The Front Row with JASON ELLIOTT April 27, 2011

With a couple days off and temperatures in the 60s, what better time to hit the golf course than Easter Sunday.

Or at least that's what I wanted to tell myself.

DURING THE past four months in the Silver Valley, there has been everything from snow, rain, sleet and any other kind of weather you could imagine - that is, except sunshine.

That all changed over the weekend as the sun made a cameo appearance.

And with the weather not changing I figured that there was no better time to get out on the golf course for the first time this year, hitting up Shoshone Golf Course in Big Creek on Sunday afternoon.

Things started about as bad as expected - the first tee shot sailing about 50 feet before sinking into the ground.

After making my way to the ball and sinking two inches into the mud, I took another swing, then a few more.

Once I made my way back to the cart and cleaned the mud off my 8-iron, I thought that I was bound for good things on the course after a slow start.

Again, I was wrong.

By the second hole, the wind continued to roar and whatever chances of hitting a straight shot off the tee box were getting slim and none.

As much as I'd like to blame the weather for the way I played, it was all on me.

IT HAD been a few years since I'd golfed at Shoshone and no matter how many times I've played it, there's never a point when I've thought I played my best.

Between the first time I played the course some five years ago until Sunday, I have always gotten off to a slow start - usually growing frustrated as the shot totals increased.

But this was like nothing I've experienced before.

By the fifth hole, there was no chance of finishing the round with a great score and had it not been for a shot deflecting off a tree near the top of a wooded area, it could have been worse.

The round came to a conclusion right before the sun disappeared and while I don’t remember what the final score was, I knew it wasn’t good.

If nothing else, it makes me marvel at the scores some of the high school athletes can put up in these less than ideal conditions.

Shooting anywhere under a 50 in the conditions they’ve had to play in this spring is nothing short of amazing.

Even though it didn’t snow or rain, the grounds weren’t the best in some places for having a strong round that day.

Being an optimistic person, there’s a chance that my scores will improve and that this outing was a sign that I’m a little rusty when it comes to swinging the clubs.

At least, that is what I will keep telling myself.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached via telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via e-mail at [email protected].