Over these past few weeks our son was having his patience tried as he replaced our dinosaur six-year old computer with a spiffier new version.  I had, for months, been thinking we needed a new computer, but resisted the purchase when thinking of the hassle of cleaning up the old and embracing the new.  How many of us do just that when it comes to accepting other changes in our lives or routine?

We, of a certain age, sometimes go kicking and screaming into the technology world.  But think about it.  Look at all the gadgets and tools we have at our fingertips that we now just take for granted. 

The thing is that once we make the changes we often wonder, “How did I get along before without ____?”  You fill in the blank:  air-conditioning, remote controls, GPS's, GHIN, online sign-ups.  Online sign-ups?

What?  Online sign-ups?  Technology has come to us in just about every aspect of life.  Golf is included in this long list.  So let's embrace 2010 with online sign-ups for SAWGA. 

Webmaster, Terry Lambert, has been working on this project for several months now.  We board members have been involved with this project, testing it, getting the bugs out, and helping Terry with remarks or suggestions.  He's worked hard to fine-tune this newest application for our golf association.  He soon will be introducing this concept to all SAWGA members.

As with any “new” thing in our lives, we may have a somewhat bumpy learning curve for awhile.  This was true for us in the test group, too.  Old routines, old habits are not always easily discarded and true to form we sometimes signed up the “old way” and would need a reminder of the need to use the “new way” so that continued testing of the procedures could be made by Terry. 

Let's embrace the new.  Let's look forward to using a new way to sign up for play days.  We may have some kinks for awhile, but think of it in terms of golf.  After a golf lesson we are to try out this new way of hitting the ball or adding finesse to our striking of the ball.  Do we always get it right the first time?  We seem to need a bit of time to adjust to this new way.  Sometimes we grumble, sometimes we embrace,

But most of all we persist, otherwise we wouldn't have made it  past the first round on the golf course.  Then we think, “Now that I've made it past the first round, I need to establish a handicap.  Now that I have that handicap, I need to lower it, and so on and so on.” 

Are we ready to persist?  Are we ready to embrace?  Let's look forward to new things in our golf world in this, our new year.

Looking forward with you,

Jeanne Parsley