5.24.22

Hi everyone. It has been about 2 months since my last post. Admittedly, I under-estimated the time and effort that it takes to write a quality blog post, fell off the horse a bit and have struggled to get back on. I’ve been busy with work and of course Julia, but no excuse for not making the time. I think I was a little ambitious with my original goal (1 post per week) and got discouraged when I fell behind. So going forward, I’m not going to put a firm target for timing/frequency of posts, but certainly want to share more than I have recently. With that out of the way, let’s do some catching up.

Golf Update:

Since the last post, I’ve been able to play 5 full, 18 hole rounds, plus 1-2 niners over at Skyway. Rather than do a full round recap of each, I’ll share some of the highlights (or lowlights).

During the last week of March, we took Julia down to Florida to see her grandparents. I’ll write a bit more about the trip later on, but I took it as an opportunity to squeeze in some early season golf. Prior to this point, I don’t think I have played any golf in 2022 above 40 degrees, so just the fact that I was in shorts and a polo was a treat in itself. Sebastian Muni is a delightful little course, only a 5 minute drive from Jack and Debbie’s (my in laws) Florida house. Tee times are readily available, and beers are cheap; its not terribly long or difficult, so its a great place to tune up the game early in the season. One unique aspect of the course is that is borders a small airport that launches skydiving planes. Its not uncommon to look up on the 7th hole and see a swarm of parachutes gliding gently to the ground. Its usually breezy, and the greens were unexpectedly firm the day we played. In fact, the greens were so quick, it took me 6-7 holes to get any sort of feel. The front 9 was ugly - I was +8 through the first 6 holes, which included more than a few three putts. But I settled down around 9, rolled in 3 birdies on the back and carded a respectable 84. Sebastian Muni isn’t much at first glance, but each time I play it, I like it a little more. Its exactly the type of vibe I’m looking for when I’m on vacation - untucked shirts, couple bud lights in the back of the cart, don’t take it to seriously - its supposed to be fun, not stressful. And as a dad, I truly appreciate their sense of humor:

Next up, a Saturday round on Long Island, at Oceanside’s Middle Bay Golf Course

Man, what could have been. One bad hole was the difference between my first sub-80 round of the year and what I ultimately shot - 80 on the dot. But a lot of positive to take away from this round. Early April on the south shore of Long Island is not quite golf weather. With a stiff, steady breeze off the water, temps hovering in the low 40s, and only spotty sunshine, it was probably too cold to play. But I was desperate - as were my equally golf obsesses buddies Bill, Zach and Ed. We layered up, filled the cart with hot coffee and did whatever else we could to stay warm. But by the second 9, my putter was the only source of heat out there. A couple of birdies coming in helped to shut the door on Zach and Bill; we normally play a 2 vs 2 Nassau and Ed and I always win. I could barely keep my driver on the planet, but I hit my approaches as well as I have ever done in a round. Last September, I was fitted for and purchased new irons (Taylor Made P790s), but hadn’t really clicked with them until this round. I probably hit 1 fairway on the back nine, but 6 greens. In a weird way, I think the wind actually helped - I hit some of my best shots when we were headed directly into the wind. In the past, I usually take 1 additional club against a head wind, end up swinging too hard and then not hit it flush. By taking two extra clubs, it allows me to swing much smoother, which usually leads to better contact. Also, lower lofted clubs, with slower speed tend to spin much less than a higher lofted club - which is exactly what I want when hitting into the wind. It eliminates the dreaded balloon ball and generally leads to a more penetrating ball flight. Lesson is - leave your ego out of it, take more club as it usually leads to better shots.

