Like most people, I have a love/hate relationship with golf. Today, I love it. I played in the Rick Pankow Foundation charity golf tournament yesterday at Washington National. I was teamed up with my good friend Kevin, his friend Mark, and his ringer friend Skip.

The format was a scramble, which means everyone tees off, and then everyone hits from the location of the best ball and so on. The team cards a single score. It's a fun format since there's very little pressure (since there are four chances for each shot) and even duffers like me can contribute.

I was clearly the weakest golfer in the foursome (a position I'm quite used to), but I'm happy to report that I held up my end with a two or three long putts (including one that was maybe fifty feet) and a few nice approach shots including a flippy little wedge to about two feet into a very tight pin and a great 7-wood to six feet, both when everyone else had missed their shots.

I was driving super well too, but that didn't matter a whit since Skip and then Mark were driving 300 yards plus. It's a different game when you can hit your second shots from so far up.

We were on fire from the first hole where Mark almost chipped in for an eagle. We proceeded to shoot a 60, twelve shots under par. Because of the rules of the tournament, we were playing from the back tees for sixteen of the eighteen holes to making our score even more impressive. Alas, 60 wasn't quite enough to win; the winners shot 59. Still, we took home $75 gift certs for second place and the knowledge we had all played really well.

The course was in great shape. It was a beautiful day -- sunny and just the right temperature. I think, though, that playing well made it just a bit sunnier for us. I loved it. Can't wait to play again.