6th Excerpt From My Golf Diary

 In this excerpt, I play with my brother-in-law Curt at the Centennial Golf and Tennis Club in Colorado.  A former basketball high school teammate and friend, Troy, was the head pro there at the time, so we got to play for free.  This excerpt also includes the incredible "townhome shot story."

It also reminds me of how wimpy my swing was at the time.  Troy gave me some blunt feedback that hurt my feelings a bit, but he was right.  I must have taken the advice from the Extraordinary Golf book I had read a little too seriously.  It says that I should be swinging slowly enough to be aware of where my swing is.  Looking back, I completely disagree with this notion now.
I also get a nice compliment from Troy about my chipping, and I notice that my writing still has a few too many exclamations.  

Centennial Golf and Tennis Club-Hole 3

   I took two personal days to go visit my best friend Joe up in Denver.  On Friday, I went to visit Troy (last name), friend and former basketball teammate from high school, who is now the head pro at Centennial Golf and Tennis Club.  I got to play with Curt on the back nine in the morning, and Troy and some kid who works there joined us on the front nine in the afternoon.  Troy has a “powerful, clubhead-speed producing” swing according to Curt and I agree.  Curt and I have different game plans.  He is far more aggressive.  He likes to go for it and it gets him in trouble sometimes.  On the seventh hole, he drove over the trees to get to a green on a dogleg right.  Troy told me I hit like a “wuss” because I swing so slowly, especially compared to Curt.  I was offended a little, but I appreciated him being so blunt.  Curt said I play “methodical” golf.  I like that. 

   I finally beat Curt, but did not feel satisfied somehow.  Not that it was a goal of mine to beat somebody, but it helps me measure my improvement.  He makes me want to be a better player.  Curt has always kind of been my golf hero, since he has played golf longer than I have and he is very good.  My goal is not to beat people, anyway.  It is really only to improve, and that was a way to show that I was improving.  After hearing what Troy said, I had a hard time playing.  I did hit a very nice shot while Troy was watching.  It was a pitch from about sixty yards.  I hit it low under some trees, bounced it off a small hill in front of the green, and it rolled to about three feet from the hole.  My most amazing or lucky shot, however, came on the par five hole #3.  It’s fairly narrow with townhomes lining both sides and water most of the way on the right.  This shot was crazy!

The Townhome Shot Story

   I hit it in the water once, dropped, and then came really close to hitting it in the water again.  Curt hit his in the water twice, so I was nervous.  Troy and the young guy both went left, away from the water.  I could now reach the green, but had to hit it over water again.   Curt hit his up onto somebody’s tiny lawn raised up above a three-foot brick wall.  I hit my nine-iron heading the ball straight for the townhomes.  Yikes!  The sign at the tee box had said that any damage needed to be reported to the head pro.  Good thing head pro Troy was with us!  Somehow, my ball deflected off of the top of that wall in a direction that looked like it was going straight up!  It must have, amazingly, hit on the top front corner of that wall, perfectly, to send it up really high and back toward the green.  I chipped on and putted in, laughing all the way.  Troy laughed, too.  He did give me a nice compliment that day.  He said he wouldn’t touch my chipping.  He said his chipping had the yips.  I did chip and putt very well that day, which was why I feel I was able to get a better score than Curt.  By the way, Curt lost that ball he drove over the trees on hole #7.  He played another ball, but then he found the ball he had first hit on the way to the next tee box.  He had driven it three hundred yards!  Someday, me too!  Just don’t hit it like a wuss!