I've compared my key statistics versus the worst player on the PGA tour in each category. It seems like a good target for improving my game. Based on the 81 holes I've collected stats for so far this year, there are three major areas for improvement: 1) driving accuracy (32% vs. 44%), 2) greens in regulation (15% vs. 48%) and 3) scrambling (25% vs. 46%). Clearly, improving 1) will likely improve 2). But, because of my weakness in those two areas, I really need to focus on improving my scrambling.

Tiger Woods just holed a cut lob from eight yards or so, from a nasty lie. Wow.

It's really very interesting to see how attitudes in a sport slowly change. The Royal & Ancient Golf Club has decided that women can play in the British Open. How long until the ultra-conservatives at Augusta National Golf Club make a similar decision? I say by 2035.

On 12 September, I tried to outlast eight other people in a game of Survivor. Instead of a remote island, we played the game at South Muskoka Curling and Golf Club. Golf survivor, if you will.

During the season, members of the club attempted to qualify for Survivor by paying two dollars, and the ten men with the lowest net scores played off in a nine hole challenge (one player didn't show up). The prize? $200, or half of the entry fees over the season.

So, nine players tee off on the first hole and the highest net score is eliminated. Then, eight players play the second hole and, again, the highest net score is eliminated. Ties chip off from the edge of the green, and the furthest from the hole loses.

I made it till the third last hole, but did I ever explode! I took an 11 on a par four, which included three tee shots (I found only the second one), a bunch of shots in the bushes, a double-hit chip and a two-putt. Grr.

The experience was good. Even though I exploded, I played well. And it was the most pressure I've ever played under.

At South Muskoka, Tuesdays are mostly reserved for women members. Ladies' day consists of two flights: morning ladies and afternoon ladies. So, if you're not a woman and you want to golf on Tuesday, you need to tee off before, between or after the two flights of ladies. I caught a ride to the club around 12:15 and teed off around 12:30.

I had just hit my drive on the first hole, a 364-yard par four, when a gentleman whom I vaguely recognized asked if he could join up with me. "Sure, I don't mind at all," I said. I waited while he checked in at the pro shop.

"Hi, I'm Jesse Helmer," I said, extending my hand to shake his.

"Ron P.," he said, shaking my hand. "Thanks for letting me join up."

Ron was a left-hander, that rare species of golfer vaulted into the spotlight by Mickelson and Weir. His drive started along the right edge of the fairway and faded left. I noticed that he was swinging a TaylorMade 510 driver.

My tee shot had rolled to a stop about 135 yards from the centre of the green. The wind was slightly helping. I decided to aim at the centre of the green, since the pin was tucked in the right-front corner and backed by a green-side bunker. I took an easy swing with an eight iron, but pushed it a bit right of my aimline. The wind caught it and tossed it into the bunker. Two shots later, I was on the fringe, ready to putt; two putts later, I was walking to the second tee and writing a double-bogey six on my scorecard. I think Ron took a double-bogey, too.

It turns out that I recognized Ron from a curling bonspiel. He moved up to Muskoka from Toronto almost ten years ago. He spends his retirement golfing every day during the week.

Starting a round with a double-bogey is difficult. Often, I find it hard to score well when I score poorly early. It's a mental game challenge that often gets the better of me. Today's round was a good example. I bogeyed the second (a par four) and third (a par five) holes, but finally parred the fourth, the first par three. I parred the fifth with a great two putt, but double-bogeyed the sixth, a tough par four that seems to have my number this year. I bogeyed the seventh, an easy par four, and three-putted the eighth from ten feet for another bogey. At this point, I was fairly frustrated with my game. But things turned around a bit when I birdied the ninth hole.

Ron's game was about as good as mine. I think he shot 45 on the front nine while I shot 43.

I boarded the bogey train for the first part of the back nine, earning well deserved bogies on the tenth, eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth holes. But I birdied the fourteenth with a great eight iron approach (I hit the ball to about five feet and made the putt). Much to my dismay, I double-bogeyed the fifteenth (an easy par five) and sixteenth (a tough par four). I bore down, however, and parred the final two holes for 43 on the back nine.

I putted well, but mental game mistakes and a few poor swings cost me a lot of shots. Playing with Ron was fun.

My post-undergrad golf vacation has been great, so far. In May, I played 20 rounds of golf at South Muskoka. My golf game was weak at the beginning of the month, but it improved in the first two weeks. Mid-month, I fought my swing and set-up a little bit and posted some poor scores (length of swing and ball position). Recently, I'm swinging and putting well.

Playing almost every day is a new experience for me. Since the grounds crew changes the pins every two days or so, I've played the same pins many times. Interestingly, the added knowledge of the course hasn't affected my score too much.

I've also tracked a few aspects of my performance: strokes, putts (less than 10 feet and more than 10 feet) and greens in regulation. To date, here are my cumulative stats:

I think I'll post updates about each round. Little golf narratives to practice my creative writing skillz.