don Quijote had his impossible dream in the musical “The Man of LaMancha.”  He hoped to find, woo and win his Dulcinea.  In the end, it mattered not that he was mad and old, nor that she was clumsy and coarse.  What we learned along the way had more to do with the quest than with the conquest.

I’m about to embark on “The Search.”  The Perfect Hybrid is my Dulcinea, but I won’t settle for anything less than the conquest.  Over the next month, I’ll be trying any hybrid that any company wishes to put in my hand, and I will not stop until I’ve reached my unreachable star.  I’ll cross the Sierra Nevada, battle any windmills that try to stop me and …

A little background would probably be beneficial at this point.

A few years back, I won a TaylorMade hybrid in a golf tournament.  The salvation for many, it was nothing but wisps of despair, plumes of hopelessness for me.  I loved my long irons too much to part with them, but didn’t have the time to devote to honing a true appreciation and dominance of them.  For the past five years, my long game has been a fifty-fifty coin flip…in the bunker or on the green?  Short or pin high?  Wet or dry?  As you know, it’s the good ones that keep you coming back, while the bad ones can be explained away.

As 2009 dawned, I made up my mind.  No more “Halfway Man” for me.  I’ll not settle for less than “Three-Quarter Man.”  I want to hit shots of 195 yards and longer to my target 3/4 of the time.  I need a little forgiveness, and the 1-3 irons are not the knives to do that.  I decided to embark on “The Search” for my perfect hybrid.

Back to that TaylorMade club.  Since I gave it away, I’ve tried dozens from all the big names, from metal-looking to iron-looking clubs.  None has looked right, felt right, or hit right.  And yet, all around me, women and men, professional and amateur, swear by them as if they had ridden with Sancho Panza straight into Aldonza’s inn and found her waiting, smiling.  I knew that the perfect hybrid was out there…correction, IS out there, waiting, smiling, for me.

So off I ride on my Rocinante.  I have a pair of Cobras in hand, with Nikes and Nickents on the way.  I’ll make contact with all the big companies, stop into countless stores on demo day if need be, until I reach the unreachable star.  Keep in touch here and I’ll update you on my progress.