2012: Diary of a golf fanatic

2012 started with mild weather, and I soon started thinking in terms of beating my 2006 record of 324 golf rounds. For me, a normal round of golf is nine holes. I?ve often said I get enough frustration in nine holes to last until next time. Most of the time, I play two or three balls per hole, so I get my swings in!

The first quarter started quietly with all of my golf played at Quail Ridge Golf Course. I would play 24 times in January, 20 in February and 27 in March. Playing 71 of 91 days was challenging, especially on the cooler, windier days. Actually the only thing unusual about the first quarter was that six of my 12 nines braking 40 strokes were in the first quarter.

April included play at several Kansas courses, including Spring Hill in Arkansas City, Colby, Oakley and playing the Echo Hills Course in North Wichita for the last time. The course closed May 1. I had played Echo Hills many times as a sand greens course back in the 1960s. My only other recollection of April is that it was the first month of 2012 that I played every day. Each month from then until the end of the year would include time golfing each day at a course somewhere.

In May Springfield, Colo., Neosho Oaks, Mo., Waterville, and McDonalds in Wichita would provide entertainment and challenges. In May I started thinking in terms of playing 100 days in a row. June provided the largest number of courses played: Six. Some of them were also the most challenging. They included Thousand Hills in Branson, Big Creek and Two Rivers in Mountain Home, Ark., Bogalusa Country Club in Bogalusa, La., Franklinton Golf Course in Franklinton, La., and of course, Quail Ridge.

July, August and September were mostly spent at Quail Ridge with an August round at Bentwood in Ulysses and a September round at Braeburn at Wichita State. I enjoyed the Braeburn 18 with my Pastor Jeff McCaskill and his father, Dan, visiting here from Scotland. During this quarter, I changed my goal to 200 consecutive rounds and forged onward.

July also was the 20th anniversary of the Quail Ridge Golf Course. I arranged a round with Ernie Kanitz on July 17, the opening day of the course in 1992. Ernie, Rod Gregory and I had scheduled the first tee time on that day but played later in the day due to a business conflict. It was a beautiful day with a lot of reminiscing of days gone by. I couldn?t help but think of Rod, the late Floyd Willis and Lowell Hargrove as we played. Those three and I had been a foursome during the first six years on the new course. We played about 47 Saturdays out of the year at various courses but mostly Quail Ridge. The play that day was fun, even though the ball flew shorter, and was a time to remember.

The year?s final golf quarter was spent entirely at Quail Ridge. In October, my MBA students from the Southwestern College golf team encouraged me to try to complete November without missing, and we were able to play every day. December loomed ahead.

The first 23 days of December were fairly easy with extremely mild weather. The 24th was cold and windy, and Christmas Day we were to have one to three inches of snow. The snow passed, but a high of 28 with winds gusting to 35 miles per hour were a challenge. I added an extra shirt and a muffler to place over my face going into the wind. My sunglasses restricted the wind, and another day was added.

New Year?s Eve would be the final challenge. The forecast of ice and snow made that last day seem improbable. However, temperatures of 34 to 36 made it rain and snow. I was able to play golf in the snow for my first time (and I hope the last). Each day of December had been played, and nine months in a row were perfect, 281 days in a row and 346 of 366 days of 2012. Of those 346 rounds, 324 had been played at Quail Ridge and only 24 were played riding a cart. I played 322 rounds walking and carrying the bag. Unbelievable that the weather and my personal health would allow this level of play. After all, I was 68 for more than 10 months of the year.

Chuck Wright usually writes about business for the Courier, but he?s now widening his horizons.

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Source: http://winfieldcourier.com/articles/2013/01/10/sports/doc50ee377c6ea1d335940309.txt

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