Breaking 90

Every year, on the links, I have the same goal:  I want to break 90.

Trying to break 90 is the perfect goal for me.  It’s realistic — an objective that I know I can reach — yet it also requires me to play well to achieve it.

Some years, I first break 90 in the spring, and go on to shoot in the 80s a number of times during the golf season.  Other years, when my drives off the tee are even lamer than usual and my short game has deserted me, breaking 90 becomes an enormous mental challenge.  In those years, the first round where I even have a shot at the goal becomes a pressure-packed exercise.  I start to think that maybe today is the day, and what I need to score on the remaining holes to bring the round in under 90.  When that happens, of course, tee shots get hit in the weeds, approach shots end up buried in a bunker, and three-putt greens become the norm, and the goal goes out the window.

Today, on a day when it looked like rain might wash us out at any moment, I hit some good shots and had a few lucky bounces and made a few putts, and I broke 90 for the first time this year.  I feel a sense of accomplishment, and I feel like a weight has been lifted.  Now, I’m off the schneid, and the golf season really beckons.