Get a Grip

Although I have never been an outstanding golfer and I don't play frequently, I have always enjoyed the game. I have, however, become more frustrated lately with my scores being even worse than they used to be.

I know I would play better if I played more often, but one of my problems has been the club turning in my hands when impacting the ball. I just couldn't seem to hold the club tight enough. The grips on my clubs were actually smooth and slippery. I asked one of the guys I was playing with the other day if he knew of a dressing for golf club grips that would make them more sticky and easier to hold. Maybe something like the gooey stuff football receivers used to put on their hands so they could better grab the ball.

He looked at my clubs and told me the grips were old and dried out. What I needed to do was replace the grips. Maybe I should have thought of that, but I was much too naive about golf to realize my grips were worn out and should or even could be replaced.

Nevertheless, I looked up a golf booth at the large flea market nearby, the Don-Wes Flea Market, and talked to the proprietor about new grips on my irons. He acknowledged my grips were dried out and my clubs needed to be re-gripped. So I selected the best he had to offer and left my irons with him to put the new grips on.


On Wednesday morning early, I excitedly drove over to the flea market to pick up my "new" irons. Wow! They sure looked nice with the new larger grips, kind of soft and cushioned, and with a little bit of a sticky feel. Another golf booth at the flea market saw my new grips and referred to them as "arthritic grips". If so, that's probably what an old guy like me needs and I should certainly be able to hang on to these grips.







I was so excited to try them out. I had signed up for mixed play with other residents of Palm Shadows RV Park and eagerly went to the clubhouse to join everyone else for the trip to the golf course. But it was a cool, cloudy day with a little mist in the air. Of the 26 golfers who had signed up to play, all but one other golfer and myself cancelled. They were obviously a bunch of "fair weather golfers", but I was not to be denied . . . I was determined to try out my new grips.


One of my neighbor here in the Park, Harold Crabtree, and I were the only die hard golfers still willing to play in the misty air. Other than one other twosome, we had the whole course all to ourselves. The weather was tolerable through the first several holes, although the faster we drove the golf cart, the wetter we got, as our cart had a roof but no windshield.








However, when we had only three holes to go the mist turned to light rain. We were determined to complete our round, which we did, and returned to the clubhouse pretty wet.

But most importantly, I was able to grip my "new" irons. They didn't turn in my hands!

I must report, however, that the wet weather was not conducive to good play and I didn't improve my score. I'll wait until a dry, sunny day to give my "new" irons a fair test. I can hardly wait for another chance to "Get a Grip" soon.