It?s pretty windy on Deeside today. Looking out of the window this morning I wasn?t surprised to see the swing doors on my garage had blown open and off their hinges and our recycling was making a bid for freedom off up the lane. Milk cartons and empty lager cans were high-tailing it in the direction of Braemar. They should be there by now.
Listening to Terry Wogan I heard the Tay and Erskine Bridges were closed, lorries had overturned all over the place and travel was generally badly disrupted. Radio 2 is usually pretty comprehensive on this sort of thing so I?m more than a little disappointed they failed to inform me of the cancellation of today?s Alliance at Craibstone.
None the wiser, Stewart arrived outside my front door at 9.15. I forced my way through the gusts to his car, struggled to open the boot and eventually managed to ram my clubs in. We made it almost as far as Torphins before dad phoned to deliver the bad news. ?The golf?s off. High winds apparently.? After receiving the call Stu and I took a moment to let the information sink in. It?s a strange sensation: the irrational denial you feel when you know something must be true but you really don?t want it to be. ?It?s not that windy? I said as a hay bale blew past the window. ?Yeah, I mean heavy rain or snow, fair enough. But a bit of wind?? said Stewart as he swerved to avoid a fallen tree. It took us a good thirty seconds to face the truth and turn around.
It?s tough to bear when your whole day is planned out and then those plans are dashed against the rocks. I can?t even imagine how disappointed people must feel if their holiday or wedding or something of that magnitude is cancelled. This was to be my first proper game of golf in 2008 and I?m pretty gutted it?s not happening. I?m now sitting at my desk writing this when I should be putting out for par on the first. Not that I don?t enjoy writing about golf, I love it. But, I prefer playing?..
Right I?ve taken the dog for a quick walk and got the self-pity out of my system, I?ve now faced up to an Alliance-free day. I need to be proactive and consider the options.
1 ? Do some work. This would be the sensible choice but, given I?d already committed myself to no work today, I?m dismissing it immediately.
2 ? Go to the driving range. Hmm, I?ve already been twice this week, plus I?m not sure smacking balls into Hurricane Dorothy would be particularly beneficial to my game.
3 ? Dig out a calendar and one of my old videos of the Masters. Sit in front of it counting the number of days until the first Medal of the season? Promising.
4 ? Go and play golf at Banchory? Same problem as option 2 and the course may not even be open.
5 ? Do some exercise (Go for a run or out for a cycle.) Get serious.
Right, old Masters videos it is then. I think I?ll plump for Olazabal?s victory in 1994 first.
