If you hang around the game of golf long enough, you hear all kinds of stories, sayings and anecdotes.

I found a few that I thought were amusing while wandering around the internet the other day.

The first is by noted sports columnist Jim Murray.

“I'm gambling that when we get into the next life, Saint Peter will look at us and ask, ‘Golfer?' And when we nod, he will step aside and say, ‘Go right in; you've suffered enough.' One warning, if you do go in and the first thing you see is a par 3 surrounded by water, it ain't heaven.”

Or this one, from Arnold Palmer: “What other people may find in poetry or art museums, I find in the flight of a good drive.”

Here's a couple good ones from Sam Snead, one of the greatest natural swingers and golfers that ever lived.

“If some players took a fork to their mouths the way they take the club back, they'd starve to death.”

“Golf got complicated when I had to wear shoes and begin thinking about what I was doing.”

From David Kindred: “One hundred years of experience had demonstrated that the game is temporary insanity practiced in a pasture.”

From former baseball home run king Hank Aaron: “It took me 17 years to get 3,000 hits in baseball. I did it in one afternoon on the golf course.”

From Paul Gallico: “If there is any larceny in a man, golf will bring it out.”.

From George Deukmejian: “The difference between golf and government is that in golf you can't improve your lie,” from George Deukmejian.

From Ben Hogan: “Reverse every natural instinct and do the opposite of what you are inclined to do, and you will probably come very close to having a perfect golf swing.”

A 1916 quote from the New York Tribune: “Golf is, in part, a game; but only in part. It is also in part a religion, a fever, a vice, a mirage, a frenzy, a fear, an abscess, a joy, a thrill, a pest, a disease, an uplift, a brooding, a melancholy, a dream of yesterday, and a hope for tomorrow.”

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Congratulations to Mike Reilly, of Auburn, on his fine showing in the Syracuse District 2-Man Best Ball Championship, held last week at Dutch Hollow.

Mike's partner Tom Lynch couldn't play, so Mike took on the field by himself and won his flight by one shot against seven other two-man teams.

Other local flight winners were Ed Krickovich and Bob Mitchell who edged out Tony LoCastro and Bill Bellerdine.

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The goal of every golf instructor is to help their students improve. Noted teacher Jim Hardy believes impact is the most important part of any swing.

It does not matter how you get there, but if you get to a good impact position and have a desirable ball flight, the rest is unimportant.

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Enter a tournament or two and give yourself a test and have some real golfing fun.

Get into a scramble or stroke play event and find out what your game is all about. There is nothing like trying to go low.

Summer is in full swing so play as much as you can.

See you on the links!