Gill

I began playing golf as a young teen in the early 1960's.  I played sporadically, on and off several years at a time with hand-me-down right hand clubs until I was about 35YO.  Then, I quit playing until I reached 65YO and nearly 300 lbs.  One day in the late Autumn, I decided to do something about my weight, wanting to enjoy my family in my senior years, instead of just prematurely ballooning myself into a coffin.  I went out and bought myself a set of left-handed Tigershark Chinese glow-in-the-dark beginner clubs for $250 for Christmas and also a used Sun Mountain push cart from Ebay.  In the following Springtime, I began pushing my clubs around, hacking left-handed at the ball.  115 strokes over 18 holes was a good score.

The Tigersharks are now retired.  With experimentation, I filled the bag with various clubs that work for my game.  I built up a nice collection of putters and have found a few favorites.  Today, playing and pushing the cart nearly every day of tolerable weather, I weigh 235 lbs. and am going DOWNER! - still losing.  I have a goal of getting down to 2/3rds of the man I used to be and earning a 10 stroke handicap.  I will get there or die trying.

In my fifth year of left-handed Golf, I now drive 195-225 yards regularly, often driving farther than most of my younger, right-handed peers.  My putting is dead-eye excellent and getting better and better.  My pitches and chips are steadily improving.  My irons and fairway hybrids are my weakest, least consistent shots.  But, I will get these working, too.  I broke 90 this year.  I will threaten to break an 80 score next year, COVID or not.  70 times around the Sun now and still pushing on the rotation of the planet.

Among many interests, I truly love the game of Golf, the fresh air and the exercise, the scenery, the camaraderie of my many golfing friends, the never-ending insults, the multitude of frustrations, the sore knee, the callus on the inside of my right thumb and, not the least of all, the patience of my wife.

1. How long have you been playing golf? What’s your handicap or normal score? Answered.

2. What do you love about golf?  Answered.

3. What brings you to MyGolfSpy? Do you already know any other Spies?  Found the site.

4. Where are you from? What is your home course?  Pasfield Park Municipal, Springfield, IL

5. What are the best and worst things about golf in your region?  Inexpensive to play. Many courses to play.  Good competition.  There really are no "worst" things.

6. What do you do for a living?  I am a semi-retired Real Estate Broker/Developer who morphed into a Professional Landman in the Oil Business.

7. How’d you pick your user name?  It has always been my middle name.