I played 18 holes but for some reason, my App didn’t save the front 9. I shot 44 on the front as well for 88 total

A couple Saturdays ago, we had no plans, and I happened upon a 6:36 AM tee time at Neshanic Valley, so I sprang at the chance to play one of my favorite courses in New Jersey. Consistently ranked as one of the top 2-3 public courses in the state, Neshanic offers three 9s (Meadow, Ridge and Lakes) as well as a 9 hole academy course and expansive practice facility. Its a solid 50 minute drive from Hoboken, but worth the trip, especially when you can get an early tee time (we played in under 4 hours walking, as the first group out). In terms of architecture, quality, and value, it reminds me a lot of a mini Bethpage - all three nines at Neshanic wouldn’t feel out of place next to the Blue/Green/Red courses.

My favorite hole on the property - #5 on Meadow features a Shiloh towering over the green complex

This was one of those rounds where I just could not keep anything going. Any time I strung together a few pars, I was derailed by a sloppy double or triple bogey. It didn’t help that the greens were still in recovery from their spring aeration, especially considering my putting stroke is balky to begin with. But I have to be encouraged that I didn’t do anything well, yet was still able to scrape together a sub 90 round. I feel like my floor has gotten higher over the last few years; I rarely go super low, but I also rarely shoot 90+. Outside of 2-3 nice up and downs, not much to write home about from this round. The highlight may be my purchase of a Somerset County card. I finally bit the bullet and forked over the 200 bucks for the county card, now I have 7 day advance access to tee times as well as discounted rates. I’m pumped because it allows me to get preferred tee times on one of my favorite courses, as well as check out the other county courses I have heard good things about.

I have a few buddies who are total NFL Draft freaks. Each year, for the past few years, they get together for a watch party to drink beers and gamble on the selections. This year, the show was taken on the road to Atlantic City, and since it’s been a while since I’ve seen them, I took a day off from work, and made the two hour drive down to join (thanks Loral!) Bill and I arrived to Caesars Hotel and Casino Thursday afternoon and met up with our buddies Jack, Sean and Rob for the evening. And since I’ve heard great things about AC golf, I figured it was a good excuse to check out the scene on Friday morning. We set up shop at the sports book bar to watch the first round and then hit the casino afterwards. I’m not a huge gambler, but I somehow found myself at the black jack table until 2:30 AM. The good news is that I won about 600 bucks, the bad news is that I showed up for our 9:30 AM tee time the next morning with a vicious hangover. As for the course, the Bay Course at the Seaview course hosts the ShopRite LPGA Championship, and I think it was the first time I had ever played a course that the professional Ladies play regularly. Overall, the course was in pretty good shape, and it was nice to hit off of tight fairways with firm turn (although there were not too many approach shots hit from the fairway…) Despite being only about 6100 yards, the course played much longer, as the wind coming off of the bay never really got below 15-20 MPH. It really made me appreciate how good the ladies are (Celine Boutier shot 66-70-63 here in 2021 to take the trophy) especially because the way they hit the ball is much more comparable to my game then the top men’s players. The men play a different game; I have made peace with the fact that I will never be able to drive it 350 like DJ or spin my wedges like Jordan Speith. But for the most part, I can hit is as far as just about anyone on the LPGA tour, yet they consistently shoot mid to low 60s at this course and I am struggling to break 90. Just goes to show how the scoring is done from 150 yards and in.

Several holes along the water were framed by the AC skyline.

This past weekend, we hit the road early Saturday morning and made the drive to the North Fork of Long Island, specifically East Marion. East Marion is a tiny town sandwiched between Southold and Greenport. There isn’t much actually in East Marion, save for a few farm stands, and a great public track called Islands End. A few years back, my parents bought a home that backs up to the 15th hole, so naturally, IE has probably been my most played course since then. It’s pretty open off the tee, but the greens are pretty undulated and they have really sped them up over the last few years, providing a great challenge for your short game and putting. IE has a ton of variety (5 par 3s, and 5 par 5s) which I love; birdies and double or triple bogeys are equally likely. Many course claim to have a “signature hole” but IE actually does. The 16th hole - a par 3 that can stretch out to +200 yards, runs directly along a cliff overlooking the Long Island Sound. On a clear day, you can see Connecticut, and on several occasions, I’ve come pretty close to slicing one into downtown New London. The 16th is such a great hole because it’s almost an optical illusion. Standing on the tee box, you can really only see the ravine that runs across the hole and not the 50-60 yard runway that leads up to the green. For this reason, you feel like you need to hit a hero shot just to get to the front edge, where in reality, a 160-170 yard shot will likely roll up just short of the green and leave a pretty simple up and down.

