I copied this poem off a wall hanging in a local golf club the other day. There was no attribution.

Life isn’t always fairways
Life isn’t always par
It isn’t always easy
To go from where you are

The rough may oft impede you
On the journey toward your goal
Or an unexpected hazard
Might take a heavy toll

Keep strong your faith and patiences
Midst all life’s ups and downs
And trust your silent partner
Who guides you through life’s rounds

Nice thoughts.

It seems as though Al Gore finally has delivered on his promise of global warming. I was beginning to think that he was just like those alarmists in the 1970s who told us that we imminent danger of being overrun with glaciers in a new ice age.

Today, it’ll hit 90 here in Michigan, and I’ve got a round scheduled for just after work. Then tomorrow the warm front will come crashing down; the temperature will drop twenty degrees. By Friday, it’s supposed to be in the lower sixties.

To be sure, I actually will be glad to see the cooler weather. In fact, I think that 65 to 75 is the perfect temperature for golf. If it’s any colder, I have to start thinking about wearing gloves to keep my hands warm and avoid the sting of a hard ball on a metal face. But as the temperature rises, heat and humidity increasingly come into play—especially for those of us who walk.

And at the risk of sounding like a metrosexual, I much prefer cooler weather clothes, too.  I like playing in dockers and a sweatervest. I think there’s a relationship between how I dress and how I play. Dressing nattily puts me in a businesslike frame of mind; I think I play more efficiently, with fewer wild gambles.

Here’s to the return of fall weather!

It’s a sad day here at Golfblogger World Headquarters: Summer now is officially over.

In truth, autumn has been creeping up on us for some time now. The days of playing until nine in the evening have been gone for weeks. The air is a little cooler, and I played a round in long pants last week. In another few days, I’ll unpack my cooler weather gear: flannel lined khakis, fleece vest, thicker golf gloves and wool hat.

There still are some good days of golf left this fall, but all too soon in Michigan, the snow will fly. Then I will clean my clubs one last time, and put them in the shed until a thaw.

We interrupt your regularly scheduled golf program for a rant:

So here’s what it’s come to in Michigan:

After watching the girls golf team play in poor conditions with outdated equipment last spring, Alpena head coach Vicky Lindsay decided to take matters into her own hands.

Lindsay donated $1,000 of $1,300 from her spring coach’s salary for new golf bags, golf umbrellas and rain gear for her team’s 2007 fall season.

“With the budget crisis and the cutting of teachers, I couldn’t justify the need for the athletic department to pay for new golf bags,” said Lindsay. “So I thought of the idea last spring.” (Alpena News)

That golf coach makes $1300 a season. I can tell you from personal experience that coaching a high school golf team is, at a minimum, a 10 week commitment.  That’s at least three hours of practice a day after school, every day of the week. On days when there’s a match, it’s more like six hours, including setup time, travel, cleanup, making sure the players get home, and so on. There also are Saturday events.

So at $1300 a season, Lindsay was probably making $5 an hour. She could do better at McDonald’s. And then she gives away most of it to the kids.

But she’s not after the money. She does it because she loves the kids and she loves the sport. And that’s exactly what Michigan’s legislators are counting on. They can underfund Michigan’s education system because they know that coaches and teachers will take money out of their own pockets to keep it going. I know dozens of teachers who spend literally thousands of their own dollars each year to buy paper, pencils, and other schools supplies for other people’s kids.

I’ve always had what audiologists call a “profound hearing loss,” but have never found it to be a handicap. And I’m sure that the golfer in the video below feels the same way about his little problem.

Inspiring.

via My Daily Slice