The Good, the Bad, and the "Ugly Lucky"-Day Two-Part 1

10-18-10

   On the second day, he (Terry) did not play as well, but he ended up in a playoff for the President’s Cup (low net score) with Paul (last name).  Paul won with a birdie to Terry’s par on hole #10.  I wanted Terry to win.  That would have helped me out because he would have been “taken out” of the flight I was in for playing so well.  I stuck around to watch the playoff, and I also stuck around to see where I ended up.  I could have left and found out later, but I was curious to see it all right up to the very end...

Day One-Hidden Valley Championship

10-15-10


     I am looking at the scorecards from that weekend, and I am upset that I didn’t write about the tournament right away. It’s better when it’s fresh in my mind, but I’ll do my best to recount the highlights anyway.
This was the best tournament (stroke play) that I have played to date. I took 2nd place in the First Flight with my gross score. I shot an 84, 86 for a 170 total, and my net score was a 138. Bruce took 2nd place in the Championship Flight with his gross and net score, tying another guy exactly, so they both got $40.00 in the pro shop, too.
On Saturday, I played with Mickey and Terry. Mickey is the course superintendent who retired, and then, after a miserable stint with a highly recommended guy who took his place and ruined things (I heard all the grisly details on hole #12), was asked to come back out of retirement and fix it all. Which he did. He was great on hole #9 when my ball ended up in the ditch.

Hidden Valley Club Championship

10-3-10
The Hidden Valley Club Championship is over. The last drive was taken by Terry (last name). The last putt was a birdie putt made by Paul (last name). He won the play-off for lowest net score. My last putt was on #18. I made a putt for bogey there. I played the best I’ve ever played, and yet, I feel I also played terribly. Does that even make any sense? I was very consistent, but I was also very inconsistent. I shot a 45, 39 for an 84 on Saturday and a 45, 41 for an 86 today.
These are the highlights: Bruce and C.J. played, both for the first time ever, and Bruce won 2nd place with his gross score in the Championship Flight, and that included an 8 on hole #12 on the first day. If he had earned just a bogey on that hole, he could have been the club champ.
Second, I had two birdies, one on hole #6 on the first day and one on hole #13 today.
Third, one of the guys I played with today had a 13 on the first hole, threw his wedge and had it sticking out of the green there, and then ended up leaving in disgust on hole #10.
Fourth, I met a new neighbor who lives here in Kokopelli, a widower who lives in a house we’ve driven by numerous times. His name is Terry. Very nice man.
I will fill in the details later. I kept my own scorecards, and I have $40 to spend in the pro shop! So does Bruce. I am thrilled. It was a good weekend for me for golf.

The Scramble

The only thing I have not written about is the scramble, so here I go.

Last weekend, Bruce, C.J., Don (last name), and I played in the scramble fundraiser for the golf team. Teams were allowed to buy up to ten mulligans for $5.00/each, but I thought that was too many. We only bought six. Each one, except the one on #17, was used wisely and really helped our score.

We got it to -4 when we were all done, -2 on the front and -2 on the back. I thought -6 would get us in the running, but it turns out the winning team was Don (different last name's). They got it to -12! That is an amazing score considering this was the modified type of scramble, the kind where we all tee off and choose the best two tee shots, but after that we split our team and scramble in with two teams of two players each. That makes a lower score more difficult to achieve than a typical scramble. Another team got it to -10 or -9, so we were not low enough, but we all had a fine time.

I played okay. I had some good shots and some bad ones. I did birdie one hole all by myself.


Hidden Valley-Hole #4-Birdie #21 of 2010

Bruce earned an eagle later in this round on hole #9, but I overheard him tell C.J. that it was an “il-eagle” because he got a read from my first putt. This was not an “il-birdie.” I really did do it all on my own. My gap wedge has been perfect for this hole when the flag is up on the top tier. I might be left or right, but the distance has been spot on. It was again for this tournament. My ball stopped two feet from the hole. A hole-in-one would have won a Bose stereo system, but I was two feet left of the hole, so no sweet sounding music system for me this time. Still no ace yet. I went down and tapped it in for one of our birdies.

Some of my other good shots included a smooth 7-iron (for $10,000.00 on hole #6) that landed my ball just off the green on the front side, less than twenty feet from the hole. Sadly, Don and I could not get in with the four shots we had between us to earn our par from there. I had a super long drive on hole #5 and another long drive on hole #7. Both of those drives were used. For this scramble, I tried two different golf balls that I bought at Wal-Mart. For the long drives, I used a Top Flite Freak, and for approaches and chips, I started with a soft Top Flite ball, but quickly switched back to the Titleist golf balls I had been using this entire season, the ones Joe bought me and the ones I got with a winning ticket at the last Robbie Ward Memorial last spring. The Top Flite ones felt weird off my putterhead.

