You know what? It wasn't that cold after all. I mentioned last week that I would be playing in the Idiot's Open over the weekend, an annual fundraiser for Kansas City Hospice that gives hardcore golfers an excuse to hit the links in the middle of winter. Yes, the temperatures were very cold Saturday morning, but there was no wind and no snow on the ground, so really, it wasn't nearly as frosty as expected. In fact, except for the six layers of clothing I was wearing, it was actually pretty nice.

That doesn't mean it was easy to play golf, however. We walked up to the first tee and encountered our first problem: the ground was so frozen that we couldn't get our tees to go into the soil. So, we were hitting off the turf all day long. The frozen tundra (yes, I know that's redundant but I've watched a lot of NFL Films shows on ESPN over the years) was the major problem all day. It was like playing on a parking lot. You could hit the ball right on the green and while it would be a great shot in May, in February, the ball just bounced high into the air and off the putting surface. A challenge to be sure, but that's what the Idiot's Open is all about.

It will surprise no one that the KMBC 9 team didn't win the tournament. Our team featured Jim Flink, Joel Nichols, myself and a Kansas City Hospice board member who was, unfortunately for him, paired with us. As you can imagine, he carried our team.

So, if you've never golfed in cold conditions, I encourage you to come out to the Idiot's Open next year. It's held at Smiley's Golf Club at K-7 and K-10 in Lenexa and it's always a great time. Anybody can play golf in June, but it takes a real golfer to hit the links in February.