Q:Be.Do.

It has been almost a year to the day since JV, Welly and I last played 18 at Indian Valley Golf Course in Novato. I’d like to think that my game has made some significant improvements in the past year, but I’m looking down at our scorecard thinking, “If this were poker, I’d have killed those guys today!”

Three 8’s and Four 7’s make for a decent, if not illegal, full house, or a really crappy 52 on just seven of eighteen holes. The silver lining in that sh*tstorm is the fact that I shot 55 on the other eleven holes, including two pars and four bogeys. I managed to shave 12 strokes off of the last time I played Indian Valley, and I left many strokes out there: seven 3-putts; four OB’s off of the tee; and a host of unforced, often compound, errors.

Highlights included a bunker shot on #5 that hit the pin and wound up 1-foot from the hole, an up & down on #10 to save par while Welly & JV were bogeying, and a chip on #11 to within 1-foot to save bogey.

I’ve been saying it for a year, and it is probably the same delusion that keeps every golfer returning for more self-abuse, but I’m really close to that breakthrough. I’m on the verge of turning the corner, and I’m convinced that soon I’ll be shooting in the 80’s. Points of focus: loose arms at address, and inside path on full swings.

Indian Valley is currently accepting new members, and if we lived in Marin I’d be begging to join. $2,900 a year gets you unlimited, unrestricted golf out there. I could exist on a course that fun, with greens that fast. If I could afford the time.