Taking a Break from the Fairways

On the morning of Saturday, June 2, I ventured to Peninsula State Park Golf Course for the first time in my life. I carded a 45 on the front nine. That same morning, a few hours east in Ohio, Tiger Woods carded a 44 on the back nine at Muirfield Village Golf Club. Dang, missed him by a stroke.

Although the courses we were playing were far from comparable and his 44 likely looked a lot better than my 45, the similarity remains that neither of us were having a very good day.

Of all the things golf can be, more often than not, it is difficult. For Tiger that day, it was terrorizing. Just two days earlier, his Nike buddy Rory McIlroy shot a 78, claiming he didn’t “have any explanations” for how his round finished.

Though neither of the two struggling pros will spend a moment thinking about anything but golf as they prep for this weekend’s US Open, sometimes the best cure for an amateur’s rough day at the course is to place the clubs in the trunk and say goodbye for a week. Depending on how much you play, it might be two weeks.

Addicts like myself might despise the thought of a two-week hiatus from our favorite game, but sometimes that’s all it takes to get your irons to strike straighter.

Too much golf for an amateur player can turn a properly flying fade into a scary slice. An hour worth of work on the practice range can call for the seemingly necessary overcompensation, inviting a new, daunting draw or hook. The next time you stand over a tee shot, ask the wind where the ball will fly, because neither you nor your playing partners will have much of a clue.

A week or two from golf lets the necessary muscles relax and take a break as well. The professionals who play on TV stay in such supreme physical shape from walking hilly fairways all weekend and precisely, repeatedly moving their bodies. Alas, many of us are professionals; we just choose to occupy a different industry.

A golf break will help you regain or recall the muscle memory built up through the same rounds you’ve used to build your handicap. It will also help you disband any memory of the awful round that prompted this vacation in the first place.

It can be enough time to forget the aggravation of bogey after bogey, but not so long that you forget about the bounces that lead to birdies.

But wait, one more thing before you close the trunk. Make sure to pull your golf shoes out. They probably need a shining. Just the sight of them will eventually force you back to the fairways.