A birthday round and the series continues

It’s always a happy day when I can play a round of golf on my birthday. With a November date in Michigan, there have been many years when there was snow on the ground or in the air. The freezing rain was also an obstacle.

Yesterday the temperatures were in the low 50s and the sun was shining intermittently, so I played 27 at Washtenaw Golf Club. That amounted to 22,779 steps – more than ten miles of walking.

I was behind a late-season battle in Washtenaw and there was no one behind me, so I played two balls in a personal game of “worst ball,” where you hit two and played the worse of the two. Worst Ball is sure to test anyone’s recovery and imagination.

It was glorious. I think there are few things as good for the soul as walking down a grassy fairway in crisp fall air while surrounded by trees in all their glorious colors. Washtenaw is a beautiful course year-round, but especially in the fall (see the banner above for some peak color).

A round in November also extended ‘The Streak’. I have now played at least one round of golf every month in Michigan for 129 months – over a decade. How long will the streak continue? I have no idea. It started by accident – at some point I realized I hadn’t missed a month in a while so I started keeping track. After years of anxiously awaiting breaks in the weather so I could go for a winter loop, I think I’ve reached the point where I don’t care if it ends.

The series will likely end sometime in February. December was generally easy. January always seems to have a week where the snow melts and the sun warms up. February on the other hand…

I recently saw a social post from some idiot in Florida who was laughing about how we only get to play golf a few months out of the year in the northern states. I suppose that’s true if your blood is thin and you don’t have pants and a sweater.

The truth is, I’m never the only person on the court when I go to play in December, January and February. Even on the colder days I played, there were others on the course.

November is looking good though. Weather reports predict temperatures in the 50s next week. That’s plenty warm. I plan on getting out there and adding a few more courses to my collection of Michigan golf course reviews.