Schwoooomziiinngggg!

   On hole #2, I got a bogey, and so did Bruce.  C.J. earned the only par.  I still cannot picture Cody in my mind.  Wait!  I just figured it out.  He works there at Hidden Valley.  He said he did not have a handicap.  He’s a stocky young guy.  Phew!  Thought I was losing it there.

   I’ll skip ahead now to hole #9 where I earned another birdie.  Throughout the round I kept waiting for Bruce to get things going.  I thought for sure he would have another stellar round like the ones he has been having consistently this entire season.  His new set of golf clubs (Wishon) has really taken his game up to a new level, shooting low eighties and high seventies every time he tees it up, and I know a few times he was just a couple of strokes over par for the entire round (like the last time we played).  He never did get things going, though, until the last hole where he earned a birdie.  Before I get to hole #9, I want to also mention that I did earn a par on hole #3, and that is worth mentioning because that was another time I had played the first three holes at even par.  That was a goal C.J. had set and met for himself this season, too.

Hidden Valley-Hole #9-Birdie #26 of 2010 (probably my last one for this season, but maybe not)

   I used my 5-wood off the tee.  Bruce and Cody had honors after earning pars on the previous hole, but I teed off first since they were busy.  The score up to this point was Pat-12, Bruce-8, C.J.-9, and Cody: -3. 

  This tee shot was sweet!  If I could give it a sound, it would be...“Schwoooomziiinngggg!”  The schwoom part came from its first flight off the tee.  It headed up the right side just to the left of the cottonwood trees that are up there.  The ziiiinnnggggg part comes from the afterburner it appeared to put on when it got up to those trees, and the sharp banking to the right that it took to get around them.  I watched and listened closely to see if my ball would carom off a tree, but I saw and heard nothing.  If I could play this shot every time I came to this hole, I would.  My ball was on the fairway on the right side.  It had turned the corner somehow.  It was far enough back from the trees to go over them, but close enough that I could also use a more lofted iron to be more accurate.  I chose my 9-iron.  I pulled this shot, but I did get my ball on the green.  Sadly, it was the wrong side.  I was probably so used to playing to the hole location over there that I sub-consciously did that.  Okay, not really; I just flat pulled it.  The flag was on the right side, though.  I had a long putt that had to go up and over the slope in the middle and then turn right to get close to the hole.  My distance was good, but I could have gone higher.  My ball settled even with the hole, but it was still eleven to twelve feet away.  Bruce picked up some leaves before I putted since they were on my line.  The path was a left to right one.  I aimed at the spot where the last leaf was, and it worked!  I ended the way I had begun.  Two birdies in one round.  Yahoo!