The best day of my life?

The best day of my life was when my daughter was born – no argument. By a mile.

Mind you - and this may sound clichéd - my wedding day was a real blast as well.

But today was the best day of my golfing life. No argument.

It wasn’t so much that I won the Lindfield men’s handicap knock-out, scraping past Tim 1-up. Though that was very nice, of course. The main thing was that I barely hit a bad (long-game) shot. Two errant drives and a crowned 4-wood that went 170 yards instead of 210.

I got round in 78 and boy, did my swing work! It hit 11 out of 13 fairways, a personal best on my home course! I compressed my irons and, without exception, hit them straight and true. Not a duff to speak of.

I have more than a sneaking suspicion that Tim is a better player than me. But he was hugely sporting as I snuck past him in the closing holes. The very best thing about it all, now I think about it, is that he noticed that my swing had changed for the better. More compact, he said. You can hear the quality of the striking, he said. A huge compliment.

I am now off to drink copious jars of wine. Then I’m going to ask Dave and Steve how to chip and pitch. Their book has transformed my long game but my short game is pants.

Which is absurd, now I think of it. I’m sure they’ll just tell me to replicate the impact zone from my shiny new full swing and, hey presto, you can chip and pitch.

I wonder if it really is that simple? But that’s tomorrow’s problem. Tonight is deciding between the Pinot Noir and the Shiraz… Or just drinking them both.