I think I'd been playing for the better part of a decade before I finally felt comfortable enough to agree to play in a non fundraising club event. It was a 2-man better ball tournament, and to be honest I really didn't expect to enjoy it all that much. I might've been a 12 handicap at the time, if memory serves. Just a one-day 18 hole deal. I think me and my partner (who was around the same level as me) finished somewhere near the middle of the pack. Nowhere near good enough to win, but we knew that going in. We just wanted to give it a go and have some fun.

I really enjoyed it. And although I was a bit nervous initially, my anxiety was somewhat removed when one of the guys from the other twosome developed a fairly serious case of the shanks roughly 5 holes in. lol... I felt so bad for the guy! But thanks to him, I realized I wasn't the worst player in the group, at least that day.

Prior to my hiatus, I averaged somewhere between 8-10 tournaments per year. I was lucky to be able to play quite a bit of golf with some of the club pros I'd gotten to know over the years, mostly pro-ams in our PGA section in the Northeast Philly/Poconos region. That gave me access to play some of the nicer clubs in the region that otherwise I'd never get a chance to play at.

During those dozen or so years, I developed a genuine appreciation for tournament golf. For me, I found that being active in tournament play gave me an incentive to keep working on my game, and although that didn't always translate to good tournament showings - it did wonders for my confidence when I would play with the better players at my club in regular weekend rounds.

Earlier today I was just asked by an old golf buddy who moved to North Carolina two years ago to come down in September to partner with him in his member-guest. Typically I wouldn't hesitate one iota... have-clubs will-travel. But due to the long layoff, not to mention my recent hip replacement surgery, I find myself a bit less eager to throw my hat in the ring.

The thing is this, however. It might be exactly what I need to get me back into golf mode again. Not the eat, sleep, and breath mode that for years left my wife a golf widow of sorts, but the gentle nudge to at least get me back into somewhat of a competitive mode.

I think it'll be a while before I'm chomping at the bit to play in a club championship type tournament again, but a team type format might be a good icebreaker to get me back there again.

In the past, I looked forward to single, stroke-play type tournaments. Being older, less active, and definitely less skilled - I think a good two-man weekend event might prove to be beneficial.