HeadNut's blog

7/4/2008 Mesquite Nevada

I played some form of golf today. It wasn't "good" golf. It wasn't "bad" golf. It was "meaningful" golf. Let me explain. I was convinced by a close friend to meet a young man, his mother, his golf coach and one of his dear friends. Under normal circumsatnces such a meeting is completely mundane and not worth mentioning in a blog. However, the circumstances and ultimate result of this meeting were and are remarkable!

Matt Snodgrass was dealt a rough hand to play out when he was just nine years old.He was diagnosed with a malignent, recurring brain tumor. Over the next 10 years he would ultimately have 7 surgeries. Now, Nuts, we're not talking scoping a knee here, we're talking about a surgeon rooting around in Matt's BRAIN! (I've had that done twice, myself and believe me it's not the easiest surgery to ever fully recover from.) So, you can imagine that getting me interested in meeting Matt...let alone playing golf in a tournament to support him... was pretty much a (please forgive me for this one) NO BRAINER!

Hello Golf Nuts,

Somebody, please tell me...whatever happened to June? I know we must have had one because the calender says it's now July (and late July at that.) I must have seriously lost track of time!

In all honesty, I was recovering from a brain "proceedure" (which didn't work by the way) and was honestly too tired to write very much. But "stuff" did happen, in fact it was a pretty big golf month.

Tiger winning in a playoff over Rocco "Don't Knock The Rock" Mediate was easily the highlight and there is nothing more I could possibly add that wasn't said by someone already...so I won't.

If you want to read about some of the goings-on in June, read a few of the Golf Nut Forums and you'll be right back up to speed.

JUNE 5, 2008

Any time you need to be reminded what it was like way back when you first started playing the magnificent game if golf, just take a good friend, on who is new to playing golf, out for a lovely day on the links.

"OH THE PAIN, OH THE HUMANITY!" Yes, your day will rank right up there with the Hindenburg Disaster on the classic scale of AGONY!

Right away let me explain a couple of things... First, your heart is in the right place. There is no better way to learn the game (short of lessons, which we will discuss later) than to get out and PLAY. Second, you MUST get over the guilt that you will feel for getting some perverse pleasure from your partner's "learning curve." Remember, at some point YOU were the "Newbie" golfer who provided the scorce of entertainment for your golfing friends. Beyond that you'll actually enjoy these "learning" rounds.

Aloha Golf Nuts,

Yes, I have been a poor leader over the
past month. I admit it. I have played too much golf and traveled to distant
shores instead of manning up at the Clubhouse of the Golf Nut Society. Now, in
my own defense, I was engaged in Golf Nut related activity, to which the
following LENGTHY blog (with pictures) will attest. I beg your forgiveness for
my transgressions and hope you will find the following both interesting and
entertaining.

APRIL 25, 2008

I Gotta be NUTS! Once again (by now you'd think I'd be used to it) the wind was howling on Sunday. My first official tournament in the Golf Channel Amateur Tour and I'm stuck with three things that just wreck my game; high winds, one member of my foursome who thinks he's in the U.S. Open (and in contention) and a hangover!

I got the call on Saturday night, well into my fifth Mai Tai at a birthday party at Roy's restaurant. I was "in" for the tournament in the morning! Ouch! Oh well, with five down it's too late to turn back anyway...

Let me just say that, although the Head Nut played miserable golf (the hole looked particularly small and seemed to move around ...a lot!) Mr. Steve Miller, the Tour Director, did a magnificent job of executing a great event. Right from the begining it was obvious that the Golf Channel Amateur was a class act. The ladies at registration were cordial and efficient. It was these same women who were kind enough to asterix my score with the notation "hungover."

Hey Nuts,

I sure hope all of you are playing more golf than I am at the moment! I have gone since the Sunday round of the Dragon Ridge Member/Member Tournament (more on that later) without playing any golf. OK, that's only marginally true, I did dash out after  yesterday's "Dear Head Nut..." radio show and hack around at the course. You know the kind of golf I mean... no warmup, no range, mostly "slap and giggle" golf. I guess it was better than not going out at all but just barely.

Happy Monday Golf Nuts,

A quick lesson in good Calcutta Management... if you are playing with a partner you've never played with before, especially one with a 0.8 handicap, BE SURE TO ATTEND THE CALCUTTA! Imagine my surprise on Saturday morning when the golf staff at Dragon Ridge asked me for my end of the Calcutta money for our team, which my partner bought the night before, and the amount was $750...for my HALF!

Now, imagine my surprise when I arrive at the driving range and I'm told that the bidding went directly from $200 to $1,500... Jeez, that sure skips a lot of numbers, doesn't it?

Now, I must admit that on day #1 I was feeling pretty good about that bet, as we opened the tournament with a 2-Man Best Ball score of 64... eight under par ... we were tied for the lead and I had barely contributed to the team effort.

Alas, they just don't pay off at the midway point.

Good evening Nuts!

I've had an interesting day. As most of you know, I underwent my second brain surgery within an eight year time span in late October 2006. It was incredibly difficult for me to recover this time and, in fact, I am still recovering to this day. 

I won't bore you with the gruesome details but I am still be treated for Occipital Neuralgia (PROBABLY SPELLED WRONG) This afternoon I had an out-patient "procedure" (I just love that word) called a Right Occipital Neural Block. This delightful process, as I understand it, is where a Surgeon injects a massive dose of steroids, pain killer and something like Cortisone, through your skull and into a muscle within your brain. OUCH!

Actually, I was under General Anesthesia and didn't feel a thing until later. I'm told it will take as long as 3 to 5 days to have results. What I'm hoping is that my head, which now resembles Homer Simpson's, will reduce in size faster than that!

More Later,

"Homer Simpson" Head Nut #0001 

Hello Nuts,

Today I took my eight-year-old granddaughter out for nine holes. Her name is Donovan Delaney Klimko, she is Nut #5000 and she LOVES GOLF!

Every Wednesday and Saturday she is in a kids clinic at Dragon Ridge Country Club. I really admire the teaching staff at Dragon Ridge, I'm not sure I'd have the patience to work with so many small children. I am always surprised when no one gets maimed during the sessions.

When Donovan was finished, she rode with me while I played a quick 9. She's a terrific caddie and so respectful. Everything was, "Yes, Mr. Donovan" or "Whatever you say, Mr. Head Nut." A real pleasure.

Hello Nuts,

I forgot to tell you... even though I did get "SPANKED" like a mangy dog by the Sadekar Sisters on Sunday, they DID fight over me! Now I gotta tell you that does wonders for a Head Nut's ego! Since we played as 3, someone had to ride alone. Well, Little Sis, Seema was the odd-person-out on the front 9, with the promise that she and Nisha would trade places on #10. Only fair, right?

Well, true to her word Nisha removed her bag from my cart on #10 and I put Seema's bag on while Seema was on the tee. We arrived in the 10th fairway all together except that Nisha had left her golf bag on the 10th tee. I've got to admit, I've seen players drive off and have their bag fall off the cart (and I've done that one, more than once, myself)  but I must admit that is the first time I've EVER seen a player leave a tee WITHOUT their bag!

Thanks for being such a good sport Nisha! But what can you ever do to top that!?

We're ALL Nuts,

Head Nut #0001