13th Excerpt From My Original Golf Diary-Old Settler's and Indian Hills

     In this rather lengthy excerpt, I am ironically back in Yuma, CO, but for Old Settler's Day and not Grandma's funeral.  Grandma would have been in her mid eighties for this visit.  It was a much happier time.  Instead of my cousin Jeff standing to talk about his memories of Grandma at her wake and my reading her eulogy at her funeral, we are winning the coveted "Egg Toss" competition on Main Street in Eckley.  We also played some golf.  I wrote AM for Annmarie's name, so that is what that stands for.  I also turn in my first ever score for my handicap, and it is not good, which speaks highly of how far I have come.  

11-1-00
    Haven’t written in a long while.  Here is what I need to catch up on.  My tenth “real” birdie! Playing golf in Yuma again with Jeff, Guy, and AM. A long putt during practice with the Aztec Golf team.  And my lessons.

Pinon Hills-Hole 12
    This was the first time I really officially turned in a score for my handicap.  I scored a...

118, not a great score, but I got really tired in the end.  It was a Friday after school, so I was exhausted and it made it really hard to concentrate and perform.  I was especially tired the last few holes.  Anyway, after making the turn and playing hole #10 where I made an incredibly long “up a small hill” putt for bogey.

    That’s the way my game had been going lately.  I could “double putt” most greens, but it would take me four or five shots to get on the green because of really bad shots, or shots I would just plain shank.  We came up to hole #12 and the weather turned nasty.  Clouds came in, the wind picked up drastically, and it started to spit and drizzle.  Hole #12 is a par three, but it’s longer than most. I had earned par on this hole once before.  Usually I would use an iron to tee off, but because the wind was so strong this time, I chose my five-wood.  I aimed well left also because of the wind.  I hit it solidly and well left of the green.  It disappeared!  Nobody could see it.  I waited posing and suddenly noticed my ball rolling in from left to right heading right for the flag.  I laughed because I was amazed it even got on the green.  My ball had disappeared behind a small hill in front of the green, and had rolled over to the hole.  Now, I’m a confident person, but this seemed truly incredible to me.  When I walked onto the green, I saw that my ball was actually within a foot of the hole.  It was very comforting knowing that that putt was going in and I would get another birdie, but I was careful to stick to my routine, and I made sure it did go in.

Indian Hills Golf Course-Hole 3
    We got to go and play twice in Yuma, a total of eighteen holes, at the place I remembered playing with Uncle Barry, Uncle John, and Curt such a long time ago.  Now that I am working on being more aware of playing, I really enjoyed being aware of every hole and what it was like.  We were there because of Old Settler’s Day where I must write that my cousin Jeff and I were the Egg Toss Champions for the year 2000!  This ranks up there with rolling a Double Leaning Jowler in the game Pass the Pigs, another amazing thing I am proud to say I have accomplished in my life!  If you haven’t done it, don’t laugh; it’s not as easy as it sounds.  As it turned out, Bev and Uncle Ray took second, and Guy and AM took third.  It was a wonderful weekend! 
   One of the highlights of playing golf was a nice par on a par three.  I also made a really long putt, but it was for a bogey again.  Bummer for a bogey, but I‘ll take it. I never had such confidence with lining up a long putt before.  I remember thinking sixteen inches on the back swing, and I knew it was right.  It felt like I was lined up perfectly.  I stood over the ball, and I just knew it was going to go in.  It was a strange and wonderful feeling.  When it went in, I wasn’t really surprised, but I was elated.
    Jeff played well, but not as well as his handicap.  He had seven bogeys and two pars on the last nine.  The last hole is a slight downhill/long uphill, par four.  I did not use my driver, because I hadn’t been driving with confidence that day.  I remember planning this hole out before I played it.  

    Dr. Bob Rotella is big on having a game plan and sticking to it, and I can see why.  I remember planning to hit my second shot to try and be within one hundred yards or a little farther of the green to avoid an awkward sixty-something yard pitch. I would then try to get on the green from that distance and hopefully one-putt for par.  I went straight up the fairway, got on the green with my third shot with an eight-iron, and ended up “double putting”.  Once again, I got a wonderful feeling.  This feeling told me that I just knew I would get it on the green with that club on my third shot.  I was one hundred-ten or one hundred-fifteen yards out, but it was an uphill shot.  I knocked it on and two-putted scoring a bogey, but my plan had helped me stay on the fairway, and avoid a higher score on that hole.
    The par started out with a bad drive, really a shank, on hole #4, a par three.  I then had a beautiful pitch to the green that landed above the hole on a higher tier.  I had some extra time to read this putt, because Guy couldn’t find his ball, and Jeff had to hit over a high tree, because we had told him the wrong yardage and he had overshot the green. Sorry, Jeff!  The putt went down the slope, straightened out and went in!  Cool!