Live and Let Di

Hey Jude

***Visit JudeGolf.com***

I had to use "Hey Jude" as the title because in a few years, when this young man is rocking the PGA tour, all of the news magazines and sports pages are going to be playing on the Beatles' song which bears his name.

Several years ago, my sister and her husband became custodians for Jude Eustaquio (you-stock-ee-o), a young teen golf phenom from the Philippines who wanted to pursue his golf dreams in the U.S. So my sister went from no kids to insta-Mom of a teen. Whoa! All the stress; none of the stretch marks!

In the years since, Jude has become a part of our family...I've even dropped the modifier on "adopted nephew" when I refer to him. I have pictures of Jude lifting my kids in the air. I even played golf with him once and he was REALLY nice about it. He said, "You are one of the best lady golfers I've played with...well, except Morgan Pressel." Yeah, that Morgan edges me out every time!

***Note - Jude holed out for birdie on this deep, plugged bunker shot. I would have tried three times, only to have the ball fall back in the bunker at which point I would have dejectedly given up!***

This past weekend, Jude showed his mental strength and physical talent by winning the Florida State Amateur Championship. This isn't just a bunch of college boys hacking around on the golf course, Jude came from behind to beat a 34-year old former professional tour player who had commented on the young golfers in the tournament the day before, "...these guys have to figure out how to get shots on a guy who has been there and done more than what they've currently done. They've still got some things to learn." Or maybe they have something to teach him! Oh, and just for fun, Jude broke the Jupiter Hills Club course record with his 66 on Sunday!

This fall, Jude will start his second year at Florida Southern (which spawned Rocco Mediate, recent US Open runner-up...he graduated in 1984...same year as ME!!! I'm feeling younger every minute) where he was named NCAA Division II First Team All-American in 2008.  This summer, he's traveling all over the country, playing tournaments, working on his game...and if I had to guess, making some current PGA players just a little nervous!

Di

F-Yeah! You can be my role model!!!

***THIS POST MAY CONTAIN NOT-SO-THINLY VEILED REFERENCES TO A FOUR-LETTER WORD THAT MAY OFFEND SOME***

After four straight days of golf (mine), I watched the end of four other days of golf (Tiger's.) He stood over his putt, made it and his overwhelming excitement at making the putt made for a memorable sports moment.

Photo from Donald Mirelle/Getty Images

As Tiger high-fived his long-time caddy, Steve Williams, my high level lip-reading picked up Tiger's emphatic exclamation of, "F*** yeah!!!"

The first thing that went through my mind was that Tiger would easily fit in with any of the groups I play with. At my age, there aren't that many sports that one can play which challenge your body and mind while also building unique relationships with your partners and competitors. It was no U.S. open, but several weeks ago, my partner Stef and I dominated (albeit the last flight) and won a tournament. During those two days, we made some amazing shots and I'm sure that at least one was punctuated by a resounding "F*** yeah!" accompanied by a high-five. So does it shock me that at the end of one of the major tournaments in professional golf, in front of thousands in the stands and millions on TV, Tiger didn't smile, tip his hat and say, "Jolly good?" F*** NO!!!

The second thing that went through my mind was that some people are going to make a big deal about this. Over the next few days we are going to hear:

He shouldn't use that word on national television. (My response, then don't put cameras on his every move and utterance for four days of a tournament! Or have a time-delay so the networks can be selective about what ends up on our TV screens.)

Why does he have to use that word? (Because he just sunk a long birdie-putt to force an 18-hole playoff in the f***-ing U.S. Open!!!)

He should be a better role model for kids. (He is a golfer. He's really good at it. He goes out and does his job...really well. He didn't ask to be your kids' role model. Be your own good role model. Find good role models in your community. Because, let's face it, your kids have a better chance of following in the footsteps of the well-mannered teen in your neighborhood who is an Eagle Scout {hi Hunter!} and is going to go off to college to become a doctor, than playing on the PGA Tour!)

