Dear Santa, I’ve been pretty good this year. You haven’t come around in a while, not since I was a kid. I know you’re really busy so it’s OK. I thought I’d write anyway, just in case you can find the time this year. I’m not worried about me so much but I thought I’d give you some Christmas gift ideas for the serious golfers on your list. I have some of these things already and some I’d really like to have, but you already knew that. It feels too early to be thinking about Christmas, but I thought I should write now to give you time to get everything you need. I know the elves are really great at making things, but no one dislikes a counterfeit item more than a golfer or a golf club manufacturer. Some of these are pretty expensive, but there’s no harm in dreaming, right? I’ll write you another letter later this week with more gift ideas, all under $50. Anyway, here are eight gift ideas for golfers. A

This is more directed at those from the United States, its territories, and Mexico, where the United States Golf Association is golf’s governing body. It’s that time of year again, at least for me. I recently got my yearly membership benefits in the mail and it got me thinking about the topic. So, are you a member? I think it’s to our benefit to join this organization to help preserve and grow the game of golf. You might wonder, “Why should I give any money to the USGA?” Simply put, the more people that join, the more that can be done to grow the game. You might also think, “I pay greens fees all the time, isn’t that my contribution to keeping the game alive?” The answer to that is “it’s not enough”. Greens fees and club memberships keep your local course alive, but that doesn’t do as much to grow the game. Sure, clubs have youth clinics and do other great things in the community. They do great work and it’s often a thankless

This is one of my favorite holidays of the year. It’s a day to spend with family and friends, to be happy, and most of all, to forget about what we don’t have and to be thankful for what we do. I know this is a uniquely U.S. holiday, but there’s no harm in everyone who’s reading this being a little thankful today. Give thanks to anyone or anything you feel should have it, or just be thankful for what you have and remember that there are others that don’t have as much. I’m certainly thankful that I have a good family (I’m single and am referring to my parents and brother), good friends, I have my health, and I have a good job. There’s so much else I could name. All that on a serious note, but let’s keep it more light hearted and turn back to golf. Here’s what I’m thankful for in the golf universe: Tiger Woods. He’s probably going to go down in history as the best player of all time.

Apparently, my gall bladder has decided that it doesn’t want to be on board for my quest to become a golf pro. It has sabotaged my efforts with a case of gall stones. After a brief deliberation, I have decided that we will be parting ways on Monday morning at 6:15. I expect to be home recuperating for a period of 10-14 days, but I’m not sure what to expect with respect to pain and discomfort so I’m going to go on the assumption that I won’t feel up to posting for a little while. Though, I could just as easily be sitting here bored out of my mind and happy to be writing something. Time will tell. In the meantime, I can really use the time off to rest, relax, and reflect. Trading a semi-useless organ for two weeks of R&R is OK in my book. I’m sure I’ll be catching up on my reading, so get ready for an onslaught of book reviews. In the meantime, I’ll be sitting here enjoying my prescription

Today marks six months since Life in the Rough has been in existence. That’s not much of a milestone, but six months ago I was just wondering if I’d be able to keep up the steam. My posting frequency has declined some, but really that’s me balancing out everything. The basic premise of this blog is to cover my quest to become a golf pro. That’s a lot of work. At the same time, I’m having so much fun with the blog itself. There was a point where it started to trump the things that I needed to be doing to improve myself and my golf game. But I think I found the balance now. I love to talk golf. And I want to use this outlet to track my progress. I also recognize that reading about my latest workout or range session several times each week would get old. So I like to talk about the technical and historical aspects of golf in hopes of sharing some information that might help others. One thing