I had a major Michael Corleone moment over the weekend. If you’re as big of a ‘Godfather’ fan as I am, then you’ll remember when Michael (played by Al Pacino) said in the third film, “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!” 

Well, I was saying the same thing Saturday when stepped onto the tee box on No. 1 at McMinnville Country Club. After last summer’s struggles, I really thought I was done playing golf – and all other sports – but somehow I got pulled back in for nine holes. 

And if you think this is going to be some triumphant story about my return, then you have never seen me play golf. It didn’t take long to remember when I don’t play anymore. In fact, it only took one swing.

I was fortunate enough to be playing with friends who were going to allow me to take a breakfast ball off the tee, but even that didn’t spare me from some embarrassment (A breakfast ball, for those who are good at golf or don’t play at all, is when you get a second tee shot on the first hole of the day). I grabbed my 3-Wood, took a couple half-hearted, warm-up swings and took aim at a wide-open fairway.

Like any terrible golfer, I swung as hard as I could and whipped my head up quick to see if I had sent it flying up the course. Sadly, my eyes were acting quicker than my ears, because if my body was taking any clues from my hearing, I would’ve known immediately that there was no sound when the club came through.

Instead, my hearing picked back up in time to hear my buddies chuckling as I looked back down and found the ball still sitting on the tee, waiting for launch. Yep, it was a perfect swing and miss for yours truly on the first ball of the day.

I did bounce back and make contact on the next swing, sending the ball directly into the fairway. The only problem was the fairway I hit was No. 8, the hole running adjacent to the one I was playing and way off to the right. Military golf followed the rest of the afternoon – shots were spraying left, right, left and right.

It would be nice to say that the first swing was the only time I missed the ball, but it happened two more times on the tee box later in the round and one more time on an approach shot where I was surrounded by trees. It was one of those days.

But, in true golf fashion, the sport always gives you a little bit of hope after a day of embarrassment. On the Par-3, No. 7, I miraculously cleared the front bunker with a 7-iron and was able to roll a shot to within five feet of the hole. The putt went in too, so I did leave the course with a birdie to my credit.

That’s how golf always pulls you back in.