1 – Says it all

So, how’s my game? To sum things up, I’m practicing lag putts from 15 feet. What's that tell you?

2 – Don’t sleep on 1-over

It occurs to me on a number of occasions that nothing in golf is more underappreciated than the no-stress bogey.

3 – Keep your goals in check

Therein rests a philosophy that permeates. To respect the no-stress bogey is to treat with greater reverence the occasional par.

4 – It’s a thing of beauty

I’m not suggesting that a properly poured Guinness is essential to the perfect day of golf. What I’m saying is this – even a poor round of golf cannot ruin the joy of a perfectly-poured Guinness.

5 – Sometimes, the mind wanders

When on those times in the middle of the round I start wondering if I put the sock clearly marked “right foot” on my left foot and vice versa, perhaps it should be a clue to snap back into focus.

6 – Painful and insulting

When we go to the polls on the next election day, let’s vote for the only issue that stirs my emotions – tell PGA Tour and LPGA Tour officials they are never allowed to build grandstands within 50 yards of the 18th green. Professional golfers purposely using backboards is stomach-churning.

7 – Maybe this will work

Tempo and rhythm. Tempo and rhythm. Tempo and rhythm. Tempo and rhythm. Tempo and rhythm. Tempo and rhythm. Can typing it provide a sense of osmosis for when I’m on the golf course?

8 – AAA won’t tell you, so I will

Looking for a golf destination that in recent years has seen an array of wildly good golf courses pop up? Consider Aiken, S.C. Seriously. And when 21 Club comes on line, put two circles around Aiken. Maybe three.

9 – Let’s call it quits

Celebrating a major golf championship where the winner holds hands with other people, then runs and jumps into a pond of rainwater had become inane at the old Palm Springs venue. To carry it forward to a new course in Texas where a pond fronts the closing green so you need to build a temporary walk so that the winner and others can carry on this LPGA tradition (word of warning, cannonball it, don't dive) is the definition of contrived. Imagine if they secured the Old Course for this tournament; would they move the Swilcan Bridge forward hundreds of yards for a route over the Valley of Sin, which would be filed with water?