I played a round of 18 holes yesterday at Indian Valley Golf Club in Novato, CA. As is my custom, I always bring cigars to smoke and share with my playing partners. I brought two for me to smoke, one for each nine-hole side: Tatuaje 7th Corojo (pictured at the top) and a La Aurora Preferidos 1903 Broadleaf.
I lit up the 7th Corojo while sitting at the starter’s booth. Yeah, kind of early in the round but it was cold and I needed some warmth, plus I hadn’t played a round let alone swing a club in a couple of months due to injury. So I wanted something to calm my nerves a bit as well and mellow me out. It did the job.
When I was playing a lot more seriously several years ago and fussing over my index, I never smoked stogies, nor did I imbibe in any alcoholic beverages. But in the last few years, I’ve just been playing for pure enjoyment. I still don’t drink on the course except for perhaps a sip of whiskey if offered, but I do enjoy a couple or three cigars during a round. To me, golf has evolved from being a sport I played and much more of a social event.
Mind you, I still pay attention to my form and when I’m healthy still work pretty hard to keep up my skills off the course simply because it is a game of skill. And though I’m not playing tournaments or anything competitive like that, it’s a point of pride to have a fluid swing and still be able to do good course management. And a good gauge of how well I’m doing with all that is my score. But unlike years past where I’d get super pissed if I scored in the mid to high 80s, I now just take it in stride. Being out on the course and playing the game I love is satisfying unto itself.
And having a stick or two has helped in that. I know a lot of folks who only smoke cheap cigars when they play. But I don’t. I love sitting back in my cart in between shots savoring the virtues of each stick I smoke. To me, smoking cigars on the course has truly become part of the ritual of playing golf for me.
As I explained to my son yesterday while we were driving to a tee, from a psychological perspective, when I smoke a cigar, it takes my mind off my game. I used to spend so much time calculating what I’d have to do to achieve this and that during a round. But now, I’m less concerned with all that. I simply rely on my experience. I look at the shot I’m about to take, pick the appropriate club, then swing away. If I hit a good shot, awesome. If not, well, it’s an opportunity to make it up on the next shot.
Perhaps that attitude just comes from getting wiser in my later years, but a cigar sure helps with that attitude. For instance, I shot 90 yesterday. It wasn’t bad considering I literally hadn’t swung a club for a couple of months and only had about twenty minutes of warmup. I know I can shoot way better than that when I’m back in form.
But golf is a game of expiring skill and something that requires constant repetition to shoot in the 70s where I used to score. But my attitude after that round was simply that I had some awesome shots in the round, especially on the last hole where I absolutely stuck my approach shot to give me a chance for birdie. I ended up with par, but no big deal. I just puffed on the delicious La Aurora Preferidos 1903 Broadleaf.
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