Little 3-Club Tourney and C.J.'s Curse

7-10-10

   I won a golf tournament today!  It was a small tournament and an unofficial one, but hey, a win is a win.  I will continue to downplay it here, but I do know that any win is a good win.  I did what I needed to do, and I got it done.

   C.J. called me earlier this week and left a message saying that Hidden Valley was hosting a 3-club tournament on Saturday.  I assumed that Bruce and C.J. were planning on playing in it, too, so I didn’t call him back; I just showed up this morning.  He wasn’t there.  Tom told me I would be playing with three other guys.  One of them was named Rocky, and I met him right there at the register.  He was one of the guys playing in the group ahead of us when I played with Chris.  We passed them that day when we made the turn since they were playing slowly.  I think they are all about having fun, and not so serious about golf.  I overheard Tom say they usually can get pretty “sauced” by about the 16^th hole.  After it was over today, I heard Rocky tell Doug (last name) that he got an 8, and then he got a 9, and then a 10.  Yes, not so serious about golf; I think that’s true. 

   I called C.J. to see if he was coming.  I called Bruce first, but he told me to call C.J., so Bruce must have had something going on today, but I don’t know what.  C.J. said he would come straight away.  Tom overheard me, so he asked me if I wanted to play with C.J. instead.  I absolutely did.  He also gave me a refund for the cart I had already paid for, because he knew I was going to walk with C.J.  That saved me $12.50, and I was relieved that I would be playing with C.J. instead.  It also gave me a little more time to warm up my putting skills, check out the speed of the greens, etc.

   We started on the back at Tom’s suggestion.  The front was filling up fast.  As it turned out, only eight people were in the tournament, but a bunch of other people were on the golf course.  On the first hole, C.J. and I discussed the thought processes behind our club selection.  We both agreed that we had overthought the whole thing.  I ended up choosing my driver, my 8-iron, and my sand wedge.  I was thinking about my utility club, but I knew I would use my sand wedge around the greens more than any other club, and I also knew that if I ended up in a bunker, the sand wedge is always the best bet.  I, for the most part, was very pleased with my choices. 

   With only three clubs, I found out that I play pretty well.  The back nine was better than the front, though.  To help me remember this win, I will quickly go hole by hole again. 

Hole #10-I used my driver right off the bat.  I probably shouldn’t have considering this was the first tee shot of the day, and my 8-iron would have done the trick, but I remembered getting my par with my driver the last time I had played.  I hit my best drive of the day (which is sad considering this was the first swing with the driver), and my ball ended up just a pitch away.  My pitch with my sand wedge came up short.  My ball was on the front left side of the green, and the hole was down on the lower tier on the right side.  My putt went well past the hole, and I missed the comeback putt, so I started with a bogey.

Hole #11-The best part about this hole was the final putt for par.  I used a smaller swing with my driver, and that put me in a fine position right at 150 yards, but my approach was short and right, and then my chip was short, so I had this long putt from about twenty to twenty-five feet from the right side of the green over to the left side.  I picked a spot, and I let it go.  I knew it would break ten to twelve feet right to left, but exactly how much?  I was working on just getting my ball to stop by the hole.  Instead, my ball stopped inside the hole!  This was one of the best putts of the season.

Hole #12-I did the less than full swing with my driver again. This was the one hole where my utility club would have come in handy.  My ball was short and in the swampy stuff before the green.  Enough water was sitting there to take a free drop, so I did.  I pitched with my sand wedge, and my ball was just off the green on the right backside, but it stayed up.  I got in with only two putts from there.

Hole #13-I earned a birdie!  This is how I did it.

Hidden Valley-Hole #13-Birdie #14 of 2010

   I used my driver off the tee.  It worked well enough on #10, so why not give it a go again?  I pushed it slightly, but it was long enough.  It was over the ditch, and it was about even with the hole, but it was right of the hole, near the cart path for hole #8.  I made that nice smooth floppy pitch for my approach.  It was a blind shot.  I couldn’t see the top of the flag unless I went up on my tiptoes.  The ball went right over the hill, and I thought it would be good, but I didn’t think it would be that good.  I thought it would be long, but it was less than two feet away and just below the hole.  I made the putt.

Hole #14-With my driver and my 8-iron, I was right in front of the hole with a small pitch to go.  My thought was to play my ball out to the right side to make sure my ball did not go down into the toilet bowl.  The flag was in the middle on the top this time.  Somehow, my ball ended up down in the bowl after all.  I either just plain pulled it or I subconsciously felt funny going away from the hole like that.  I had a great putt from down there back up to the hole, though.  My ball lipped the hole, and then I made the short foot and a half putt from above the hole for my par.

Hole #15-I saved a bogey here.  My approach put my ball in the grass bunker behind the green.  It was wet thick grass.  I did a half-hearted “sand” type swing, but that left my ball short and still off the green.  I made a better chip from there, though, and then I made the bogey putt.  A more aggressive swing from that wet thick grass might have gotten my ball closer, but it might have also left it in the ditch.

