In the I'm-not-as-young-as-I-used-to-be category, I managed to injure my right quad after sprinting to half-court and back on a basketball court. It felt a little tight right after the sprint, and then progressively got worse until I wasn't really able to get up and down the stairs of my house the next day. I gave it a full 2 weeks of rest before attempting to golf. I jumped in head first and booked an 18-hole round, not knowing if I could even walk 9 holes. I had a strategy: I figured I would have half a chance of completing the round if I rented a pushcart and played the forward (white) tees.
The round got off to an auspicious start- a perfect high fade right down the middle of the fairway followed by a three-quarter 8-iron to 5 feet, and a made putt for birdie. I hit it to 6 feet on the next hole, but missed the putt on the high side. Then the rust started to appear. After a perfect drive, I cold-topped a 1/2-wedge shot into a short par-4. I hit a very thin 9-iron that somehow carried the water on the next hole, a challenging downhill par 3. From then on I was either hitting perfect shots or nasty half-topped clankers. I was driving the ball well, though, so I kept the ball in play. When I managed to string together 2 or more solid shots, I made easy pars along with birdies on the two back-9 par-5s.
I knew I was only a couple over par heading into the last hole, a tough par 4 with water down the entire right side. I've made my fair share of double-bogeys or worse on number 18. A solid tee shot is the key to making par. As the temperature dipped into the high 30s I hit a soaring draw that flew about 240 in the air (that's definitely maxing it out for me). I realized walking off the tee box with my pushcart in tow that I would normally be much more fatigued by the 18th hole. When I carry my clubs, I can all but guarantee you that I'm not going to hit my longest drive of the day on the last hole. There I was making a routine par after hitting a wedge into 18 to shoot 76. Maybe there's something to this whole not carrying your clubs thing....
