Tag Archives: golf

It Must Be the Socks

25 Jun

So I played another game of golf on Sunday, this time participating in my Club’s Anniversary Cup. A tournament in other words. I felt that after the last game which was an improvement, I should be on the upward trend. And I am glad to say I was.

It must be the socks I concluded because I gave the Nike shoes another chance and wore thin socks this time. And everything worked. The shoes held up beautifully in the early morning sogginess – a result from rain the night before, and I did not have pruned toes at all after 18-holes. It felt great. The pair of spare socks that I thoughtfully brought along didn’t need to see any action.

And my golf… it was very encouraging. The tee offs were straight, the subsequent shots too and the shot game and putting all worked. Even crossing the water, something I have always feared especially on what I call my phobia holes, was not an issue! Needless to say I am pleased. Extremely pleased.

From here on, I must remember the socks are equally important, not just the shoes and other equipment. When comfort kicks in, a mentally stronger and confident approach to the game will follow.

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Rock Bottom, Part 2

21 Jun

Golf is a funny game. Just when I thought I’d give up the game and just focus on carving, I play a decent game next. This time, it didn’t rain and I opted to wear my Footjoy after the last disastrous game wearing the new Nike shoes. The poor shoes, I should give it another chance.

During the latest game, my shots were good and my putting was impressive despite several near misses. Maybe there’s hope because I had already hit rock bottom the previous game and this game did not plunge any further.

Let’s hope the next game maintains the upward trend.

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Rock Bottom

14 Jun

Last week I hit rock bottom as far as my golfing ability or rather inability is concerned. I have no words to describe. It didn’t even rain and the new Nike shoes which were supposed to help didn’t at all. In fact, it hurt more than helped.

The socks were too thick and caused the feet to hurt, and I couldn’t focus. And then my eyes hurt and I couldn’t focus. My shoulders were so stiff and I couldn’t swing properly. In short, everything did not work out during that game. The only consolation was a few tricky long putts that went in. I know there shouldn’t be any excuses but there were plenty.

Sigh… I can only hope with this rock bottom achievement I should move upwards next because there’s no more room to bottom out even further. If it does at this point, I may just give up golf because there’s no joy in this activity anymore. And carving is looking more appealing because there’s so much more joy to create, see my end results and feel the love when I give them away. There’s no love for the frustration of playing terrible golf.

Will I survive this moment of self-doubt and lack of conviction for the game?

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A Sudden Burst

8 Jun

I have forgotten what it is like to carve balsa having worked on Meranti so much last month. Last night I pushed myself to go back to my Citizens on balsa instead of Meranti Gnomes. And my goodness! It’s so effortless.

So much so, the sudden burst resulted in four new Citizens – one in the morning before going to work and three in the evening after dinner. Yay. Maybe I should stop the Gnomes series for the time being and just focus on Citizens of Gigglesville. After all, their population count remained stagnant at 132 since Apr 24th.

Honestly, working with Meranti wood has aggravated the tennis elbow again. Not a good sign especially if I want to go back to playing golf. I shouldn’t allow this to flare up and if I want to also continue carving I should stick to balsa, a much softer wood. This may be the best balance to have the best of both activities.

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Unfinished and ugly for now but that’s the process

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The Shoe Queen Strikes Again

5 Jun

Guess what? It looks like the Shoe Queen has struck again! It was only in February when I bought a new pair of Footjoy golf shoes and exactly four months later, on June 1st, I bought my umpteenth pair of golf shoes. Honestly, I have lost count but there’s a reason behind this newest purchase.

Lately, it has been raining more often than I can remember for around this time of the year. Despite such weather conditions, I have gone back to playing golf. And sadly, my shoes are a disappointment. They don’t hold up well as claimed and neither do they dry on time before the next game.

The Footjoy has held up only slightly better than both the Adidas pairs. Water still seeps in but toes are not as pruned. The same cannot be said for both the Adidas spike and spikeless pairs. They have failed me with water seeping in midway through the games. By the end of 18-holes each time, I’d end up with soaked socks and pruned toes. Not a nice feeling. Ugh.

Then again, it has been raining cats and dogs every single day and any waterproof shoes would not be able to withstand the soggy conditions on the golf course. I don’t even bother to wear the canvas Skechers golf shoes because I know they would be totally done in.

So I hope this new pair, a Nike this time – waterproof, leather and semi-spiked, will fare better under those extreme soggy conditions. We will find out when I wear it for my next game.

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Bigger and Bigger, Part 2

21 May

The carving seems to have taken a toll on me. Lately with all these bigger pieces that I am working on with Meranti wood which is harder than balsa, I could feel a slight pain especially on the right elbow when I exert some strength. The tennis elbow problem! And this is evident when I try to play golf. Sigh…

When an injury hits, one never truly recovers. The body is weakened, the game suffers and the confidence drops, a vicious cycle. Add in the lack of playing because of my other problems (the Infectious Colitis and the laparoscopic surgery recently), I simply have not had much opportunity to go onto the fairways.

I need to find the right balance to carve and play golf without one activity suffering at the expense of the other.

