And Now for the Birdie Catch-Up

3-24-11

And now for the birdie catch-up.

Hidden Valley-Hole #13-Birdie #2 of 2011 
    I thought I had more birdies already this year, but this is only #2.  I played by myself last Friday, the last day of school before spring break.  Bruce had already played a full eighteen holes since he got out early due to his parent-teacher conferences.  He had played with C.J.  When he finished, I was on #11.  I called him to tell him goodbye and to see how he’d done.  He had played well, but I forget what he said.  I continued on by myself.  On #12, I earned a par by getting up and down from the left side of the green.  On the birdie hole, #13, I took my driver to go over the wash, but I failed.  My drive came out low, and my ball dove in.  I thought it might be on the far side, and it was, but it was still in the wash.  It had found a small island down there, though.  My ball was on a small patch of tall yellow grass.  I chose my pitching wedge, pitched out and ended up just a couple of feet below the hole.  The putt was a formality.  Hooray for my second birdie of this season.

    Bruce, C.J., and I got together with Chris to play a full eighteen holes this past Sunday.  It was Chris’s first time to play since he had ripped his Achille’s.  He was walking pretty well, though.  We decided on match play, Bruce and C.J. vs. Chris and me.

It was a rout.  They were way ahead after the first nine holes, but we kept playing anyway.  With Chris’s handicap and mine, we got eight strokes for the match, but we gave up most of those right away on hole #2.      
    That and Bruce ended up shooting a 76, so we really got smeared.  Anyway, on the back nine, I earned another birdie.

Hidden Valley-Hole #14 (shock!)-Birdie #3 of 2011
    I teed off with my driver, and I made a nice swing.  I was on the fairway, but Bruce had outdriven me by a few yards or more.  From there, my pitching wedge put my ball down in the bowl.  The day before I asked a lady named Melody play with me after hole #13.  I was in the same spot then, but I triple-putted for a par leaving my first putt so short that it rolled back to me.  Not this time.  I put enough speed on it to get it up next to the hole.  I was not the only one to birdie, though.  Bruce got a birdie.  C.J. got a birdie.  Chris had some putting woes on this hole, but his putting was really strong for the rest of the round.  He was the only one not to get a birdie here.

    Okay, only one more birdie and one more match, and these both happened yesterday.  Bruce had already played eighteen holes with C.J. when I called him.  They both thought we had already left for Lakewood, but I wanted to see if they would go play with me yesterday later in the afternoon.  I was at my school, and I was getting lesson plans done among some other things.  I did get my new work crew done, and I also cleaned up my inbox. 
    They were on #15 when I got a hold of them, and Bruce apologized over and over, explaining that they both thought I was already gone on our trip to Lakewood.  I told him it was fine.  No big deal.  I planned on going out at around 4:00 by myself to play and help with the golf team anyway.  Don had scheduled three optional practices on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday during the break.  The weather was awful the first two days, but it was great yesterday, less windy and high 50‘s.  Bruce and I said goodbye, have a nice rest of spring break, etc. and then we hung up. 
    I had not finished my lesson plans yet, nor had I even started my newsletter when Bruce called me back about twenty minutes later.  He asked how long I would be if I came out right away.  He was willing to stick around and play nine more holes.  I was thrilled.  I said about a half hour.  I zoomed home on my scooter to find out  that I had no truck or van to drive to the golf course.  My clubs were back at home, so I did need a vehicle to get there.  Riding on my scooter with my clubs would have been a bad idea.  I called B.  She was at A’s, but she came with the van right away. 
    My birdie came right away on hole #2.  We decided to play the points game this time.

Hidden Valley-Hole #2-Birdie #4 of 2011
    I used my 9-iron.  This was almost my first ace!  My ball actually hit inside the bunker, rolled forward just to the right of a rake, turned left and headed out onto the green towards the hole.  I was hoping it would just disappear, but sadly we could still see it.  It looked like it was inches away, but when we walked up, it was a little more than a foot away.  Bruce said I could finish, so I did.  I earned eight points for this hole, the most either of us earned on any hole for this round.  I got two points for the green in regulation, five points for the birdie, and one point for the win.
    Usually, Bruce wins the points game.  He is more accurate, he hits more greens in regulation, and he single or at least double-putts almost all of the time.  This time, though, I was the one who did that stuff.  He beat me in stroke play, a 42 to my 45 (which included a 9 on hole #7), but I won the points I needed to win the game.  After hole #6, I was ahead 19 to 13.  I think Bruce may have been tired.  I don’t want to speak for him, but he had already played eighteen holes before I came out, and he had shot an incredible 77 for those eighteen.