I made a nice above the hole putt from four feet for par on #18, and on the very next hole, I made a longer putt (about thirteen to fifteen feet) for a birdie. Bruce’s chip got us in striking range for that putt.

After using a mulligan, I putted my ball from off the green on #14 and got it within two to three feet for another birdie. My first putt and Don’s first chip rolled past the hole and ended up in the “toilet,” so the mulligan really helped on this hole.

I had another nice putt for par on the final hole, hole #12. It started with my tee shot, and Don made the chip that put his ball within five feet of the hole, but it was above the hole again. That was better than my skulled chip that barely stayed on the green, almost rolling off on the far side. I made up for it, though, picking the right line and the right speed, and then executing the putt with confidence.

After it was over, I was the only one left from our team sitting on the patio with four tickets for prize drawings. One ticket was a winner, but the prize was not that big of a deal. I won an XTO beanie type hat and winter gloves. I don’t know whose ticket it was that won (I know it wasn’t mine), but they had given them all to me, so I am keeping the gloves for B to use when riding her scooter. If it was a bigger prize, I would have figured out who had won and given it to him.

I want to quickly mention that Qwest left a comment on my blog to e-mail a Steph about my frustrations with Qwest. I have not contacted her yet, but I am amazed that it was even noticed. I still only have three followers. What kind of software is Qwest using to search for its name like this and then e-mail the blogger to try and remedy a bad situation? I am impressed and a little bit freaked out by it all. I will contact her to see what she says about it and then relay her reply here.



Until next time…

Homecoming and Tournament Prep

10-1-10
This afternoon, James was in the parade for Homecoming, and tonight he and Kendra were recognized at halftime at the Homecoming football game as this year’s junior attendants.  Belinda and I are both very proud of our son.  Danielle started driving this week with her learner’s permit, too, so this has been a busy and eventful week for our family with teenagers.  She just drove us home from the (last name's).
Now, I am in bed writing.  B is asleep next to me, and I have the most important tournament of the season coming up tomorrow.  I should have prepared better this week, especially working out, but I didn’t.  I did do some other things to get ready, though, things I normally do when I have a big tournament.
First, I visualized every night before falling off to sleep.  When I do this, I see myself shaking hands with the competitors at hole #1, and then I play a stellar round.  I make pars and birdies on every hole, and I picture super full swings, chips with a gentle touch that stop right by the hole or go in, and putts that always fall in no matter how far away I am.
I practiced tonight, too.  I did my short game stuff on the small practice green directly below the patio there at Hidden Valley.  Billie, last year’s champ, sat at one of the tables with his feet up, and watched me every once in a while.  I made five out of six three to four foot putts at every hole location.  I wish they had real holes, but they have five flags with small cream colored plastic cylinders on the bottom that click and stop my golf balls dead when I putt at them.  Then I double-putted ten out of ten times from different locations, a few times from just off the green.  Finally, I lined up six golf balls that steadily were placed farther and farther away from one location, and I did my best to get in with only two shots from each spot.  I started from around ten to twelve feet for the first putt.  On the second to last ball, I had gotten in with only two shots for each ball except the one right before that one.  I putted that one too far past the hole and got a three instead.  But, right after that I chipped one that hit the stick, and so I was done.  I am not sure if it would have fallen in with those silly plastic cylinder things, but it stopped only four to five feet away after it clicked the bottom of the flag, so it might have gone in.
Right when I finished, John, Melanie, and Misty pulled up to hole #9.  It’s really name, name, and other name, but I changed their names for my blog to protect the innocent.  We played together for holes #1, #2, and #3 two times.  I went double, par, par, double par, par, so I hope I play hole #1 better tomorrow and Sunday.
The other thing I did this past week to prepare for tomorrow’s tournament was to do the thing I am doing now, get caught up with my writing.  I know this helps me play better.  When I played in the scramble last weekend, I realized on hole #10 (I don’t know why it was on that hole) that if my mind is overwhelmed with golf thoughts that have not yet been recorded, it affects my play.  I need a fresh start to be fully aware of the round I am playing at the present time.
The only thing I have not written about is the scramble, so check out the next entry.

The Points Game on the Back Nine

9-26-10
On the back nine, it just continued to get better.  C.J. chose the points game for this round, and that’s the game that both Bruce and I enjoy because it forces us to hit fairways and greens in order to score well.  Bruce liked it well before I did.  He is good at it, and he usually wins because he is so consistent.
Well, I was not consistent on the back nine, especially with my full swings.  I would miss fairways, and I would miss greens, but I would save pars.

9-28-10
After the front nine, I was losing...

5th Excerpt From My Golf Diary

10-7-10

In this 5th excerpt, school has just ended for summer (quite ironic since I am at the very beginning of this school year now), I am considering getting lessons at San Juan Country Club, I play the back nine at Pinon Hills for the first time ever, and I record my sixth and seventh birdies.

