My handicap has been going up for some time, and today I hit the seven handicap mark. This is not good, and I do not want to accept that growing older means that your handicap goes up and up while your motor skills deteriorate.

The sad thing is that all of those extra training and practicing sessions haven't helped me a single bit. In fact, my scores in tournaments are quite poor and I am feeling very frustrated. It seems that an unpredictable routine of bad luck and errant shots is unfairly destroying my game.

For example, in the club stroke championship I shot a 90, 84 and 85. In the senior stroke championship, I mucked around and shot an 85 and 84. Whatever happened to the good old days when I regularly shot in the seventies? Just keep on trying and hope it's merely a bad dream and goes away soon.