Today I played my first round of golf! Here’s my scorecard:

Not too shabby! I ended up +13 (it was a 9-hole course) and I’m quite proud to say I par’d my first hole (#7). My swing was good and I could consistently get it on the green, but what killed me was my putting (I’ve written the amount of putts each hole took in the upper right corner of each hole’s score). Specifically: reading the greens. I’ve only really been practicing my putting in my apartment, and my carpet’s fairly easy to read. I’d venture to say that I can do that consistently. I’ve been going to the driving range almost every day during lunch, but I’ve mainly focused on my swing, chipping, and pitching, and only a little on putting. All of which was painfully obvious on the first hole when the ball rolled past it and then kept on going. Oh well, now I have something specific to work on.

The nicest compliment I received: I told the two guys I was playing with that this was my first round of golf, and at the end they recommended that I didn’t tell that to people. They thought it might frustrate them too much!

There’s a nice 9-hole golf course a few blocks from my work that I’ve been going to every few days to practice “my game”. That’s an interesting phrase to associate with me, considering most of my friends would say that I have minimal to no interest in sports.

For example: I have DIRECTV Sunday Ticket as well as every other conceivable sports channel and package DTV offers (all for free of course) and I’ve never watched it, nor could I tell you what channel they’re on. I’m sure that causes a few people to groan and then yell profusely at the computer, but did I mention I had an HDTV as well as HD programming? That’s right, unlimited HD sports viewing potential all wasted on me!

But then the other day I actually tivo’d the 2002 British Open, and then…wait for it…wait for it…I watched it. Not only did I watch it, but I found it riveting! Oh god, what’s happening to me?

I now have a new obsession: Golf. About a month ago I thought I’d start playing golf in order to get me out of the office. So, instead of sitting in front of the computer, eating in front of the computer, followed by even more computer, golf might be a good idea to get away from the florescent sirens and back into actual daylight. Little did I know how much I’d like the sport. I’m not sure why I “like” (translation: obsessively think about every minute of the day) it so much, but what’s better than walking around a perfectly manicured park while whacking a little ball with an iron stick. Ah, paradise.