So, it’s March here, in the greater Chicagoland area, and we are winding down what has turned out to be a reasonably mild winter. Just when I thojght we were a week or so away from an early golf season opening, Mother Nature has cruelly dumped two consecutive rounds of wet, heavy snow – blanketing the golf courses and with them, my hopes of digging the clubs outta the. Asement a little earlier this year.

Oh well, looks like we have a couple more weeks to wait. Good luck to all of you who live in more desirable locations!

WD

Since I was a kid, I used to practice with my late Grandfather whenever he would visit us south Florida home. He was near scratch in his prime, but never hit the ball further than the average weekend warrior. He spent 90% of his time with me on the practice green. Like any youngster learning the game, I was obsessed with hitting buckets on the range and frequently frustrated with his lack of interest in such things. Every now and again we would hit a few long irons, but we always ended up chipping and putting. As he grew older, his ability to make a full swing diminished, but his passion for the game did not. Thus, we spent even more time putting, chipping, etc.

I play with my Dad whenever I can get south to spend time with him. He is one year shy of 70 and carries a 5 handicap. He looks and sounds more like my Grandfather every time I see him and he frequently beats me, even though I out-drive him by 50-60 yards. It all happens with the scoring clubs and it can be quite frustrating watching him coax a 4-iron somewhere in the vicinity of the green and then get up and in, while I routinely find myself less than 100 yards out and struggle to save bogey.

He, like his father, has always recognized the importance of a sound short game. It’s taken the observation of two great golfing generations for me to realize that scoring starts around the green and I look forward to spending hours and hours boring my two little boys on the practice green for years to come.

WD

 Welcome to WickedDraw! You are here because you and I likely share at least one thing in common – we are addicted to golf. My addiction started as a little kid watching from the sidelines as my dad and brothers played … I was pretty young and they were a natural foursome. I’d hit shots here and there, but mostly I just drove the cart – which was pretty appealing at the time. It was only shortly thereafter that I started really tinkering around with clubs and for the past 30 years, I have been erratically obsessed with the game; constantly angling for more ways to get on the course, hit the range or find a putting green.

 Why are we addicted?

It’s simple. Golf is the only sport where every amateur has the potential of experiencing the feeling of perfection. Stay with me here … I know you are picturing a horrific swing you saw recently on the course and you’re thinking, “not that guy,” right? Yes, that guy, too! You see, I am 5’9” and have vertical jump of roughly 1.3 centimeters. I will never know what it is like to dunk a basketball on a regulation rim, like the pros do in every game. I will never know what it is like to hit a baseball out of a major league park. I will never know what it’s like to run a perfect post pattern, burning an NFL cornerback and catch a touchdown pass to win the game. However, I do know what it feels like to hit a ball exactly the way I want to – regardless of the result, I submit that every golfer has hit at least one successful shot in their lives. That feeling is what hooks us … it’s a revelation … an epiphany and every other cliché one would normally insert here. It’s a feeling of “I can do this – I am physically able to play this game well!” We then find ourselves on this quest to repeat the experience. Some are more successful than others, but the objective remains collective.  The level of addiction depends solely on the addict – how bad do they want it?

 Is there treatment?

WickedDraw is a start. The objective of this site is to help you play better golf, focusing on two elements: perspective and performance. In order to manage your addiction more successfully, you need to put it in perspective you are trying to accomplish – how much can you really devote to the game and what are the realistic expectations that go with that devotion. Moving to performance, WickedDraw will provide suggestions on how to minimize frustration; there are some simple tactics you can take when things start to going wrong. My hope is that you will benefit from these elements as I have over the past several years.

 Thanks for coming and hit ’em straight (unless you’re not trying to).

 WD