6-18-10
Zen is dead. He died today. I ran over him with our truck. It was an accident. We buried him near the path that leads to the hills behind our home. I am too upset to write about it right now. I want to write about golf to get my mind off of it.
We are driving to Lakewood. B is driving while the children rest in the back seats. Danielle is up now. She’s crying. We have all cried numerous times today. Enough. I am going to write about golf now to get my mind off of Zen.
On to golf…
C.J. and I played together for the first time in the Microbial Energy Two-Person Best Ball tournament last weekend.
We played very well together. Saturday, we ham-and-egged it really well, and with C.J.’s handicap and our decent play we were right in the mix with a decent shot of winning if we played well on Sunday too.
I earned a birdie on Saturday. We played with Billie (last name) and Dan (last name) on that day, and they were the eventual low gross winners of the tournament in the first flight. Both days we had a terrible start, and on Saturday we had an awful ending, but more on that later.
Hidden Valley-Hole #8-Birdie #6 of 2010
I pulled my tee shot with my Wishon Utility club over the ditch to a spot behind the hill over by the #9 tee box. From there, with the ball slightly above my feet, I pulled my gap wedge, and my ball ended up on the left side of the green about even with the hole that was on the middle tier this time. I had not been chipping or pitching well, but this shot was an exception. I did a small pitch and it had all the right stuff. It bounced just off the green, rolled about eight or ten feet (about the same distance from the edge of the green to the hole), and hit the stick for a birdie. Earlier Dan had chipped in on hole #3, so I said if Dan could do it, so could I.
I know I said I wouldn’t write about Zen, but some of the songs playing off of B’s playlist are making me sad. Maybe it’s because it’s so fresh in my mind and I’m making connections I normally wouldn’t, or maybe God is talking to me through the music. We just heard You’re My Best Friend and Dust in the Wind. Now, Jim Croce is singing I’ll Have to Say I Love You in a Song. Those sum it up well, but not well enough. I’ll put it into words later, but for now these songs are both melancholic and comforting.
On Sunday, I had my best day of golf in a tournament so far. It was a best ball tournament, and C.J. did help on some holes, but today I really helped the team. I shot an 82. No birdies, but simple steady play, except for the first hole. To keep it fresh in my mind, and to get it down, I am going to go hole by hole again. These are the rounds worth recording!
Hole #17-Tough starting hole. I teed off with my 7-iron from the teeing area across the bridge planning to not go past the building on the corner. I pulled it a bit, but I was safe on the rough brown grass across the cart path, but just short of the building. I made a nice 9-iron swing from there, but my ball hit the tree and probably fell straight into the water. I dropped on the fairway from behind that same spot for my fourth shot. I swung again, and when it was done I had a seven. Thankfully, C.J. earned a six. We had a similar start on the first day. We started on hole #13 the first day. My tee shot ended up under a tree. I punched out to the #8 fairway. Then I made a great swing with my 8-iron putting my ball past the flag but on the green. I triple-putted for a six. I think C.J. had a seven, so we helped each other on both of these terrible starting holes. I wish Hidden Valley had a driving range, but I could have come earlier. I could have warmed up more. It’s nobody’s fault but my own.
Hole #18-On the green in regulation! Triple-putted due to a small rush in adrenaline. My ball was above the hole, and I nearly putted it off the green.
Hole #1-On in regulation, but below the hole this time. Triple-putted again, however, by putting my ball six or seven feet past the hole with my first putt this time. Calm down, Pat!
Hole #2-On in regulation again! Hooray! Double-putted for my first par of the day! Double hooray! That’s more like it.
Hole #3-Pulled my tee shot. Hit some leaves with my approach on a tree that was along the path and my ball ended up at the bottom of the hill that the green sits on. Made a fantastic pitch to about three feet from there. Another par!
Hole #4-C.J. and I both earned par here. I did it from above the hole, and C.J. did it from below, but we were both on the green after our first shots.
Hole #5-I got a bogey.
Hole #6-We both got bogeys.
Hole #7-I am going to recount what happened on Saturday here, but I had a bogey on this hole both days. I just worked so hard to earn the Saturday bogey that it’s worth it for me to tell how it happened. C.J. teed off first, and his ball flew right over the fence. Not good. I teed off, and my ball turned left so suddenly Billy said I "snarfed" it. Never heard that word before, but it fit. I definitely "snarfed" it. When we were looking for my ball, we were looking way too far away. It was just past the big bushy tree that is even with the green on #14. My second shot was so clutch. I used the Wishon Utility club, made a smooth, powerful swing, and put my ball in a position on the fairway to go for the green. My approach came up short, but my pitch put my ball even with the hole about eight feet away. That putt went way past the hole (faster putt than I thought), but I made that comeback putt for a hard-earned bogey that helped keep us on track.
Hole #8-Had the Saturday birdie I already described, but on Sunday I earned a funky par. My tee shot was just on the fairway, but it was near the cart path and below my feet. It was not a great lie either, kind of splotchy ground. I skulled my approach, and it almost turned out really well. It was low and fast, and I thought it had a chance to actually roll right to the middle tier where the flag was. It had too much speed, though, and it ended up just off the green on the backside. Got “down” and in in two shots from there, though. This was a swell par, especially considering that I was able to get my first putt close enough (about six or seven feet) from up above the hole like that, and then that I was able to make that second putt. It was ugly and funky, but it was still a four on the scorecard.
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