*Club Champ = Me

     Earlier this month, Bruce, C.J., and I got together to play nine holes on a Sunday.  It was the first time I got to play with C.J. again since the surgery, and it was wonderful to see him.  We had our group of three back together again for the first time in a long time.  I’ve heard that three is not a good number for groups since two usually pair off eventually, but we get along just fine.  Eric is talking about wanting to play again sometime soon, though, so I hope he’ll be joining us in the near future.  Maybe next season?  Since it was the Club Championship weekend at Hidden Valley and none of us decided to play in the official one (all too busy), we said it would be our own little nine hole club championship between us, handicaps included.  At the end of nine holes, we would simply subtract 4 strokes from Bruce’s score, 10 from C.J.’s and 8 from mine.  The low score would be the champ. 
    Bruce got a birdie on hole #3, and then I followed up with a birdie on hole #4.  This is how I earned mine.

Hidden Valley-Hole #4-Birdie #10 of 2011 and Fifth Post-Surgery Birdie

    I used my gap wedge.  The hole was cut up on the top tier, and that is my go-to club when it’s up there.  I’ve birdied it this way before.  This was a nice full circle swing for me, and the connection was crisp down at the bottom.  The ball took off really high and that really helped.  It landed right next to the hole after falling past the overhanging branches of the cottonwood that guards the hole.  It was less than two feet from the hole on the right side, and I took the time to take a picture of it with my cell phone while Bruce and C.J. got ready to play their shots from off the green.  For some reason, it did not come out in color, but it is still my phone’s background to this date.  I like seeing the ball mark, the flag, and my ball right next to the hole.  I made the putt, of course.

    It was not a good round for me, however.  It was a terrible round for Bruce.  And, honestly it was not a good round for C.J. either.  We all played yucky golf.  For Bruce it really showed, though.  His swing was amiss, and we could tell, but we did not know why.  When the round was over, we all agreed (me included even though I won) that this would not count as our little private club championship match after all.  We wanted to wait and try again when we were all playing better.

    I found out last weekend why Bruce was playing so badly.  He had been working on his vehicle at home, and he had cut his hands on some sharp metal.  He thought about stopping after hole #3, but he (probably after he earned his birdie) decided to play on with the pain.

    He shot a 48.  C.J. and I could not remember a time Bruce had ever shot a 48 for nine holes before.  His net score was a 44.  C.J. shot a 52, so his net was a 42.  I shot a 48, so my net turned out to be the lowest, a 40.  Yes, yucky, I know, but I ended up being the *club champ (asterisk included).