Diary of a Snowbound Golfer

by Jeff Skinner

Friday was a tough day if you live in the Northeast as we were in the path of a massive blizzard that reminded us all that it is still winter in the most painful of ways.   Snowfalls of over two feet were common and some locales had the unpleasant chore of digging out from over three feet of snow.

For a golf nut like me watching that snow falling is doubly agonizing as not only am I faced with shoveling all that mess it also reinforces that spring, and golf is still too far away no matter what Punxsutawney Phil says.

So on Thursday evening I joined the thong of people at the grocery to stock up on supplies just in case the worst happened.  While others carts were filled with milk, water, bread and eggs I concentrated on the necessities: chips, cookies, snacks and limes for my Dark & Stormys.

Friday morning I awoke to a bombardment of weather reports with forecasts of doom for all of us.  I settled in and got ready to pass the time best I could knowing the worst was ahead but optimistic I could handle whatever comes, as long as I didn’t lose power and television and that all important internet.

Here’s an accounting of my day as I dealt with the snow and cold and did my best to avoid cabin fever.

7:00am-9:00am: Of course any real golf fan has to have the Morning Drive on in the morning and that’s just how I passed the time.  Morning Drive on in the background and writing some posts.  And enjoying breakfast.  No snow yet.

10:00-10:15:  Talked to my son up in Syracuse and we chatted about the storm, his new puppy and Pebble Beach.  But answer me this.  What kind of golfer moves to Syracuse, NY, the snow capital of the east coast?  No snow yet.

10:00-11:00:  Watching European Tour on the Golf Channel while I prove to my kids that dad isn’t as tech challenged as they thought.  I was able to download all my music from my iPod back into iTunes (it was accidently wiped out) and my kids had no idea how to do it.  Sharepod is the answer and I was feeling pretty good about myself.  Snow started, just flurries but that would change soon enough.

11:00-1:00:  Second breakfast as we like to say and plenty of Web time.  Spent time on Twitter bitching about the snow, wishing Stacy Lewis well, asking Gary Williams to dump the jacket, cruising he back9network (check it out) and searching every golf site out there.  Snowing lightly.

1:00-1:30: Back on the phone with Syracuse son educating him on the intricacies of auto insurance.

1:45-2:15: On the phone with my sister catching up with her myriad of health issues.  We compared aches and pains but the highlight of the call was an invitation to join her in August at her vacation rental in Rhode Island.  Newport National here we come!  Now starting to come down heavier.

2:15-4:00:  Butch Harmon instructional video, practice putting, chipping sponge balls off the walls (like I was about to start bouncing off of) Golf Channel’s Pebble Beach coverage, man it’s nice out there and some more web surfing.  Really coming down out there now.

4:00-500:  Heading out for my first “shovel.”  Oh how I wish this was a golf club in my hands.  With number one son wisely  spending the night at a hotel close to his work and number two son in Syracuse I knew I was faced with solo shoveling for the duration.  My driveway is about 160 feet long so I planned to hit it when the snow was at a maximum of three inches deep that way my back wouldn’t fail me and it would be slightly less painful.  Snow really heavy now.

5:15-5:30: Quick call to my daughter in Manhattan.  The poor girl is frustrated that this blizzard is cramping her social life.  Life is so tough.

5:30-630:  Pebble Beach Pro-Am on TV and on the computer.  Perusing the list of amateurs in the tournament I come across the name of my daughter’s CEO, Terry Lundgren of Macy’s.  I spend the next hour kind of stalking him with Google.  Seems that Terry likes to golf and is a member at some heavy duty clubs.

6:45-8:00: Started second shovel and not a minute too soon.  A good three plus inches in less than an hour and a half and the wind was blowing fairly strong.  Coming down like a real blizzard now.

8:30-9:00: Had a little dinner while checking out final Pebble leaderboard and catching some of the Champions Tour’s Allianz Championship.  Good to see Rocco out there sweating it up big time down in Boca.  Came across the leaked cover of the 2013 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue: Kate Upton in a parka, I could have used her with a shovel.  Still snowing like all get out.

9:00-10:00:  Had to check out Mark Cuban and the rest of the Sharks on Shark Tank.  Those millionaires are funny as they rip apart those would be entrepreneurs. Snow as heavy as ever now.  So this is what Grand Prairie, Alberta, Canada must be like.

10:00-11:15:  Out for shovel number three and a good four inches was on the ground with the wind extremely strong.  “The hawk is talking” is how we described it when I was a kid.

11:30-12:30:  Surfing web for the Saturday Swing Tip.  There aren’t many tips on how to play in a foot of snow.  Just about a whiteout now with heavy snow and fierce winds.

12:40-1:30:  Headed out for what I hope would be my last shovel of the night.  2-3 inches went quickly but it was snowing so hard by the time I was done there was another inch down already.  Thoughts of Myrtle Beach creep into my head.   The heck with it, hit the bed about 2:30am.

7:00-9:00:  The Morning Drive of course and breakfast.  According to the news the snow stopped about 4:00am in our area.  Thank god. And Gary Williams has dumped the sports jacket, hooray.   Maybe there’s two to three inches out there but I relax for a bit and take some Advil for my aching back.

10:30- Noon:  The sun finally broke through at 10:15 and with that I went out for my fifth and last shoveling.  Two plus inches, I lucked out, and after some heavy digging out from those damn plow guys I was finished.

Now, I can say it wasn’t all that bad but I was only able to get through it with help from The Golf Channel, the internet, all the golf websites, Butch Harmon, The Golf Digest ‘Hot List’ issue, calls from family, plenty of TV, a few pots of tea, a half dozen Advil, snacks and Kate Upton.

Oh, what it takes to keep a snowbound golfer happy.