Kreyling Korner – Week 1 – 05/14/2020
WELCOME BACK GCCGL-ERS! After a three-week delay to the start of the 25th anniversary of the GCCGL season, the opener is upon us. Like the rest of the world, most of us have been social distancing and fighting boredom from the comfort of our homes. I’m sure we are all hoping the GCCGL brings a little bit of entertainment and distraction to an otherwise strange world.
THE KREYLING KORNER
Man, it feels good to be back. I checked the archives and I haven’t written a Kreyling Korner post since August 1, 2019. I’m happy to report that the surgery on my torn hamstring was successful. My golf game, however, has not recovered.
Needless to say, in my absence I missed golf and this goofy league, and this became very apparent in pre-season week 3. I was fortunate enough to secure a spot with Cupcake, PW and Cletus. I’ve probably played more golf than most average golfers over the years, but I can say, without a doubt, some of my best golf memories have come playing with these three. Most of the rounds are spent laughing versus piping drives, hitting crisp iron shots or rolling in 10 footers. One of these laughable moments happened last week on hole 7.
I can’t really recall how George was playing last week. I’d say he had some good holes and he had some bad holes – pre-season form as could be expected. Naturally, his short game was struggling a bit as most likely due to the winter lay-off. He had a chip on hole 7 – just off the fringe and in the rough, probably 25 feet to the pin. Nothing terribly challenging, but as said earlier he was struggling with his chipping and it was kind of in his head. He made a comment like, “I’m going to knock this one close.” As a word of encouragement, I said “Big muscles George.”
Now let me pause here and explain what I meant by “big muscles.” Similar to what I can imagine a lot of the league members do, I watch a lot of golf stuff. And I pay particular attention to golf instruction / tips. I can’t remember where I saw this, but I remember a pro giving a tip of thinking about using your “big muscles” on chips. What that means is swinging the club with your chest and arms connected. The theory is this eliminates your wrists getting flimsy and decelerating through the ball. Using your big muscles usually results in better, more consistent contact with the ground and uses the bounce of the club appropriately. Anyway, I’ve kind of tried it a little bit and it’s been somewhat helpful for me. So why not share this little swing thought with a friend during a practice round.
Now that I’ve explained what the term “big muscles” means, let me explain what George thought it meant. Apparently, PW thought I was enamored by his quarantine fitness regimen and admiring his “big muscles.” Before his swing, he started repeating out loud – “big muscles, big muscles, big muscles.”
Club goes back…
Wait for it…
Hits the ball a total of 6 feet out of the 25 feet he needed to get to the pin.
Naturally the entire group dies laughing, and we went on to discuss what “big muscles” means as we finished putting on 7 and through all our shots on the way up to 8. Low and behold, George has the almost exact same chip on 8 as he did on 7. Let’s try this again – “think big muscles George.” PW starts the muttering again “Big muscles…big muscles…. big muscles.”
Club goes back…
I know the anticipation is killing you…
Shank dead right completely missing the green.
George got so mad, he looks at me and says, “I’m hitting that again using my small muscles.” The next shot, about 5 feet from the hole.
What a way to start the season!
Until next week – fairways and greens my friends.
