Picking up where I left off on 11-8-11...   

    Next time I write, I want to relay how I earned two birdies during Bruce’s legendary round of 71.  Those two birdies helped me shoot an adjusted 83.

Until next time...

11-11-11 (aka next time)

Happy Veterans Day!

Hidden Valley-Hole #7-Birdie #11 of 2011 and Sixth Post-Surgery Birdie


    Whoa!  I am writing about my eleventh birdie this season on the eleventh day of the eleventh month in the year 2011.  Cool!  Not often I get a birdie on this hole either.  I bet it’s not often anyone gets a birdie on this hole.  I remember Matt (last name) getting a par on this hole after striking his drive out of bounds, and I’ve watched many players sling their balls over that fence, too, me included.  Then he crushed a monster of a drive, made an approach that landed his ball within putting distance and made the putt.  Wow!  Basically, he eagled it after making one bad swing.
    For my birdie, I went left on my drive.  Then I stayed on the left side again, but ended up...

with a semi-clear shot for my approach. After my birdie putt, I told Bruce that I was more proud of my approach, even more so than the long putt I made.  The reason is because I had a tree blocking my view on the left, but I carved a slight draw around that tree with my 9-iron.  I knew my ball would be on the green, and I knew it had landed on line with the flag, but how far away I didn’t know.  It ended up being a little more than ten paces; I know because I walked it off after I made the putt.
    I thought the putt would break left about three feet.  I was putting from the back of the green towards the middle.  I pulled it, and I thought it would end up well left of the hole, but it went right at it, and then it surprised me with the last foot because the ball actually moved to the right!  And then it fell in.  This birdie helped us defeat the Bogey Man with our -4 score.

Hidden Valley-Hole #10-Birdie #12 of 2011 and Seventh Post-Surgery Birdie
         
    This birdie took place on a par three that had been a par four since Hidden Valley had switched over to eighteen holes.  It used to be the driving range when it was the original nine hole course. Now a pseudo-driving range is set up just off and behind the teeing ground, and players can practice shots over the fence to flags set up in the dirt. 
    I have not used it yet.  Years and years we have been wanting a driving range.  We finally get one, and I haven’t used it once.  We show up to play, though, and that’s all we want to do---play.  Also, I was forced to have a lay-off with a little thing called a craniotomy this past summer.  Maybe next season?
    Since it’s been converted into a par three (because of the new over-the-fence driving range), I have learned how to play it better.  I started playing it with my 9-iron, but would consistently end up short, so I switched to my 8-iron.  That was the ticket.  For the last four or five times before this birdie, I was hitting the green every time and earning pars. 
    So, it was not surprising that my 8-iron was the right club this time, too.  The hole was on the back left lower portion of the green.  My ball must have landed near the top and rolled down towards the flag.  When we got there, it was less than two feet away, and it was right on line for a hole-in-one.  Some day.  Sigh! 
    This was also helpful with our victory over the Bogey Man, but Bruce’s four birdies helped even more, of course.  What a great day of golf!