brad was quick to point out that his mother is named Maureen and I knew then we would have a good time with this twosome!  They were hitting from the tips and Josh was very long off the tee — so long we sometimes had trouble deciding what trees he hit his ball into!

I bogeyed the first two holes then, on the 3rd tee box, that’s when my clubs really woke up. That’s a Par 3 of 128 yards. My 6H was straight at the flag and caught the upslope in front of the green.  My chip was good to 3′ and I one putted for a par.

Then bogey, bogey, par, bogey, birdie, par.

The Mountain Nine were finished: 5, 5, 3, 6, 5, 4, 5, 2, 5 = 40

On to the Elbow Nine

The 1st hole is a Par 4 of 302 yards and even though I was on in two shots, I missed my birdie putt. The ball I’m now hitting is a Titleist ProV1– which has replaced my old standard ball, the Titleist ProV1x.  I feel the ProV1 is definitely going further: my drive was nothing short of 200 yards. My driver felt like it was singing in my hands!

 

Bogey, bogey, bogey, bogey – but I was undeterred. On the 6th, I made a par again, followed by my second birdie of the day on the Par 3 7th.

The 8th hole is a Par 4 of 285 yards with a creek along the right side.  My drive went to the right was the fairway slopes that way and I was 120 yards to the green.  My 7 iron (again) was on the upslope in front of the green and I chipped my SW to 4′ and made the one putt.  Par.

On to the last hole of the day.

Even before I stepped foot on that tee box, I knew that if I parred the last hole, I’d be carding my best round of the year – a 79. And that kind of knowledge can either work for you or work against you. The 9th hole is a Par 4 of 346 yards,  my drive caught the right fairway bunker at 180 yards.  My 3 Wood shot ended up at 124 yards.  This time I pushed the 7 iron into the rough.  PW to the green and 2 putts.

Double bogey. My lowest score of the year was not to be.

Last Nine: 4, 5, 6, 4, 5, 5, 2, 4, 6 = 41

Adding the shots all up, I was very happy to have shot my age. A very easy 81.

I was so pleased with my clubs that after my round, that as I cleaned each of them off in preparation for our next adventure, I told them they didn’t need to worry, they were working just fine and they were safe in my bag.

And my clubs are happy they’re staying with me — at least for now.