I woke up worn out today. Between the migraine that started around noon yesterday (and lasted, as migraines do, for several hours) and the stomach troubles that came on almost immediately after finishing dinner (whether they were due to a sudden increase in food consumption brought about by being around parental units, or by the unopened clam in my seafood vegetable soup, I can't say for sure), I was physically beat. Add an emotional weariness from having to be "on" all day Sunday, and I was feeling pretty withdrawn and listless.

We had a 9:00 tee time scheduled at a course in Clifton, so we were all up at 7am to eat breakfast. Mrs. Cho had made a special meal of french toast just for me, and though my stomach was still making snap-crackle-and-pop noises, I did my best to enjoy it. I've never eaten french toast with honey before, but it was very good, and I appreciated the very kind gesture.

In the car on the way to the course I said to Al that there would be no tantrums on the course today because I just didn't have the energy for them. When we arrived (in record time, according to Mr. Cho) at the course at 8:20, we discovered that our tee time was actually for 9:27, so Al and I went to hit some balls on the practice range. That's where I discovered that *not* swinging hard produced better results than swinging for the fences did. It's also where I finally got the hang of chipping.

In the cart on the way to the first tee, I repeated the sentiment that I was going to stay calm and relaxed today. I did, even though I shot a 10 on the first hole (and that was a handicap-limited 10, not a real one; I picked up my ball before I had a chance to putt out). I let the bad shots go, didn't bang my club at all, and rejoiced in the good shots (including a 25 foot putt for par and several great tee and fairway shots). I shot a 126, about average for me on a fairly easy course such as this one, but I didn't really care about the score. It was just fun not caring about *every single shot* as if it were the freaking Masters.

I remember the first time I played golf with the Chos, too, and how uptight I was. (See Lori's Rules of Golf for more info on how uptight I can be.) I couldn't believe it when Mrs. Cho and Al ended up hitting from the fairway at the same time on at least three holes, and if I'm not mistaken, that round was the reason for rule #3. Al explained it by saying, "they're just playing Cho Ready golf. They go when they're ready."

So I came prepared to play Cho Ready golf today, and I was in the perfect frame of mind for it (listless and withdrawn, if you'll recall). I wasn't particularly surprised when Al floored the accelerator in our cart while his mom was still behind us hitting from the fairway (me: "Cho Ready golf?" Al: "yep."), and I was only momentarily startled when Al's dad picked up my ball from where it had landed, to the right of the cartpath and behind a tree, and tossed it onto the fairway. Did I yell, "GOOD GOD, MAN, THAT'S RULE #1!"? No, indeed. I just looked wildly around for a second, and then said, "uh, thanks!"

Posted by Lori at September 02, 2002 08:27 PM