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I have a golf buddy named Lee O Wood. He’s an interesting guy. He’s the only funeral director (He owns the business) I know with a real sense of humor and an absolute zest for life. He loves the game of golf and at some point started putting together colorful plus four ensembles and actually wearing them to the golf course. He swears this is the ultimate ice-breaker and claims he has made friends the world over. Every time I’ve been with him it’s true someone will approach us, start a conversation and leave with a smile on their face. I used to think that meant that Lee was in the wrong business. I’ve learned I was wrong.

I’m playing in the Buick Pro-Am at Torrey Pines and I show up atothe tee with my clubs, my caddie and my camera well before Tiger. My caddie for the day is a great guy. He told me some great stories about looping for Pros on the tour. Most of the caddies and many of the players knew him and seemed to genuinely like him. I only had one request: Take my camera and from the moment I walk up to Tiger just shoot pictures like a wild man. While I was shaking Tiger’s hand I even stole a glance back to make sure he was on the job and he appeared to be snapping pictures like a tourist in Times Square. I was ecstatic and his tip after the round, I believe, reflected my gratitude. I half walked, half ran back to the room at the lodge to download my pictures to share with the world and to select the one suitable for framing. To my disappointment I found only the out-of-focus, out-of-position shot above. That’s me with the aura.

I was looking at the beautiful, shiny and new Buick LuCerne we are using for our hole-in-one car this year and I got to thinking about the fact that in more than 20 years of serious golf I have never had an ace.

According to Golf Digest the odds are about 12,700 to 1. 12,700 tries with approximately two par threes per round (6,350) means with the number of rounds I play I would have about 104 chances at a hole-in-one per year. So, unless I beat the odds I can expect one ace if I play for 61 years. Now my father has had many aces, so I guess you should factor in accuracy.

I may never get an ace.

Let’s face it, golf is hard.

I’m a guitar player. I’ve never been on stage and all of a sudden started playing like I never played a guitar before. But I’ve seen PGA Tour Pros shank the ball off the tee or even fail to execute shots that someone could walk right out of the gallery, take the club out of their hands and on that day, for that shot execute it better than the Pro just did.

So why do we play a game that is this hard? There is a simple answer best explained by what happened to me yesterday. I was on the 16th hole of Maple Moore in White Plains, New York and I was over the green in 2 on the par 4. I was in some thick rough, exacerbated by the fact it had not been cut due to rain the day before. It was straight down hill once the ball landed on the green so I decided to flop it high and try to stop the ball somewhere on the green. I took a good look at it and saw the line pretty well. I knew if I dropped it somewhere near the spot I located, the ball would have a chance to stop near the hole. Degree of difficulty: 9 on a scale of 1 to 10. I take a couple of practice swings, line up the blade behind the ball and take a full swing. The club slid nicely through the grass, the ball went up almsot 20 feet into the air, landed on the spot I had picked out and slowly rolled the 45 feet down the hill directly into the center of the cup. I’m going to make that shot one time in 1,000 tries. But the fact is under pressure, with a match on the line, I made a decision and I executed perfectly and what I had imagined became reality.

That’s why golfers return to the golf course.