I’ve come down with a bad case of golf fever this spring.

It’s been about 10 years since I regularly played – and by regularly, I mean obsessively. I stole any moment I could to be on the course. It about wrecked my marriage and my wife once literally threatened to throw my clubs in the James River in Hopewell.

I no longer obsess about golf. A friend was telling me recently how he had all but about given up the game. It just takes too long and that’s time he could have been spending with is family.

I admit, I’ve had a heckuva lot of fun on golf courses in my life, but much of it I now regret. It was time I could have spent with my family, time I’ll never get back.

Yesterday my wife and kids went to visit friends in Hopewell and stayed overnight. It was a beautiful day, so I got out for a round.

Not only is it time consuming, it’s tiresome. While I enjoyed my round yesterday, it was tiring. Walking 18 holes carrying a bag was a lot easier in my early 30s than it is in my early 40s. I was asleep by about 8 last night and aching all over when I awakened this morning.

I played pretty well for

a first round of the year, at least from tee to green. My short game, however, was awful, with several two-chip and three-putt greens, even one three-chip green. Despite that, though, I managed to stay double bogey free for about 14 holes. By then I was tiring and had two doubles on the way in.

I told my boss I don’t think he has to worry about me playing a lot of hooky from work on the golf course. Work is much more relaxing.