Oh Lorde ! I’m kinda over getting told that I bring bad luck everywhere ……… So there.
And I’m tired of 5am wake ups, traveling through morning traffic for ages, for the same attitude and slipping scores in the same brutal and unrelenting Summer heat. The days are long. With the timing of the age groups this summer I go straight from 9 holes with Rob to 18 holes with Bear and we return home 11 or 12 hours after we left in the morning. This morning we left by 6 am and made good time until 3 lanes of freeway traffic closed down for an accident about half way there necessitating a detour and us walking straight on to the tee box. Not ideal.
Our rounds seem to have fallen into a rather predictable pattern. He starts pretty well but at the first sign of struggle he’s mad and its my fault. We then regroup at some point and finish quite happily regardless of score. The slippery slope started somewhat early this tournament, literally on the 2 tier green on the Par 3, second hole. Tee shot left short but a good chip put it up next to the hole but balancing precariously on the slope. The ball considered sticking but gravity got the better of it and down it rolled to the bottom of the green. The next putt didn’t quite get there and rolled back down again. A hard putt sent it past, but too far past for comfort. Return putt sent it back down the slope to the bottom of the green. Oh, the absolute agony of a sloped green and a player that is not well practiced in the art of the lag putt.
Golf is a rhythmic game with ebbs and flows in heart-rate, concentration and luck. The good players manage to ride these tides by keeping a steady temperament and even keel. We look positively bi-polar out there in comparison.
As it turns out, it was a round of constant ebbing. Rob made it very clear to himself primarily, and to me, that he plays better without me around, at least that is what he believes. What I believe is that you attract what you think about. Anger attracts more anger. Bad luck attracts more bad luck. That’s what I tell him and …… well you can imagine what he feels about that! And you can imagine what I feel about the following self-fulfilling prophesies that he constantly feeds himself : I’m playing so badly ……..These greens are so confusing ….. I really do not have a chance to make a birdie on this hole ………
Let me tell you : Rob can hit great shots and is a seriously nice guy – until the slippery slope hits on a golf course and mom is on the bag. In this case he turns into Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde – whichever is the one you don’t want to be around !