I'll be watching the 18-hole playoff today and rooting for an exciting, competitive round of golf between Tiger and his adversary-for-today, Rocco Mediate. And if you want a role model for your kids, you might want to consider Rocco who maintained that he played his best and did all that he could do and there was no way he was going to root against Tiger making that putt. I applaud Rocco for being a great sportsman just as I applaud Tiger for exploding in the excitement of a great sports moment. F*** YEAH!!!

Di

Why golf?

***Don't forget to enter my Eight Below Giveaway***

Do you ever read my blog and think, "Why is she so ga-ga over golf? I mean, she's not even very good at it." Well, this my friends, is what I love most about golf:

It's hard not to feel good when you are around all of these smiles.

Di

Missed it by THAT much

***Don't forget to enter my Eight Below Giveaway***

This is the closest I have ever come to a hole-in-one. It was a thing of beauty from the second it came off my club. Watching it roll toward the hole was like watching a movie in slow motion. As it got closer and closer I just kept thinking how it would feel if it went in. It felt pretty good just being this close!

And yes, Dad, I made the putt!

Di

Summer starts here...

Today is my birthday. I'm not coy about my age...I'm 46. I'm pretty proud of it. Wouldn't trade it to be 23 again. Stevie Nicks is 60 today!!!

To celebrate, I'm tweaking my design using just the TypePad basics. I would love to have someone create an actual design for me and I would probably even pay her for her trouble. But I don't know where to start in this quest, so let me know if you have any suggestions.

Despite huge acclaim for the pink hair picture, I'm switching to a picture that looks like me on pretty much any given day in the summer. I'll be on the lookout for something a little more glamorous or spectacular or goofy in the photo department.

My husband got me this:

It's a Sky Caddie...GPS system for the golf course. I'm very excited about using it!!! I just LOVE new technology.

Happy Birthday wishes go out to people I know who share my birthday...Ken, Carol, Eddie, Susan...

Di

Afterglow

The daylight is sliding into dusk. The frogs are starting to sing their tunes. Several adult beverages have been consumed. So what do average American, slightly inebriated adults do on a Friday night? Drive around in the dark on golf carts and and try to hit glowing little balls with long sticks. It was our first "Glow Ball Tournament" at the golf course.

If you think for a moment that I am kidding, click here. There is a whole industry geared toward helping avid golfers find ways to make a difficult game even MORE frustrating.

With the promise of small plastic loving cups as prizes and an array of glow-in-the-dark accessories, we took off from the clubhouse in teams of 5 and 6 to play 5 holes of golf. I won't say that our golf staff knows its clientele, but they strategically avoided having us play any holes with water or bridges on them. There's nothing that sucks the fun out of a golf event like having to call the fire department to pull golf carts and people out of the lake!

It was wildly fun and our co-ed team managed to turn it into an R-rated comedy event. I was so relieved that we didn't have one of the young golf phenoms on our team because there would have been a whole lot of oops-ing and shush-ing of inappropriate innuendo.

When we proudly turned our card in, we had scored an impressive 5 under on 5 holes, including an Eagle on the first hole. But one team triumphantly waved a card with 6 under as the score, prompting good sportsmanlike comments like, "They cheated!" Next time you are trying to think of something to do on a dark, Spring Friday night...get some balls, make them glow...and see what happens!

***ANNOUNCEMENT*** Earlier that day, I witnessed a spectacular golf feat when my friend and "golf partner for life," Stef, scored an Eagle on the first hole by putting the ball in the hole from 80 yards out. I was so excited for her and utterly impressed by seeing such a rare event.

Di

What the hail?

Whither we wander...weird weather waits.

Yup, we moved to Raleigh in 1999 leaving memories of Hurricane Andrew behind. What a relief to not have to worry about a tree falling through your guest bedroom window and your satellite dish that was "secured" in 3 feet of concrete falling over on the neighbor's house. You don't hear people talk about Floyd much anymore. That's because Floyd's wrath in the Triangle was limited to our cul-de-sac. I woke up and looked out the window to find a 15 foot root system staring me in the face and the attached tree blocking access to and egress from our house. We met neighbors over chainsaws and coffee. Want to meet people after a storm? Get a generator. Walk out into the street where your shell-shocked neighbors are milling in their pajamas and mention, "I just made coffee!"

