Parabolic Arcs, and Pulled Putts

In this episode, the Retirement Mulligan

Welcome to the first official morning of the rest of my life. With no alarms and no meetings, chasing a little white ball around The Lakehouse—a par-58 canvas—felt like the perfect way to christen retirement.

Golf is a game of profound integrity, so I must disclose that my playing partner, Steve, and I took a couple of mulligans off the tee today. When you overswing like you're launching into low-Earth orbit, the most mature choice is sometimes a do-over. In retirement, these aren't mulligans. They are Executive Retirement Relief Strokes—a benefit package we’ve earned.

When the swing connected exactly as intended, it was pure geometry in motion. Watching a crisply struck iron trace a towering parabolic arc against the San Marcos sky is the everyday magic we try to capture here at On the Fly.

We witnessed it eleven times today, to be exact. Hitting eleven greens in regulation meant I repaired so many of my own pitch marks that I wondered if the grounds crew was going to hand me a W-2 to replace the one I had just retired. If this retirement thing comes with a landscaping internship, I misunderstood the package.

Then came the punchline.

Eleven birdie looks are exhilarating right up until your putter joins the conversation. Mine developed a passionate, almost exclusive relationship with the left edge of the cup. Golf is a game of hilariously cruel margins. You can hit a 130-yard approach that obeys the laws of physics and beauty, only to discover that a microscopic mischief-maker on the putter face turns a birdie into a mildly resentful par.

Still, I walked off with a 74—including seven pars—which suggests the swing is very much intact, internal audits notwithstanding.

The countdown to my 70th birthday next month is on, and the math looks respectable. If I take this same tee-to-green game to a par-54 layout like Rancho Carlsbad and keep that same +16 pace, the dream is right there: 70 before 70. Retirement has been underway for a morning now, and I’ve already turned it into a performance metric.

"You cannot tailor-make the situations in life, but you can tailor-make the attitudes to fit those situations." — Zig Ziglar

I can't always control the break on a green—or the occasional tee shot that travels with the authority of a startled housecat—but I can control my mindset. Right now, the long game is singing, and the short game is . . . negotiating.

Here's to noticing the arc, fixing the pitch marks, accepting the occasional retirement mulligan with good friends like Steve, and savoring every step of this newly minted chapter.

I’m Patrick Ball. Stay curious and ask better questions. See you next time.

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