GHIN
It’s been very cold here recently.
The lowest temperature I saw at our house in Milwaukee, WI, was 15 degrees below zero. It’s been so cold that when I stepped out of the car the other day, and it was 5 degrees, I actually was like “Oh wow, it’s a lot nicer today.” It’s a very messed-up way to live, but it’s reality.
As you can guess, there’s not much golf being played at the moment. However, we recently took a trip to Casa De Campo in the Dominican Republic. The trip was a wonderful reprieve from the cold, but the brief break was a stark reminder of just how far away golf is.
After college, I spent more than 12 years living in Florida. Even though I grew up in the Midwest, it’s taken me a few years of living back here in the cold to appreciate the Mid-Winter Golf Trip for what it is. When you can play golf all year round, there’s a little less significance to these types of trips. You’re in your normal rhythm, you’re expecting to play your normal game, whether it’s January or July.
But when you’re coming into them with a golf game that’s supposed to be dormant, there’s something a little jarring about it. Pretty much all I do at home is watch and think about golf, but these trips are a good reminder that thinking about something is a poor stand-in for actual reps (despite what Randy will tell you about the Mental Miss).
I’ve actually grown to enjoy the offseason, particularly when there’s great golf in beautiful places on TV. Putting the clubs away for a few months helps me settle into the natural rhythm of passing time. When the weather does turn nice again, I’ve enjoyed the past few golf seasons even more because of the scarcity of my opportunities to play (shout out to Brian Rolapp). There’s a natural flow to passing the time this way. Each season really feels like a story with a beginning, middle and end, rather than an endless scroll of mediocre golf, as it has for me in the past.
So when I get woken up in the middle of that hibernation, I’m not really sure how to feel. When I got to the DR, my golf swing felt like an old winterized boat. Awful stuff. When I got to the first green, I looked down at my birdie putt (one of the very few I would have that day) and realized I hadn’t actually hit a putt in more than 2 months.
There are many wonderful courses at Casa De Campo, and it didn’t go well for me at any of them. I played horrifying golf. But it also didn’t matter. Because for us cold-weather people, the only way to ruin the Mid-Winter Golf Trip is to bring along your expectations.
Therefore, like most golfers, I always think I should probably be a little better than I am. This disconnect has a tendency to ruin many golf rounds and even entire stretches of the season.
But as I pumped ball after ball into the picturesque Caribbean Sea, I finally had a chance to let go of that and realize that this trip was different. This one I could just flush away. Keep all the good and forget any of the bad ever existed. For once, golf didn’t feel like a life-or-death assessment of Where My Game Was At That Moment. I have plenty of time for that later this summer.
I was not here to grind, and that was OK. I was here to see a new place I’d never seen, hang out with my friends and maybe even go swimming outdoors in an actual pool. I auditioned new swing thoughts on each tee box. I stopped and took some cool photos of the coastline. I got to see a bunch of new golf courses. We made a lot of jokes, and I think it will be a really great video. I played badly. I had a great time.
I added exactly zero birdies to my goal of making 100 of them for the year. And then I went home and went back to sleep.
• • •
TONIC
Here are the 15 movies I’ve watched this year, and a note about whether or not they whipped (per the scale developed on the Oscars TrapDraw):
Goldfinger (1964) - Whipped. Strict rules of golf, Mr. Bond.
Ghost World (2001) - Some very funny moments, but did not whip. Amazon, please stop putting it on my home screen now.
One Battle After Another (2025) - Still whipped, even on the fifth viewing.
Breathless (1960) - I genuinely have no idea whether this whipped or not.
Oslo, August 31st (2011) - Quiet, tight, absolutely emotionally crushing. Of course it whipped.
Ratatouille (2007) - Sure.
Amelie (2001) - I now understand why many people in high school seemed to have made this movie their whole personality. Whipped.
Bugonia (2025) - No, thanks. Did not whip. More on the TrapDraw later.
Paper Moon (1973) - Whipped. Just a big “hell yeah.”
8 ½ (1963) - Got to see it on the big screen in Milwaukee (had somehow never seen it). Obviously whipped in a big way.
Funny People (2009) - I remember it being too long, but holy smokes. Sadly does not whip despite every bone in my body wanting it to.
From Russia With Love (1963) - Whips. Flare gun scene is an all-timer.
The 39 Steps (1935) - Early Hitchcock MacGuffin movie that I’d never seen, but watched randomly on Criterion. Whipped!
Dr. No (1962) - Sadly, far worse than I remembered. Does not whip, but what a good bounceback after this one!
Nacho Libre (2006) - Probably one of my top 5 most-viewed films. Pre-ordered the first-ever 4K and just got it. Undoubtedly whips.
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