My first taste of a golf simulator in winter was a miserable one.

I went about a decade ago while on vacation in Minnesota with my uncle and stepdad. I recall hitting miserable shot after miserable shot – which wasn’t uncommon for me back then (some would say still).

I remember thinking, ‘I’m a high-handicapper, but I’m not this bad outdoors.’ So I quit mid-round.

And I never came back … until recently.

My round of golf at Golf-O-Rama in Michigan wiped away those awful memories. I got to play Augusta National, in December, in Michigan. How cool is that?

I can’t wait to go back and try more of the 100 courses on the simulator. I especially want to tackle Pebble Beach to recall my round back in 2003 on the real thing.

I went into my first simulator round in a decade with low expectations. I wasn’t surprised my first drive went only 148 yards, leading to a double bogey.

As I got comfortable, I scored my first par at the sixth hole, a 171-yard par three, by drilling a 7-iron to the green. A brutal stretch – a nine and a triple and double bogey – ended my front nine with 52, not bad for a 13-handicap golfer who hasn’t played real golf in six weeks.

Getting off the tee with more consistency on the back nine, I birdied the 11th (hitting a 7-iron to 10 feet) and made three more pars enroute to a 40.

I found the simulators quite accurate. My true outdoor game consists of low-lining 220 yard drives and a stroke-saving short game. My round was a mirror image of that. Getting up and down helped me shoot 92 from the white tees (6,343 yards) at Augusta. Since I’m not a well-connected millionaire, the round was likely the only way I’ll get to play golf’s hallowed ground.

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