So a big congrats to one of my all-time favourites in Ernie Els for wrapping up the Honda Classic today. THC is a pretty decent event, and Ernie hadn’t won anything in something like three and a half years. It’s had to have been tough, having all that talent and having had injuries and an “off” game hold him back.
I’ve always admired Els. Not only is it nice to see a guy win after such a long dry spell, he’s also an accessible and easy-going character on camera. It’s hard not to like him. For me, though, it goes a little further: I think of his swing when I’m working on improving my own. That why Ernie’s something of an inspiration for me personally, because there’s a guy who’s pretty much my size that I can really see guidance within the swing of. I swing slowly in a wide, slow arc, and while I’m told my tempo is good I just can’t seem to find the athleticism I feel I need in golf. If I haven’t mentioned it before, I grind at golf – nothing comes naturally – and almost every round seems a struggle. Els makes it look easy, and if it makes any sense, I draw some very real and palpable hope from watching him. His athleticism is a quiet athleticism, if that makes any sense, and if I could find that same spirit within myself in any modicrum at all I’m sure I’d improve noticeably. Ernie’s my guy to watch, and the player who makes me think I could play better.
The season’s already started out west, where Kelowna’s got 10 degree weather right now. I’m itching to get out there with my hope and my quest for my own “quiet athleticism”… and yes, even knowing my frustration level will sometimes be high. I itch for golf in a way that I never itched for hockey season, baseball season or football season when I was a kid. Golf’s something I know I can do, and something that makes me think that breakthrough I need is just around the next Par 5.
I come into this season with a [sigh] 20 handicap. I hope buckling down, reaching within, studying the pros and taking some serious lessons from both a CPGA pro and Boomer himself will knock that down significantly. Yours Truly is tired of floating around 95-100 at the end of a round, and wants to break 90 consistently by the end of the year. I didn’t want it enough last year. Watching Ernie today has re-inpsired me to focus this season, and that’s all changed.
Trying to keep it out of the long grass,
- BC
