MudBall Newsletter - Henry Shimp

Hello Friends. Another week, another Mudball Newsletter! Let’s waste no time and get straight to it:

Drinking: I spent a week in Denver that led me into the middle of this past week and I was reminded at how important, and difficult, it is to stay hydrated at elevation. I felt like I needed to have a water on my person at all times just to be thinking about hydration if I were to stay saturated. This led me to of course crush the electrolytes and while usually an electrolyte beverage OR coconut water would be the play, I decided to combine the two to create, you read for this one, *The Rocky Mountain hydration hammer* (no, don’t go there. Stop it)

Eating: I want to acknowledge the quality of Steak and Eggs as a meal. I’m not telling anyone what to believe nutritionally. but for what I believe, and for what my physical and health based goals are, high quality steak and eggs is a dish that does a lot right. Here’s a quick one I did earlier this week that was just gangbusters. My boy Avo (as in cado) and a bit of humble brown rice also joined the party.    

Reading: Likely my favorite movie of all time and certainly one of my favorite books, Lone Survivor, is back on my bedside table and I am thoroughly enjoying it. Rereading my favorite stuff and not continuing on with books Im not quite enjoying has been my MO as of late and it has really taken my reading game up a notch. It’s like golf courses. Why play shitty stuff when you can stick to the bangers?

For anyone who has not read or seen Lone Survivor, I highly recommend it. A wonderful and true story of about American heroes, it will make you more appreciative than you already are of our men and women in uniform. And I sure hope that’s a tall task.

Thinking: always a lot on my dome. I’ll go the direction of competition this week and a bit of inspiration for us all after my US Am experience. While I didn’t quite make match play at Cherry Hills, I leave knowing I had more than enough game to do so. This leaves me really excited for the future and also pushes me to continue to work hard and improve at the game. I know I have the game to make a run in a US Amateur or certainly a mid am in the next 5-10 years which leads me to say to you all to not feel tied to timelines. Everyone rides their own path and just because you are “beyond your prime” doesn’t mean there isn’t still juice left in the battery. A battery doesn’t have to be at 100% to produce it’s best stuff! (I don’t know if that was a cool thought by more or completely idiotic)

To the tenets we go!

Culture: I am certainly biased, but I have been just eating up the amateur golf coverage  of both the men’s and women’s amateurs the last couple weeks. With all the silliness that has gone on in the pro ranks the last couple years that is driven by literally one thing ($$$$$$$$), a couple weeks of golf on great courses that is truly #fortheloveofthegame has been so refreshing.

I hope everyone else is as excited as I am for the Walker Cup at St. Andrews in a couple weeks. That too will be an absolute Turkish (as in delight).

Competition: Is it just me or is tournament golf infinitely more fun to watch on good courses? Bel Air (women’s Am), Walton Heath (women’s open), Cherry Hill’s (US Am), and Olympia Fields (BMW) have been the ballparks as of late and my goodness has golf on TV been more fun to watch on these sorts of venues. More of this? Maybe? Please? For the f****** love?!?!

Architecture: my podcasting brethren, Mr. Walker Simas, has been bringing the #CONTENT on the tecture of the Archi as of late. So, if you haven’t already, go give a listen to the recent episodes he did with Jaeger Kovich and Mike Nuzzo. If you have interest in what has been going on as of late in the fast moving world of GCA, these are two great places to go!

Guest Check In: two things to hit here. Stanford Women’s Golf will be the theme. one, one of our absolute favorites, Andrea Lee,  just posted her second top-10 in the Women’s Open at Walton Heath. She was part of the storyline all weekend and it was a blast to watch. If you haven’t, go listen to the TWO episodes we have done with her here and here.

Second, after having a rib removed earlier in the year and then completing 18 days of ROTC field training directly before the event, Rachel Heck made a run all the way to the semi’s of the US Women’s Am. You can go listen to the ANWA preview pod we recorded with her here.

That’ll do it for now, friends. This week we’ve got:

Monday: MBM 99(!). US Amateur Recap

Wednesday: Long Form by HS. Let the boys play! Bringing back the brothers 54.

Thursday/Friday: Interview S.Z.N

Cheers,

HS