If I could putt, I don't think I'd have anything to worry about.

[caption id="attachment_1725" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="My favorite green? If only I could putt."]<a href="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/20120604_25.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-1725" title="20120604_25" src="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/20120604_25-300x199.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="199" /></a>[/caption]

I'm getting fairly consistent at hitting my drives a decent distance and keeping them in the middle of the fairway, and my approach shots from off the green are getting better and better.

If only I could putt. The other day I wrote about the shot on the 17th hole that felt almost perfect. In the two times I have played since then, I have had similar results on that same hole, putting shots first within 15 feet and then within six feet. My putting was bad both times, a three-putt for bogey and then a two-putt for par.

Yesterday I missed at least five putts from six feet or less, and if I had made the last one -- on the 18th green -- I would have broken 80.

It's a very strange feeling. I'm hitting good shots more consistently than I ever have  in my life, and even though I take a few shots over since I play alone, I would probably still be good enough here to get a 12 or 13 handicap.That's not bad at all for somebody who used to have a really tough time breaking 90.

In fact, when I first started playing full-length courses about 18 years ago, breaking 130 was a big deal for me.

I miss my friends, though. Playing with Chuck and Mickey for more than 15 years meant that a day on the golf course was about more than just golf. As I've written before, we were lucky to be able to play twice a month, which made it tough to improve. Playing two or three times a week has shown me the difference.

Who knows? Maybe someday I'll play with them again.

Friendship matters.

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