When we moved here from Florida, we warned the children that they shouldn't start planning sledding parties since we should only expect an inch or two of snow per year. The following January, I awoke to find that 18 inches of snow had been dumped on us overnight. As per usual, my husband was traveling on "business"...in Florida...calling me from "business" meetings on the golf course. For almost two weeks, I was snowed in with two small children, a dog and a dwindling supply of wine. (During that time, my husband got wrongly arrested and jailed in Panama...wrong place, wrong time; subject of a different post...but still, I think I took the worst of it!)

This past weekend was perfect. Every minute of the golf tournament was exquisite. The sun shone, but not enough to make you sweat. The breeze blew, but not enough to take the ball out of bounds. And my partner and I won! OK, we won the eighth flight...the last flight, I should add. But we played out of our minds and won! But the last two holes on the second day were played in a downpour that would have sent Noah searching for the last errant animal husband and getting ready to shove off. But did I mention that we won? Just in case I didn't:

And then it was Tuesday. My son's game was cancelled because of the incipient weather. We were all sitting around doing what you do when you find yourself with two hours you didn't expect to have. We were all on our laptops. I heard a sound. My immediate thought was, "Oops, must have left several golf tees in my pocket that are now pinging off the inside of the dryer." Then I remembered I wasn't doing laundry. I looked outside and:

See those little things on the ground? Hail. As big as two-carat diamonds. I was going to say golf balls, but that would have been an exaggeration. Then I decided to use the diamond analogy which would leave my readers with one of two responses:

1. Wow! She must be dripping with jewels if she knows how big a two-carat diamond is!

2. What the hail is she talking about? The last gem she sported was a plastic toy ruby ring she won in a silly golf tournament.

It was an amazing show of Mother Nature's wicked sense of humor!

Di

What's Di doing this weekend?

Playing golf, getting a touch of sunburn on my shoulders and hanging out with friends. It doesn't get any better.

Karen and Di - partners playing for the red team (natch!)

The thing about golf is that you get so caught up in the game that you don't even care if someone takes a picture when your hair is all visor-crazy.

Oh...I'm also blogging for the News & Observer. This weekend I wrote about something I haven't disclosed in this blog...The Other Woman.

Di

Spring Fever

No, I am not going to bore you with the itchy, mucusy details of my Spring allergies.

Friday my friend Stef took a much-deserved comp day. In recent weeks, she has traveled to London, India and San Antonio, TX and in between travels has worked her A** off preparing for the next trip. When I went to sign up for a tee time, I found that they were booked solid until 2 p.m.

Then I got an e-mail from another friend who declared the onset of a serious case of Spring fever that required her to leave the office at noon. She joined us along with another friend whose wife was working hard and ignored her Spring fever which spiked to 105 and stayed in the office.

My question:

DOES ANYONE WORK AROUND HERE????

I guess I am just harkening back to my pre-retirement days. (I love saying that I am retired...it's so much more interesting than stay-at-home Mom...especially since my kids are in school so most of the stuff I do isn't necessarily Mom-related and I'm rarely home during golf weather.) When I worked, back in the day when someone had to explain to me what a fax machine was and we had an actual Head Teller who doled out money instead of a machine that kind of rains hundred dollar bills (I kid you not) I just didn't have that kind of flexibility. I guess all of my flexibility was sucked up by kids' doctor visits and staying home with a kid who still looked sick no matter how much Motrin I gave him to make him able to go to school. Oh...and pink eye...I think a lot of my flexibility was sucked up by conjunctivitis.

Now that I am retired, I feel it is my DUTY to my friends to be as flexible as possible so when the fever hits them, they have someone to golf with. Just doing my part to make the world a better place! My selflessness knows no bounds!

Di

P.S. Another "Di" has a book giveaway going on that you might want to enter.

I resemble that remark...

A familiar scene...

Did you know why they call it golf??? Because all the other four-letter words were already taken.

I'm honestly not sure if I'm more concerned with my weight getting lower or my golf scores getting lower!

Di