Golf Fore the Good

In the midst of the holiday hub-bub Golf Fore the Good celebrated a full first year online! This post will serve as an update on our development process.

In the last few weeks I have spent hours upon hours researching and testing CMS platforms with which we might expand the functionality of GFTG. Being decidedly non-skilled in this vein it has been exceptionally slow going. The saving grace is that the local weather has not been very conducive to an enjoyable round of golf, even the few days that the golf course has been open and free of snow and ice. I did manage to play seven holes on Christmas Eve, leaving more than a few holiday chores undone for the afternoon… and if I wasn’t messing around with a test website you would have read about how wonderful it was to play that day… but alas, duty called and kept me from blogging.

It is very exciting watching our web stats increase monthly by leaps and bounds. I also have to pat myself on the back for meeting my goal of posting, on average, at least once a week throughout this first year. Working full time and golfing as much as I possibly can, sometimes this has involved a good deal of juggling. So far, I’ve managed to keep most of my balls in the air. But, baby, how I wish every ball I was playing right now was a Titliest!

This is a frustrating period behind the scenes. I admit to limited knowledge of php, CMS, CSS, etc. However, I’ve bumbled along thus far and remain committed to my original plan of expanding GFTG to allow amateur golfers to share their input and the path toward becoming a functional not-for-profit entity. The feedback we receive on our content makes the struggle worthwhile. If only a golf addicted techie would come along and assist in our development, life would be grand!

I may have finally found a platform with the usability and functionality I think Golf Fore the Good will need for proper growth. Or maybe not…. I’m working on some test sites now with the Drupal platform, albeit not without incident. I have to look back and remember that at this time last year I was as mystified with the workings of Wordpress as I currently am with Drupal. Same story, different venue: I remember thinking that I’d never learn to hit my sand wedge and, after committed practice, it has become one of my favorite clubs. Never give up.

Yes, I know, I should be writing about golf, in a language non-golfers barely comprehend, not posting text about platforms and CMS and websites that is basically irrelevant to the golfers who have enjoyed GFTG this past year. But the call to post something - anything - has been nagging at me for days if not weeks. Maybe a golfer/techie will happen upon this post and take pity on me and come on board GFTG and lead us to greatness. Maybe not.

Either way, no one ever promised me that this whole thing would be easy to get going. If “easy” was the road I always expected to travel, I never would have fallen in love with the game of golf. So, just as it is out on the golf course, I’ll soldier on. Some days are more difficult than others and although one is sometimes tempted to walk right off the course, pick up the ball and go home, it just isn’t in my nature.

Who knows what the New Year will bring. Maybe GFTG will bust out as the foremost amateur golf site on the web. Maybe I’ll find myself free to post whenever the urge strikes, with the trauma of hosting plans, platforms and development long forgotten. Maybe I’ll get that single digit handicap. Whatever the year brings, I hope we continue to find a growing audience for Golf Fore the Good. And I hope you always hit ‘em straight!

Happy New Year!