Hole #16-C.J. and I both should have earned pars here, but we missed our par putts.  I was off the green on the right side, and C.J. had hit the green behind the hole, but he was a pretty long way away.  He left his first putt short, and then he missed his par putt.  I put my chip closer than C.J.’s first putt, but I couldn’t find the target I wanted for my putt for par.  I never quite felt comfortable, but I didn’t think about rebooting, so I let it go.  It barely missed on the right side.     Some putts seem to go directly over the hole, even though they go over the hole on the right or left side.  They don’t lip and curl out one way or another, they just go straight over the edge of the hole.  This putt was like that on the right side. 

Hole #17-I got a double bogey after being just off the green on the left side in two shots.

  

Hole #18-I got another double bogey after a drive that went left and behind a tree.  I pitched out to the fairway to an ideal approach distance for my 8-iron, but my approach came up short.  I was on the green in four shots and I double-putted from there.

   On the front nine, it was a struggle to get a par, and I never did.  I ended up with eight bogeys and one double bogey.  I did not get off the tee box with my driver on holes #5 and #7, topping both shots to less than 100 yards away.  Saving a bogey on hole #5 was one of my best efforts, especially since I had only three clubs, and my drive did not get past the ladies’ tee box. 

   It went like this.  I topped my drive, put my ball on the fairway with my 8-iron, put my ball on the fairway again with my 8-iron, put my ball on the fairway again with my 8-iron just short of the hole.  I considered putting from there, but it was too much grass to go through even for my taste, so I chipped with my 8-iron.  My ball went right of the hole, and it was a bit short.  Then I made a great putt again.  This one was from fifteen feet.  It went up and over a slight ridge, broke to the left and went in the hole.  I was thrilled to make that one and at least keep the bogey train going.  I wanted a par, but I was happy to make that bogey.

   I am going to stop now, but next time, I’ll write about what happened with C.J. on hole #12 and the lifting of his curse.

   Until next time…

7-11-10

   I am watching the LPGA on NBC.  Paula Creamer is about to win her first major, the Women’s U.S. Open.  B is closing her eyes for a nap.  Bridget Jones’s Diary is on KASA, but I would rather watch golf.  I know B would rather watch Bridget, but she probably would really rather take a nap.  Yep, she’s out.  Soon, I will go shopping for groceries at Wal-Mart.  I usually go on Saturday nights, but we had a date last night instead, and we didn’t want to ruin our date with grocery shopping.  Then I was going to go this morning, but I slept in ‘til about 9:00, so I chose to go this afternoon instead.  Raichu, our fat gray cat has just settled down between Belinda and me.  Paula just made par on hole #16. 

   According to C.J., he put a ball in the tree right before hole #7’s green.  Every time we play that hole, we stop and check to see if it’s still there, and it always is, until C.J. took it down yesterday.

   C.J. felt he was cursed because of that ball.  It would taunt him every time he played, and he would get some big numbers there.  It happened again yesterday.  He ended up with a 12 this one last time with that ball in that tree.  Before we holed out, he went over to the tree determined to climb it and get that ball down.  We looked back at the fairway, though, and Dan, a guy from Arizona we had met on hole #13 was coming up behind us.  We chose to wait until another day.  Then Dan waved a ball retriever above his head, so we decided to go get it after all. 

   The ball retriever would not work.  It kept sliding inside of itself at one joint despite Dan’s twisting and twisting, so C.J. used me as a booster and climbed up the tree.  He used my putter to knock it down, and I caught it in my right hand before it hit the grass.  The curse was lifted.

   So, I shot an 89.  I won the first place net prize, which was a $20.00 bill.  Tom handed it to me when I was sitting out on the patio.  C.J. had already left.  I think he was disgusted with his 12 on #7, but he did enjoy telling the story of the curse and the ball and how we got it down. 

The low gross score was an 81, I heard.  It was George.  I would love to win a tournament some day with the low gross score.  I don’t want to be known as a sandbagger, but this tournament was such a small tournament, I don’t think anyone noticed or cared, except me anyway.  And, once again, a win is a win is a win, and a win in golf is a rare thing.  I’ll take this one, small, unofficial, weird 3-club tournament and all.
   Paula is lining up her first putt on #18.  I am pretending that I am her, even though she is a lady golfer.  What golfer would not want to be in this position?  She has a four shot lead for the U.S. Open, and her ball just stopped maybe three feet past the hole.  I like that she has a Pink Panther head cover.  I was nicknamed the Pink Panther in high school because I liked Alex English, whose nickname was also the Pink Panther because he was soooo smooth.  She did it!  She won.  She has made her putt for par.  She’s smiling a big smile, and she is emotional.  Way to go, Paula!  The winner of the 65^th Women’s U.S. Open, played at Oakmont, is Paula Creamer.