ET's Info-Stew

Two weeks from today we'll be boarding a plane to the Big Island of Hawaii! It is an excellent opportunity for me to knock off another state where I played golf. After comparing all the courses I decided I'm playing at the Waikoloa Village Golf Course, which offers a good trade-off of price and quality. At $80 per round it is cheaper by $50 to $100 than most other courses on the island. Man, golf is expensive!

I like to make short-term and long-term goals for golf because it gives me something concrete to strive for. I don't always reach the goals, but if I do I feel like I accomplished something. By making simple concrete goals instead of abstract ones like 'play better', 'try to shoot in the 80s', or 'practice more', I still play well, but I accomplish milestones that I wouldn't otherwise be aware of.

• By May/June 2007, be in a state playing the best golf of my life (rounds in the low to mid 80s in nearby courses). This way I will enjoy myself more in Hawaii.
  

It was a good day for some afternoon golf. Having rained for what seemed like two weeks straight, the clouds finally parted and it warmed up into the sixties. Two days earlier, we spent Saint Patrick's Day at Mema and Papa's, playing hours of poker. The next day, my upper back hurt but I still went to the range, having not hit a ball in weeks. It was a decent day at the range, only because I was out of practice. Later that night we went to a Saint Patrick's Day party thrown by a co-worker, though we didn't stay too late.

Golf has probably been the hobby that I've enjoyed the most over the last few years. I began playing golf in August of 2002 (when I was 22) when I signed up for the 8900 Open, which was an anual tournament run by my department at work. My main goal was to use the tournament as an opportunity to network with fellow workmates, as I was a new hire. After shooting a 62 for nine holes (my first ever round of golf), I was off and running.

I consider myself to be extremely lucky that I found golf at such an early age. Many people take up the game when they are middle-aged and approaching retirement. By then their most atheletic days are behind them and I believe they always wished that had started at an earlier age. I'm getting older, but my game is still improving. I look forward to the many decades of golf left in my life.

My current unofficial but properly computed USGA index: 14.3

My index is based upon the following rounds (Applies indicates whether the round is computed in the index):