Fall colors showing on the 4th hole at the Green Mountain National Golf Course

Fall colors showing on the 4th hole at the Green Mountain National Golf Course

After a long stretch, today we indulged ourselves with a round of golf with a friend at Green Mountain National in Killington. The good news is that it was just a beautiful day to be on the course. The bad news is that after a long layoff, my body was just missing some of the finer motor control reactions necessary to hit a golf ball well. This had the added effect of making it hard to focus my mind on the game, especially late into the back nine. But so it goes... Did I tell you it was a beautiful day!

I have been playing golf since forever, so I know that this too shall pass. Hopefully, Mother Nature and life around the inn allows for several more rounds before it is time to put away the clubs and take out the long boards.

Green Mountain National is in beautiful shape. The rest it has received these last few weeks really shows all over the course. The greens were putting very true. My putter, on the other hand... well GOLF is a four letter word.

The fairways on the course were very lush. Divots from earlier summer play have grown back in, leaving the fairways nice and smooth. With the exception of a few holes which naturally accumulate water, I don't think I did a lift/clean/place all day.

My game on the other hand; well that's a different story. Having not played in over 3 weeks, I came out free swinging. After starting off a little rocky, I finished the last 6 holes of the front nine very strong. Then, as often happens when things go your way in golf, my mind kicked into gear. Never....Never....Never...let your mind think when you are swinging a golf club. Do all of your thinking as you prepare for the shot. But once you stand over the ball, you are committed and it should be automatic... But alas, this is GOLF I am writing about, and GOLF is the ultimate four letter word.

Where ever you may be, keep it in the fairway, and start studying up on the PGA Leaf Rule for fall golf.

Closing KUDO"S to Chris Franco, chef at On The Rocks in Killington, for his Hole in One today on the 5th hole at Green Mountain National. Congratulations Franco!