I’m sure there will be much more on this blog about IE as its become one of my favorite courses in the world. This past Saturday, I went out there with the normal crew - Billy, Zach and Ed - and we battled to a half point after 18 holes (although this is somewhat contentious as many are saying the 14th hole was halved only due to an improper concession of a 2 footer for par…) As I mentioned earlier, there are birdies to be had but also doubles and triples lurking, and that’s pretty much sums up my round. I was feeling pretty good after birdies at #2 and #6, including a 9 iron to about 9 inches for birdie on 6, and then the wheels pretty much came off. 4 doubles and a triple the rest of the way pretty much negated all the hard work on holes 1-6, and I landed at 90. Somehow played bogey golf, even though I only had 5 bogeys. It’s always a good vibe at IE, and the round wouldn’t be complete without sneaking onto 15th green at sunset with a wedge, a handful of balls and an ice cold beer:

So where does that leave me and how would I assess my play? My current HI sits at 9.3, pretty much right where I started the year. If I had to sum up my play, I would use inconsistent, not only round to round, but often hole to hole. I’ve had really good stretches, where I have played 5-6 holes under par. But also really bad stretches, where the mistakes compound and I’m quickly 9 over through 6 holes. I think inconsistent is better than being consistent at this point, just because it implies there is space to improve pretty quickly. I’ve been happy with my iron play, the next breakthrough will be on chipping and putting, and I am confident I can get there with the weather improving and some more time for practice.

A sub-goal I set for myself this year, is to make 50 birdies cumulatively, across the 2022 calendar year. A couple reasons why I like this goal: 1) It makes me play aggressively. If I want to break 80, I’m likely not going to do it by making 13-14 pars; I’m certainly going to need to pepper in 3-4 birdies. 2) It keeps me engaged in the round mentally, even if I’m playing poorly and will not post a good score. Its easy to check out on a round if you are 16 over through 14 holes, but with the birdie challenge always ongoing, I still have something to play for down the stretch. 3) Its fun to track! I can regale you for hours about how I played certain holes and I can listen to my friend’s birdie stories for just as long. Keeping a running log is cool to look back on (and share on the blog)

What is pretty obvious, is that most of my birdies have come in bunches (relatively speaking), so the question becomes - how can I extend these runs while limiting the big numbers? That’s the million dollar question…

Julia Update:

Today is a big day - my paternity leave has officially begun (10 weeks, I go back to work on 8/1) so I am a full time Dad for June and July. So far, I think its off to a good start; as I am writing this, Julia is successfully taking her morning nap AND I have already made a batch of muffins. I am a domestic goddess.

This is easy! In all seriousness, I have an idea how much work it is to care for a 6 month old baby, and I am sure I will have full understanding by the end of July. I’m excited though; this is something I have been looking forward to since we found out we were pregnant. The reality is, I will likely never get to spend 10 consecutive weeks off from work, exclusively caring for Julia. So I intend to make every day count. I want to look back on these 10 weeks and say that we did something fun every day. Of course there will be tough days or just boring days, not every day can be a party and I completely realize that. But I at least need to try. Even though she won’t remember when she is grown up, I want to make memories for myself. Is that selfish? Maybe, but part of being a parent is enjoying it right? Otherwise, why would anyone do it?

Julia turns 6 months in about a week, and its simultaneously has been the longest and shortest half year of my life. I can’t believe it’s been six months already since we brought her home, it feels like the blink of an eye. Yet, it’s tough to remember life before she got here. There’s a line in a Modest Mouse song - “the years go fast but the days go slow”, sums it up pretty well.

So what have been some of the highlights of the last few months? I will let her show you…

I went on an airplane to Florida