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A Cough and a Cold Putter

24 Apr

After almost three weeks of R&R, I actually went off to play my first golf game last Friday. Taking time off from work because it’s slow anyway, I decided to go swing my clubs despite having a cough and nasal congestion. In honesty, when the nasal congestion struck, I didn’t want to cancel because I wanted to see my golf buddies more than to actually play golf.

This aside, I saw my O&G doctor twice already, two weeks ago to remove the bandages and last week, a follow-up to ensure the wounds are healing well which they are by the way. The doctor said if I don’t feel any pain in the abdomen while turning my body, I should be okay to play golf.

Having said that, she did advised to be careful to avoid gym routines that focuses on the abdomen area. So my trainer needs to tweak the exercise program when we resume our gym session.

So how did I fare on the fairways? Well with a cough and a cold putter, let’s just say I need to recover from the cough first and then, try to play more to get back into the groove.

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Slow Poke

5 Apr

I have become a slow poke. After leaving the hospital on Tuesday, I find myself walking ever so slowly. Obviously the surgery area hurts, so does the shoulder and breathing, common after a laparoscopic surgery because of the leftover carbon dioxide in the abdomen. 

Thankfully it’s only the right shoulder that hurts and it should subside within a few days while the wound area may take longer, depending on individual. Looks like I have to take things slowly literally. But I should walk more if possible to release all that trapped gas. And I find sleeping at an angle works better than laying flat on my back.

Plenty of rest, no exertion (this means no carving!) and no strenuous activities (no gym or golf until I am fully fit). Maybe now is a good time to catch up with all my reading. Being a slow poke does have some benefits.

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Change in Pattern, Part 2

20 Feb

My hopes for a six hours drive home yesterday was not to be as my estimates were way off! The drive home was just super duper long.

It started out smoothly but only for awhile. Traffic then became so heavy and got worst, culminating with a standstill situation on the freaking highway and a crawl at 10km/h, sometimes 30km/h for a good part of the journey for no apparent reason. Ridiculous. And it rained, making the drive more tiring. All in all it took us nine and a half hours to reach home.

This is part and parcel of Chinese New Year – the traffic crawl besides the food and family. Because it’s only a once-a-year experience, we take it in stride. If not, we’d never go back for the occasion. Thank goodness, we had food, drinks, music, devices, cables and power banks to keep us entertained during the long drive home.

Anyway, enough of the driving ordeal, what’s more important was the activities we did during the four days in hubby’s hometown which was a change in pattern from previous years.

Besides the food and rest, we managed to play two rounds of golf instead of just one round. During the first game at Darul Aman Golf Club, I lost my nine iron and discovered the loss almost immediately. I absent-mindedly left it somewhere on the fairway approaching the green at Hole One. Amazingly I wasn’t too upset and rationalized I did not need it, save for a couple of shots, and managed for the rest of the game.

It was the heat that got to me more than the loss honestly. After the game, we reported the loss and thank goodness, the club was found and returned within a short time. Phew… relief. I had contemplated my options if it wasn’t returned. An excuse for a new set perhaps? Hmm…

The next day, we played at a different course, Royal Kedah Club and after two days of back-to-back games, I’m happy to say there was no pain felt on the limbs. In other words, no recurrence of the tennis elbow. A good sign indeed considering I was using just all my irons for both games. No driver, woods or hybrid clubs at all.

The change in pattern also saw us catching the latest Marvel Comics’ superhero movie, Black Panther which was refreshing and very entertaining. And we visited a plant enthusiast whom hubby befriended on Facebook and got to see his eye-popping huge staghorn ferns at his farm. Hubby bought two staghorns from his new friend and promised to visit again on our next trip.

And this year, we start work on the Fifth Day of Chinese New Year instead of the Sixth Day which has been the norm for us for years. Definitely a change in pattern for the Year of the Dog.

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Lovely blue skies and paddy fields on the right

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One of the many meals the family had

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The big staghorn ferns and the two purchased smaller ferns mounted on wood

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Getting the Priorities Right

13 Feb

My goodness, it suddenly hit me that Chinese New Year is three days away! And I am so not prepared. The customary red cloth is finally up, but no further festive decors in the house because I chose to carve instead!

I have not stocked up my fridge with real food because there’s chocolate and candies hogging the space. And hubby bought drinks to fill the fridge – beer and more beer plus some soft drinks, all of which I cannot consume. Wait a second, I shouldn’t be thinking of drinking any alcohol with my current situation. Furthermore, the drinks are for visiting guests during the festivity! Need to get my priorities right here…

To add to my unpreparedness, I have not even started packing for the trip up North to hubby’s hometown on the First Day of Chinese New Year although I made the effort to pack my golf set. My priorities seem to be skewed.

So this year, the Reunion Dinner will be with Mom and my sibling and his family. Only M1 remains absent as she is still in the US. Nonetheless, it will be a boisterous affair with lots to eat and drink with everyone around but poor me, I have to be careful on my intake in case there’s a reaction. At least I am getting my priority right on this.

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