Yes, as I type, I’m back home again in beautiful Michigan. And you probably could guess if you know anything about me at all related to my favorite pastime, I’m in my home state playing golf. And as much as I enjoy the rounds I play in my now hometown of Grand Junction, there’s just something about playing in the Mitten that does my heart good.

Maybe it’s because one of my favorite surprises always comes with just how green it is back home. Maybe that’s because they get a lot more rain in Michigan than we do in western Colorado, which is the obvious answer, since I know I live in the desert. But I will never get over the beauty of just how wonderfully green Michigan is.

And I say that in spite of my golf ball finding its way behind much of that green on all too many shots. But that’s simply because there are just so many darned trees on the golf courses, and when you hack the ball around as I do, it doesn’t always go into places where there are no trees on golf courses. Something I hear they call the fairway.

Oh, I hit it much more often than I used to, because for some reason known only to God himself, my golf game improved greatly after those nice docs at St. Mary’s split my chest open.

For the record, I recommend practicing over open-heart surgery to improve one’s golf game. I also recommend hitting the fairway with one’s tee shot.

Which surprisingly I did find most of the time during my first Michigan round I played on this trip on deadline day for this column. Now, if only I will be pleasantly surprised for rounds two, three and four. Then again, with every round of golf I play, there are plenty of surprises, both good and bad. It’s why I love the game so much. One hole I’m thinking of quitting, and the next hole I’m dreaming of joining the Senior Tour. The real secret is you just don’t get carried away with either feeling. Oh, the ying and yang of the game I love so.

But it IS just a game, after all. Maybe understanding that is why I got better all of the sudden. Considering golf was literally the last thing I did before going to the doctor and having him order me to the emergency room, because I was having a heart “event,” perhaps the connection between golf and almost dying put things in my life into proper perspective.

So, when my surprisingly poor golf shot ends up in nature, I focus more on the surrounding beauty than the ugliness of my lie or those tall green obstacles in between me and the other, more desired green destination, the one we putt on.

But I have to say, it’s always the best surprise when I get together with my three best, home-state buddies for “The Match,” which occurs during one of the rounds of my trips, which so happens to be the round we played today. And when the venerable Wizard and Craigy (the good guys) square off against the evil empire of Chaz and Big Wind (obviously, the bad guys) for golf supremacy, surprises are the name of the game.

Well, maybe they aren’t really surprising surprises. Just pleasant ones. That is, unless Wizard and Craigy lose. Now, that would be a surprise.

You see, the biggest surprise is always the blessing I receive with the camaraderie of three best buddies hitting the links again for the who knows how many times over the past 30-plus years. Because the true surprising pleasures in life come from good friends (I could say those you love, but we’re such guy guys) reminiscing, joking, teasing and friendly abusing one another over five hours of the most intense competition.

Yes, I’m joking. But the losers do have to suffer through months of ridicule. It’s only months now, because we have been surprisingly lucky to get together now twice a year on these trips for a few years.

Just so you folks understand, your favorite columnist doesn’t reach the ripe old age of 30 without Big Wind. That would be my buddy Steve, who was my first roommate after finally moving out of my parent’s home, and he literally took me under his wing for all things sorting out how to strike out on my own. Steve’s been paramount in my life for the decades since we became good friends.

Few hugs mean as much in my life whenever we meet.

As for Wizard and Chaz, that’s the brothers Dave and Charlie Orders, who I met through Steve. And, of course, we all first met at the golf course. Over the years and what must be a hundred or more rounds, Charlie and Dave have become best of buddies beyond golf. We’ve talked every week for years, especially blowing up texts over countless University of Michigan games.

Dave and Charlie are a blessed constant in my life.

But the best surprise is no surprise when it comes to these guys. We always pick up right where we left off. Every time. Even if the majority of golf course fun is sarcasm and joking, there’s always time before, around and between shots (sometimes during with the joking) and after our rounds to catch up on life. Only now we’re catching up less it seems on families (although there’s plenty of that) and more on getting signed up for Medicare and Social Security.

But those come with the wonderful surprise of growing old with good friends. Got a few in my new home state as well. And yup, a bunch of it happens over golf.

I pray we all have friends to count the years of blessings.

In Truth and freedom.

P.S. – Oh yes, Craigy and Wizard won. Again.

Craig Hall is owner and publisher of The Business Times. Reach him at 424-5133 or publisher@thebusinesstimes.com