As an homage to the boys at No Laying Up, I’ve decided to take this writing and make it more personal through the use of their GHIN and Tonic format. I enjoy writing about pro golf but it started to feel like I was going through the motions spitting out stories so I wanted to challenge myself. With this I’ll be running through both some personal golf stories and personal takes. 

Real Deal: https://nolayingup.com/blog/ghin-and-tonic-vol-23-neil

GHIN

I was playing well but nothing crazy out of the ordinary. I had just made a 2 putt par on the par 3 7th hole to stay at even par on the day after a bit of a roller coaster first 6. I stepped up to the gettable short 8th and went and got it. After a short chip shot and a dripped in 15 footer I could see the gears turning towards a great round. After making the turn and birdieing the first three I was officially in that mode. Golf felt easy and with my new spider putter, hitting cups felt like hitting water after falling out of a boat (stay tuned for an article about the flatstick journey). I kept the pedal down from there. By the time the final putt rolled in, I had plotted my way to a -3 69, cashing 7 birdies along the way. Don’t get me wrong, I play this good far less than I’d like, but I do know it’s in there waiting to be unlocked. Playing high level golf is a quite delicate dance between hyperfocus and mindless flow, between expectation and acceptance, and between aggression and patience. Or maybe it’s between taking it this serious and realizing I’m just hitting a ball with a stick then chasing after it. It’s an exercise in balance and while seemingly mundane from the outside looking in, a thrilling one at that. Now more about the significance of this round. 

After graduating from UVA this past spring and with no more organized club golf to play, I have found myself thirsting for competition. And unfortunately, the Northern Virginia golf scene hasn’t been able to quench that thirst. It’s an egregiously overpriced region for golf that quite frankly lacks soul as much as it does quality golf courses. There’s not that many golfers hungry to test their game on a public stage. Maybe that’s harsh but go spend one weekend down in Charleston and play the Muni with regular Eli Sachs and you’ll find yourself thinking Northern VA golf just ain’t up to par. Fortunately though, I was able to satisfy a little bit of that craving by playing in the South Riding Beat the Pro 4 ball tournament. It was not much more than a hit and giggle, but it was something to play for. After the aforementioned round and some help from a top tier partner, Mr. Chase Hutson, we emerged victorious. Winning is fun. 

Tonic

It’s been prime sport watching season with my beloved New York Yankees making a run to the World Series, as well as being squarely in football season for both College, my personal preference, and the NFL. But man was it a bad weekend to be a team the Coritz family was rooting for. After watching the yankees get walked off after a series of preventable mistakes, UVA and Navy football both got absolutely pantsed on Saturday afternoon. As deflating as deflating losses get for all three. As expected, the yanks came out flat a day later and we now sit behind 2-0. A day off before heading home to regroup in New York is much needed. Minor setback for a major comeback. After a weekend like this it’s easy to try to distance from the results and say why do we as fans even invest in these games we have no control over. But just like winning is fun, caring is fun. Freddie Freeman ripping Yankee fans heart out of our chests will only make the eventual wins sweeter, just as the years of mediocre UVA and Navy football will make the years of success that much sweeter as well. It’s all part of the process. 

Also on the dockett today is Halloween. It’s the time of the year you start seeing pumpkins on porches, skeletons and ghosts littering yards, scary movie advertisments following you around, and the beautiful fall foliage. I will start this off with a confession and important preface, I’m not a huge Halloween guy. At my age I don’t particularly love costume parties, I despise scary movies, and to be honest I don’t even really love candy. All this to say, the take I’m trying to get across here is that I think Halloween is a children’s Holiday. It’s for kids getting to dress up and the community coming together with a fun tradition of dishing out candy and just the right amount of spooky. I might come off like I hate fun, but for me it’s just a bit odd if you’re a grown adult and a Halloween is your thing. If you want to play pretend, head to disney world. 

Also, wanted to throw out some shows, I’ve been watching recently. After a brilliant recommendation from our editor in chief, Katie, I was enthralled with the Perfect Couple on Netflix. I’ll be the first to admit I’m a sucker for both cheesy and whodunnits, and it was a perfect blend of both. Great show. About as far on the spectrum from that is a podcast I rolled through recently. The Real Dictators series of episodes covering 20th century Spain of which I previously knew nothing about. It actually recommended on the real No Laying Up version of this and it was downright wild. Everybody knows the dictators of the Axis Powers and Stalin as well, but Francisco Franco is the forgotten man in that bunch. Like Neil says in the link above, it’s recommended if you’re into history.