5-27-00

   Hello again!  School’s out for summer!  We are staying in Bluff, UT right now at the Recapture Lodge.  Time to “recapture” some great golf memories.  First, some big news updates.  Eric and I met with a head pro, Mike (last name), at Country Club where Eric’s dad is a member, about taking lessons.  It’s time.  Dr. Bob Rotella and Jerry (last name), husband of Mrs. (last name) the music teacher at McCoy, both say to get lessons from a pro after you have played for awhile.  That way no bad habits are formed, and improvement is greater, quicker.  So, my goals this summer are to 1. Establish a handicap and 2. Learn from a pro to get that handicap to 25 or less.  Cost is $200 for five lessons.  Not cheap, but reasonable.  If I had a choice, or my way, I would do the unlimited lessons for $550.  I still might.  It depends on time and a Masters in Technology class that may or may not happen. 

5-28-00

   Let’s “recapture” now.  At Pinon Hills, I finally played a total of eighteen holes.  I did not keep score on the front nine, and no shot from the front nine was very memorable to me, except maybe the first drive.  I had to hustle out to play with three others.  For absolutely no warm-up, I hit a beauty down the left side.  Some Guy named Chris and I continued onto the back nine.  Finally, this would be the first time I got a chance to play it.  A young kid (eighth grader) named Josiah from the Piedra Vista golf team caught up and played with us.  I really admired his tee shots.  He hit them fast, far, and long.  It was getting late, so the ranger had taken off all the flags.  I learned a good lesson.  Erase the flag.  It was easier to hit greens because that was all I was aiming for.  My best shot was on a par three.  I hit a nice drive with my pitching wedge.  Josiah said, “Perfect.”  I two-putted or double putted as my nephew Daryl calls it.  A big canyon is on the right side, so it is a beautiful and challenging hole.

 

Civitan-Hole 4

   Without an aggressive tee shot you can end up down the hill, or worse, behind a tree and down the hill.  I ended up down there when playing with Eric against Dan, Eric’s brother-in-law, who has a one or two handicap, and Dan’s son Craig.  My second shot ended up right next to the fence on the backside with only six inches to work with. Dan said no relief without a penalty, so he recommended that I scoop it out with the backside of a putter?  I didn’t know you could do that. (I talked to Mike (last name) about this and he said you can’t.)  I borrowed Eric’s putter (also illegal).  Mine wasn’t built for that kind of thing.  I scooped it out from about thirty-five feet away, and put it about a foot away from the hole.  I tapped in from there for one of the hardest, but absolutely illegal, bogeys I had ever earned.

 

Civitan-Hole 2

   Same day, I got my sixth birdie ever.  Dan drove right next to the pin and tapped in for a birdie.  His score was thirty-two, and he had never played there.  He hit at least seven out of nine greens, and almost always double-putted.  It was fun to watch someone with so much experience and skill.  Anyway, I hit past the green.  From about twenty feet, I chipped in! I think it was at that point Dan decided to compete against Eric and me with his son.  We won, but only because Craig (little Craig) did not play very well.  Actually, he was very good considering his age. 

 

Civitan-Hole 8

   This hole is usually a pretty easy hole.  There’s not a lot of trouble you can get into.  I took my nephew Daryl to play with me when they visited for Easter.  I remember my ball bouncing in front of the green, and rolling up onto it.  I had six feet of work to do and plunked it in for my seventh birdie.  Daryl almost birdied the same hole, but his putt went so fast, it went right over the hole and past.

"Bad" Words, I Pick Three, and Why We Play

The rest of the round stunk.  I sometimes write words on my scorecards to help me remember what went wrong.  I told Bruce those "bad" words I had written when we were walking along the fairway on hole #9, and it was a sad list.  I wrote: ditch, lost!, ball moved, tree, tree again, and lip.  I lost to both Bruce and C.J. again. This time, Bruce shot a 39, C.J. a 47, and me, a 48.  At least the next round we played turned out better for me. 

C.J. Wins, Two Students, and the DMV

9-25-10

   On the back nine, I had earned 17 points by the time I got to hole #16, not the 16 points I thought I had when I wrote earlier about this round.  Bruce had 22 points up to that point, but he blew it wide open by getting 17 more points on hole #16.  Then he got 16 more on the next hole, and it was really over.  The final score was Bruce-74, Pat-41, and C.J.-12.  Bruce and I traded scores on the front and the back for our total stroke play scores.  He went 44, 41 for an 85, and I did a 41, 44 for 85, too.  C.J. recovered and played much better on the back nine; he just couldn’t get any chains going.  He shot a 42.

   On a Thursday after school, we met again for nine holes.  After hole #2, we saw two little girls riding around with someone in a cart...