I played a round of golf yesterday for the first time in about a year and a half. I’m sure there must be a round I’m forgetting but maybe not. I hit balls a half a dozen times before this round but the last two I brought my son and his propensity to charge the ball right as I was about to hit it led me to develop both a slice and an appreciation of his mother’s advice to keep him strapped down in the stroller.

We played The Prince which while consistently ranked in the tops courses in the country it is also known as perhaps an overly difficult, even mean course. The designer Robert Trent Jones Jr. is a neighbor here and one of my favorite designers but it’s rumored that he designed this course in the middle of a nasty divorce and it shows—it is unforgiving and seems to be proud of this fact.

My initial tee shot faded onto the car path and member bounced itself back onto the fairway 170 out, mostly all carry. I hit a scared, weak, crummy, dead 7 iron to 8 feet and lipped out the birdie. Played scared and confused the first four holes and got away with it then started hitting the ball a bit and finished the front 4 over which is running way good.

The back nine is trickier and I lipped out two more birdies but did sink a side hill slider for the red score. Add a string of doubles and ended 9 over. Very respectable considering it all.

Now I'm about to hop a flight or three to New Orleans then up to Biloxi for a thing called poker. They have a WPT event and, not coincidently a Tom Fazio course with a plus 600 yard par five that my father swears I could never reach in two much less eagle. I’m going to relieve him of some of his social security money if I can birdie it in five tries. He saw me miss an eagle putt a few years ago in a tournament in Colorado on a 640 yarder where I hit driver, easy five-wood and swears it was the missed golf moment of my life ( the skin was worth a Lexus). It was slightly into the wind, but also slightly down hill and the course was at 8000 feet. No idea whether I can do it these days but two years ago I would have been a nice favorite. Ah, youth, as it slips away.

I’m on the red eye tonight and into New Orleans where I’m going to spend Sunday checking things out and maybe seeing an old friend who got me out of a notorious county jail and a tough situation there 20 years ago. Then my father and I are headed up to Biloxi and I’ll play the deep stack nooner.

My apologies again for all the replies I have not gotten back to. Look me up if you happen to be there.

Thanks for reading