The Wait is Almost Over

Kathy and I have been in Prague for almost 5 years. That means we have gone through 5 winters without golf. It starts to get cold in late October and by mid November you are looking for one or two nice days to squeeze in the last round of golf for the season. Then it is nothing for almost four to five months. Most of the courses close during the last week of November and don’t open again until April 1st. There are places in Prague that you can play during the off season, and they stay open all year round. But, they have winter greens – or it is just too cold to enjoy a round of golf. There are even a few indoor places that have full screen golf. So you  can play a round of golf on any course you want and enjoy the afternoon in a warm environment. But that is not golf for me.

I handle the winter by putting my clubs down. Thats right. I put my clubs away and don’t even look at them. The first few weeks are hard but it is even harder a few weeks before the season opener.

A few things happen when I stop playing. First, I give my body a rest. I am getting older and golf does stress my lower back a little. My elbow aches some and I am worn down a little by the end of the season. I think it is because I routinely play a few times a week. There is no time during the golfing season that I turn down an opportunity to play a round of golf.

What I do to get ready was a stroke of luck. (Get it, stroke). During our first December in Prague I was lucky enough to win a few free lessons with Edita. She was Miss Golf in 2015 in the Czech Republic.  As part of a fund raiser she donated her time and some lessons for charity. I bid on the package and won. And that’s how I changed the way I approach the beginning of the golfing season. As I said, I take off the winter by not even looking at my clubs. But, as the new season gets close I know that I am not going to be as sharp as I was at the end of the previous season. So I decided since I had these free lessons with Edita I would take advantage of the situation and schedule the lessons for the month before the course opened. 

Edita was new at instruction. However, she is a very good golfer. And since has evolved into a very good instructor. Our first lesson was a feeling out process.  But afterwords I was very confident that Edita would be able to guide me on the path to a good start in the new season. Boy was I right. She was able to quickly identify a couple of things that needed to be sharpened up. She was not interested in changing my swing – I already had a good base. Her advice gave me some confidence and got me excited to start playing in the month to come. The anticipation for the season was building and building. Then it happened. The first round of golf. Of course everything that Edita worked on with me was going through my head. And every bad shot was analyzed as if I was the instructor for myself. After a few holes I started to settle in. It just kept getting better as the round went along. My swing was smoothing out. The shots were going where I wanted them to go and the round of golf turned into a season of quality golf play.

Of course because of the seasons here, all good golfing comes to an end. And the cold wins out every year. For the next few years I contacted Edita a month before the golfing season started and took 6 to 8 lessons. And each year I felt ready to play a solid round of golf. But, just as important my body felt ready to play a solid round of golf. Sadly, this will be the last year that Edita will be coaching me. I wish her the best in all things. I hope to continue lessons once a year. It’s a game changer.

Now I am about a month away from this next golfing season and I am going to give Edita a call. I am anticipating a few changes. Small ones of course. I am also very excited to get my clubs moving. The golf season is a special time of year for me. I love to be out on the course enjoying what is around me and seeing how my game interacts with the course. I love the walk that is interrupted by an effort of perfection. I love being around people that are just as passionate about the sport as I am. I just plain old love golf. And I can’t wait to get this season started.

Written by: Marc Festa We are 18 Holes and Counting.  Fairways and Greens.