I managed to get out there today and I put 18 holes behind me. Goodbye Winter!

It was a mud mess, but I managed. I kept the tee shots on the fairways (most of them) and as for the greens... well, I have to wait a few weeks before they are in top shape. But I did put on them all.

For a few years I have used the Callaway Warbird ball.



It is a two-piece hard ball and is good for distance. It putts OK, but there is a better ball for the softness you desire on the green. That is a new ball, the Top Flite XL5000 Super Soft. I had purchased a sleeve of three balls and tried one today. It has the feel I love in front of the putter, but it would deteriorate fast if I used it from tee to green.

The Rules of Golf require that you play the same ball from tee to hole. You can't tee off with a Warbird, make your approach shot onto the green, then switch to the softer ball for putting.

I follow the rules.

So. Maybe I will do the switch now and then when I play alone, just to see how it goes. When I play alone I don't keep a scorecard. That will allow me to "break" the rules.

I bought a fifteen dollar hybrid 4 "wood" at Wal-Mart a few weeks ago and tried it today. It is a good addition to my bag. I will now remove the second 3 "wood", an Adams Tight Lies club I have carried for about four years. The new club is replacing that and my long-serving four iron. That way, I can keep my 14 club limit in my bag and still carry my long-shaft putter and the Carbite putter, too.

The Rules of Golf limit your clubs to fourteen. I follow the rules.

I played once with a fellow in California who had seventeen clubs in his bag. He was good and he smoked me that day. In the clubhouse when we beered-up and figured who won what, he said I owed him forty bucks for the total. The low score was worth twenty. I gave him twenty for the other bets and he frowned.

"You forgot the other twenty," he said.

"You cheated," I said. "You played with three more clubs than are allowed."

He never asked me to play with him again.

People who cheat at golf, or any sport, will cheat at anything. You just can't trust them

Golf is like life.