Today for a couple of hours, Andrew and I played 18 holes at the Waverley Pitch N Putt. It was the first golfing event we had played together in a year.

It’s because he has his golf club – and I have mine – and we play on separate days so we never actually end up playing together. 🤣

I’ve only ever played this shortened version of the full golf game many years ago in my early 20s back when I was posted in Canberra and we played it as part of a team day.

I remember causing a ruckus back then because I needed left-handed clubs. I’m one of those freaks of nature who is right-handed but left-eye dominant which means any bat or club sports, shooting or anything that requires me to focus, I use my left eye for more accuracy. I have no idea why this happens as I just feel more comfortable hitting balls from my left side.

Pitch N Putt is challenging because when you practice, you usually practice your drives and full swings. Instead, Pitch N Putt teaches you how to hit shorter distances: your short game i.e. pitches, chips and putts. If you can get this right, you can shave more points off your handicap.

Andrew and I both need to work on our short game so I had a look online and saw that we had a Pitch N Putt nearby so we decided to visit.

Given that I am still in my “Practice Week of Golf” (see my previous post about my Golf Training Plan), this was part of my skill building. I also liked doing this with Andrew as he’s got a lower handicap than I have and could provide me with feedback about my swing and approach. (And you need feedback when practising to build and improve skills).

I was surprised at how tight the fairways were – and how tiny the greens were. I had to be careful not to hit anyone too! In hindsight, I should have also carried my Pitching and Sand wedge and a putter only as I had my 7 and 9 iron too. I didn’t need them.

It was a great morning with cloudless blue skies, warm northerlies and a precursor of what’s to come over summer.

Despite wanting the warmer weather now after a cold and wet winter, they’re warning us on the news that this summer will be a stinker with El Niño. We are told to expect power cuts and extremely high temperatures and we must prepare ourselves.

As we don’t have adequate air conditioning (I use wet towels and a fan), I’m thinking of buying a small mobile refrigerated air conditioning unit that we can use to cool a room. The rest of the time, I’ll rely on darkened rooms, laying low and keeping cool and hydrated.

But I’m not looking forward to playing golf in the heat. I simply don’t do well when the temperatures rise above about 27…

When we came home after golf, I decided to make these apple rings that I covered with chocolate (85%), peanut butter and a mix of nuts and then froze them. I wanted a healthy snack to have with my cup of coffee while watching the Grand Final.

Overall, I’ve had a good week this week which started with a wonderful LONG lazy lunch and drinks with my good friend J. We served together in the military and at the Australian Defence Force Academy many years ago and it was wonderful to catch up again every time she’s in Melbourne.

I also hosted a birthday lunch for my father who turned 78. I put on a nice spread of grilled meats, salad, cheese board and chocolate cake all washed down with wine. The day was stunning and it was our first event in our new garden, it was quite relaxing. Even Pud, the cat, joined us outside.

Next week, I have another catch-up with a girlfriend who lives and works in Broken Hill who has told me that she has been accepted to do a PhD program where she will be researching Communities of Practice as per Etienne Wenger. (I hope she doesn’t want to “pick my brains” because I lost interest a long time ago but at least she’s not applying her research for the corporate world where this value is sometimes lost but instead in the educational field. Let’s see, I wish her all the best. Doing a PhD is a lot of hard work!). Unfortunately, I have a sad event that I must attend to support another friend at this time. Roll on October. Where has this year disappeared to??