Missing Out Syndrome

That horrible, gut-wrenching, sense that something exciting and interesting is happening and, for whatever reason, you’re not part of it.

I hate this feeling. It comes around every so often for a variety of reasons, but the worst & most frequent is with golf. I had it when Noel and Greg played the Twenty Ten course at Celtic Manor ahead of the Ryder Cup. I’ll probably have it again when Noel jets off to Las Vegas in a couple of weeks and tees it up at Furnace Creek Resort in Death Valley.

The reason for writing this blog entry today is that I am having this feeling again now. Later today, the protagonists for the 2011 Harey Cup, including Scho and Harey, will wind their merry way to the airport and fly off to Toulouse to play at Albi over this weekend. I took part in the inaugural Harey Cup in 2008, played at Alamos, Morgado and Salgados on the Algarve, Portugal. This was a fabulous weekend of golf, drink, camaraderie, drink and drink. In fact, one of the lasting (and most painful) memories is that never again can I drink Dooley’s toffee vodka, but I digress.

The event format is individual Stableford from full handicaps calculated as a cumulative total over the three rounds, with handicap adjustments between rounds depending on performance above or below the 36-point mark. This, in theory, allowed for any sombrero-wearers to be hauled back into the pack and, more importantly, for anyone hungover to be recompensed the following day. Now, whilst I didn’t disgrace myself (not on the golf course, at least) I also didn’t really threaten to walk away with the prize but that didn’t impact on the enjoyment of the weekend and I looked forward to future instalments of this event.

The rules are that whoever picks up the wooden spoon has the honour of organising the following year’s event. In 2008, Nick Southwell came in a comfortable last – to be honest, he could have broken the course record at Salgados and still finished bottom of the pile – and he chose North Wales as the sun-kissed venue for 2009. Due to my son’s arrival and my desire to remain domestically popular, I missed this instalment and the crowning of Richie Munro as the lucky loser. Richie made his 2010 venue choice based on a football World Cup offer – if your country of choice wins the World Cup, you get your golf & hotel costs refunded.

He chose Spain.

I was gutted to miss a trip to La Manga but, with a new job and tight finances, the risk of Spain not winning the cup and us getting a cheap trip was too great for me.

And so to 2011. Nick Haller (someone I’ve not actually met) brought up the rear at La Manga, so he utilised local knowledge gleaned from family holidays to choose the south of France and the golf course at Albi. Decision time for attending this trip was back in February – I had moved house in the middle of January, so putting forward the idea of spanking more than £500 on a weekend of golf, drink, camaraderie, drink and drink wouldn’t have been hugely successful. I am sure that Scho, Nick, Harey, Richie, et al will have a fantastic time and I wish I could be there too, but I am missing out again.

Why do I get this Missing Out Syndrome? Is it because with golf, unlike other sports, I am actually capable of producing something approaching a decent performance? Is it also because, since I have got into Twitter, I have been exposed to a lot more activity in the amateur golfing world to which I was previously oblivious?

Or, more pertinently, why do I consistently find myself in situations where I can miss out, as opposed to actively doing something about it? For example, I am already geared up to the prospect of missing out in 2012, for exactly the same reason as I missed 2009. Am I using the arrival of a child as creative avoidance, or do I just have piss-poor timing?!

So many questions, so little time....

I am The Part-Time Golfer