“You can't get too much winter in the winter.”

-- American Poet Robert Frost (1874 – 1963)

By all accounts, Robert Frost was a great poet. His work has been described as “original,” “powerful,” “sincere,” “insightful” and “graceful.” And then there are the four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry between1924 to 1943 and he was the United States Poet Laureate in 1958 & 1959. But he must have been having a bad day when he wrote, “You can't get too much winter in the winter.” And he sure as hell wasn’t a golfer!

So far, this has been a long and cold winter in KC. Usually there are a few “let-ups,” which allow us to get out in late December and January. That simply hasn’t been the case the last six weeks. Put simply, I am going stir crazy, but I have been around long enough to accept the fact that there are certain things in life that I can’t control – i.e. the weather.

If it hadn’t been for the incredible ride the Chiefs have taken us on, I would be in Funktown. Here is what I am thinking: The sporting gods must maintain some reasonable balance in the world.* I believe that in exchange for a Kansas City victory over San Francisco, they have ordered up some pretty awful golf weather.

Honestly, that’s not a huge price to pay for us long-suffering KC football fans, but that still leaves many of us stuck inside instead of on the course. In order to get through the next two or three weeks of this bloody cold, here are a few TO-DOs, CAN-DOs SHOULD-DOs and FUN-DOs.

(*As if waiting 50 years for a return trip to the Super Bowl hasn’t been enough!)

Legendary golf teacher Harvey Penick said,”Lessons are not to take the place of practice, but to make practice worthwhile.” How about calling the Pro Shop and booking a lesson or two with Andy, Evan or Paul in our indoor hitting room. Or if you simply feel like hitting something hard, book a time in the indoor hitting room.

Get Fit! You can do a little homework and design your own conditioning plan or call a respected gym and work with a professional who can formulate the perfect program for you. 

Take a good look at your golf clothes. Determine what stays and what can go. After that, head to your favorite pro shop or store for any needed replacements or updates

There’s a good chance that your current golf bag is faded, ripped, dirty or the dividers are worn down. It’s time to go bag shopping. Instead of limiting yourself to the standard blue, black or green bag, look for one that has personality, a little pizzazz. In other words, dare to be different. Attitude is everything! Here are a few options that are worth considering.

L To R: Skull and Crossbones; Star Studded; Camouflage; Black Alligator.

If your bag is in good shape, in all likelihood it could stand an assessment and removal process and perhaps a cleaning.

1. Go through the contents of your bag and remove the extra balls, tees, divot repair tools, gloves, scorecards and used mini liquor bottles.
2. Next check the bag itself. It may be time to clean it by lightly spraying water all over the bag and then scrubbing it with a mix mild soap and warm water. Don’t rub too hard on any embroidery on the bag.

For those of you who have become gatherers versus hunters, go to www.tgw.comto check the latest and great ball retrievers.

Plan your dream golf vacation. Mine is simple: Ten days at Royal Dornoch.

Read a golf book. Tom Coyne has written two wonderful travel books, A Course Called Ireland and A Course called Scotland. And you won’t be disappointed in the well-written, highly humorous The Dogged Victims of Inexorable Fate: A Love-Hate Celebration of Golfers and Their Game by the late great Dan Jenkins.

Pull out you putter and practice inside. That and if you great eye-hand coordination and unimaginable patience, start keeping track of how many times you can bounce a ball off of your wedge.

Start your own SWING THOUGHT JOURNAL. U.S. Women’s Open Champion Paula Creamer keeps one and refers to it before every round: “I know very few serious players who don’t keep a journal of swing thoughts in their golf bag. I always jot down two thoughts from my ‘bible’ on a sticky note and put it in my scorecard holder. My most recent ones were, Turn left shoulder over right knee and Slow transition.

At least I know exactly what I will be doing Sunday night – watching my Chiefs outhit, outwit, outrun and outscore the 49ers 31-28.

Let’s Go KC!