Outside, the wind is howling. All but the most stubborn leaves have fallen off the trees. Winter approaches. Inside, I sit before the glow of my computer screen. A cup of coffee rests nearby, cooling faster than I'd like. It's been a month since my last round of golf, as autumn temperatures have not been conducive to playing. There were a couple of days when temperatures reached into double digits, but it wasn't enough to coax me onto the fairways and greens. The last of these days was Saturday. Instead of playing golf, I took advantage of the mild weather to put the winter tires on my car. It was a more productive use of the time, I figured.
2013 was a challenging year for my golf game, but then again, so were the two preceding seasons. I began the year hoping to return to the form I displayed in 2009-2010. Instead, I continued a downward trend that now sees me at the level I displayed when first taking up the game. I played 31 rounds this year, equalling my total from the previous season. It's a decent number, but not enough to keep my game sharp. When my game was better, I was playing about 50 rounds per year. Besides playing less, I also fail to practice on a regular basis. Living in the city, it's a trek just to reach a practice facility.
