OK, so maybe you noticed the frost this morning or the fact that at 8:30 the temperature was still below freezing. Many of you rationally decided it was time to put the sticks away for the year. I’ll miss you.

Those of us who keep playing until the courses kick us off (and believe me – there’s always one willing to take your cash) are essentially addicts. I have friends who treat skiing the same way but they don’t get the weird looks we do. Here’s the difference:

My Wife: “Pete golfed yesterday.”

Her Friend: “Oh dear. Is there anything we can do? You know we’re here for you if you need anything. It’s just a shame, isn’t it?”

You’ll detect pity and a huge side of disgust lathered up with sarcasm. But the skier eats a very different meal.

Skiier’s Wife: “Gus skied yesterday.”

Her Friend: “Really? I didn’t think there was enough snow. That is really great that he has an outdoor activity that he’s so into. I wish my husband was just like him.”

Fact is, maybe I like the accusations that I’ve lost it. I can’t help how I feel about golf even though I know golf doesn’t feel the same about me. You fall in love with golf at your own peril. She’s the pretty girl who ignores you and then one day asks for a ride home. The next day she’s ignoring you again but you’ve already had her name tattooed on your arm. We’ve been through all this but the impending end of the Maine golf season means that there is about to be a rush on the golf shelters and some of us need help to get through the winter.

Here’s one definition if mental illness (I bring this up not to make light of those who suffer from this but because I have been accused so many times of being a sufferer myself. And no, my wife is not a doctor.)

A state of being in which an individual has difficulty in handling situations and feelings of an everyday nature. In certain instances, conditions are characterized by impairment of intellectual functions, the experience of shallow and unstable emotions, and difficulty in adapting to one's environment.

Hmm.

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I teed it up at Cape Arundel last week after about a 20 year absence. The course hasn’t changed much at all from the one I recall. Short and open, with small undulated greens is what I remembered and that’s how I found it last week. It is truly a tantalizing course that seems too easy from the scorecard (think of the scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail where the knights realize the horrible monster they are about to fight is actually a cute bunny). Before I went down there, I read on their website about how Phil Mickelson just set the course record there earlier this month with a 9 under 60. The former President loves inviting PGA pros up for a round at his home course and the roster of pros who have teed it up there is pretty impressive. Understandably, the course keeps things quiet for the sake of privacy but believe me, a lot of PGA pros not only know about Cape Arundel, they know who has the course record. When I asked the longtime pro, Ken Raynor, if I needed a 59 for the record, he looked me square in the eye and said, “Yes but that’s for all 18.”

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