Perhaps it would make my life more enjoyable if I simply accepted the fact that my golf game just is not as good as it was during my more youthful days.

Otherwise I end up getting overly stressed when losing the ball or hacking my way from one side of the fairway to the other.

I used to come home and my wife would ask how it went, and I'd grumble by saying it went lousy. Maybe, she said, you should just accept the fact that you are simply not as good as you used to be.

I still hate slicing the ball into the water, three putting when hitting the green in regulation, whacking the ball too thinly from the sand trap and watching the ball fly clean over the green, losing yet another ball, etc.

However, by accepting the fact that I'm just another average bogey golfer, I enjoy my occasional pars (and birdies) with pleasure and satisfaction.

In two week I'll be playing in the next golf tournament, so let's see how it goes then.