Roadgolf: Sunset Valley GC, Pompton Plains NJ

Hey, it's your old pal. I am still alive, still here, and still participating in golf-- at least as much as the fragile, volatile ecosystem of Earth will allow these days. It's been a long time since Ms. L has played any golf, so we fired up the old rental car, threw a dart at a map of the tri-state area, bundled up and headed out about an hour east to a tiny town called Pompton Plains in rural Sussex County.

Winter 2015: S.O.S. (same old shit)

After two months encased in ice, the doorway to golf has finally been opened again. Time to get back out there and see what condition the conditions are in--both on the golf course itself, and on the one between the ears as they say.

Winter Desperation 2015: The Melt

It is actually happening. It is finally raining. For the first time in months, pure wet rain--not the frozen stuff. Not the freezing rain, not the sleet. Not the goddamned dreaded wintry mix.

On top of that the days are getting longer and the sun's peaking higher in the sky. The more steeply the sun's rays are angled, I have read, the more heat is transferred to the surface of the planet. Come March, those angles get steep enough to result in a daily net heat gain, thus rapidly accelerating the rate of snow melt. I was not aware of that.

Winter Desperation 2015, volume 2

Winter has set in. Deep within, even though it's now March. In my mind's eye I can no longer conjure up visions of golf, as it is played on a golf course. I can't do it. The memory is just too distant. At bedtime, in those fleeting moments between waking and sleeping I might receive a faint glimpse of a golf memory from the past, but it's hazy and short-lived.

Wintergolf essential: vacuum flask

If you come here on the regular, you might have noticed that over the last couple seasons I've been growing fond of that great winter sport known as golf. Winter golf--it's more or less just like regular golf, but there are a few key items essential to winter golf happiness. One of these is the stainless steel vacuum flask.

Winter Desperation 2015, volume 1

Now that the positive vibes from my good play at the end of the season have completely evaporated, I'm forced to face the truth. This is, and will continue to be for some time, a bleak winter season for golfers.

I feel eons removed from my last round; the next round lies beyond the foreseeable future. Where does that leave me?

I feel like a tiny dot in the middle of a blank white page.

When you are midstream, there's nothing to do but try to keep moving forward and hope to reach the other side. Let's not pussy around this thing: desperation has set in. I know not how many days have passed since I played golf; don't even want to check.

Closing Time, part III: End

I tried to maintain a state of stoic denial as long as I could. I thought I would time-shift my last days of 2014-15 Wintergolf, spreading the posts out in a vain attempt to savor the final good vibes of the season. And so here it ends, most unceremoniously.