go on. be a tiger.

i consider myself smart cookie, but there are just some things that have to be taught. this weekend it was golf. having never picked up a club in my life, i allowed myself to be signed up for a golf tournament my client is hosting for a charity fundraiser. paired up on a team with the top partner on my project, i have to admit my hands clam up with sweat with the just the thought of making a royal fool of myself on the green. what was i thinking??!!

with the tourney only 2 weeks away, i knew i better get my butt in gear and practice practice practice. fortunately, my hubby is an amazing teacher in any subject he knows well - which is a many. i brought up the idea of heading out to the range friday evening, and he jumped for joy. finally, our interests aligned! so we packed up his clubs and headed to east potomac park , just south of the jefferson memorial, and home to the oldest mini golf course in the united states. the golf and tennis facilities there are really nice, easily accessible and reasonable in price (shocker).

for $12, we got two buckets of 51 balls and found a spot in the driving range. with painstaking patience, stephen explained the form, stance and swing, step-by-step. as i flubbed one ball after another, he never once got frustrated but continued to pin point my areas of error. elbow straight, lock it. grip loose, wrists cocked. hook your fingers, align your thumbs. knees bent, lean forward. arms straight, follow through. and most importantly... head down, relax; head down, relax; head down, relax. arrrgh - who knew hitting a ball could be so complex?!

after while i started to get the swing of things and i was able to send the balls a-flying - *almost* reaching the reagan national planes taking off and landing over the potomac. yeah, right - although the ascending/descending planes certainly made a pretty backdrop, if you can ignore the roar of the engines. :P as the sun set on our efforts, i was starting to feel more and more relaxed about my upcoming golf event.

we returned this morning to practice that swing once again, except this time we hit from the 2nd level. at this vantage point, you could not only see the washington monument to the right, but the top of the dome of the jefferson as well. very nice. with the sun beating down upon us, i took my hand at swinging solo without stephen's constant critique and affirmation. i think i've got the 9 iron pretty much down, but i definitely need to work my way up to the drivers.... what a frustrating and rewarding game this is! you change one thing in your stance and it can throw everything off.

i still need a few more practice rounds at the range, but at least now i feel confident that i won't completely embarrass myself out at reston national. and the even better news is that we're playing captain's choice, and i'm slotted with the highest handicap, but why do i feel like i have something to prove? it's like i want to turn into tiger overnight...with all the glory of his 60th pga victory! somehow i must have taken accenture's slogan "go on. be a tiger." to heart. afterall, this tournament is technically work-related. ha!

fortunately, my favorite teach keeps me straight - i'm just a beginner to game that haunts all who play. just relax, have fun and you know you'll be coming back for more, he says... oh boy, what have i gotten myself into?!