Hillcrest Eagle, A Great Summer Moment

    I have a new birdie to write about, and to top that, I have another new eagle, too!  This is how they played out. 

Hidden Valley-Hole #16-Birdie #26 of 2012                   

    This was my first round back after my sweet 74.  I had no expectations; I just wanted to continue doing the things I had been doing.  If I happened to have another spectacular round, so be it.
    I shot a 48 on the front, but I turned it around on the back.  I shot another 39, so I ended with an 87.  The back nine was great again, but...

it could have been even better.  I had four putts for birdie before this one, so I had the potential to shoot an 83.
    My pitching wedge got the call for my tee shot.  Chris and I both had tee shots that landed on the green and near the hole that was up front again.  My ball landed past the hole on the right side, and it looked like it had backed up fifteen feet with some spin to get even closer to the cup.  Nice. 
    This putt was mostly straight, and it was from about fifteen feet.  Since I had birdie putts on #10, #11, #14, and #15, I was thrilled to see one finally go in. 
    On #11's birdie attempt, I had driven my ball over the cottonwoods and was only ten feet or so away from the green, a first for me.  My putt from off the green put my ball close, but I put a bit too much speed on that birdie putt from four feet, so it lipped out.

Hillcrest Golf Course-Hole #3-Eagle #1 of 2012 

    After coaching/watching the girls play volleyball last weekend, I did get two chances to go play golf.  On Saturday, I sneaked away for two hours and worked on my short game.  It’s not as exciting as playing, but I love the pay-off.  I made five putts in a row from inside four feet on each of the five holes on the practice green at the other end of the driving range there.  Next, I double-putted from various distances to each hole successfully one time each.  I played “Knock Down the Flags” after that until I was called away by a text that said we were starting back up after lunch earlier than planned. 
    On Sunday, when all of the volleyball was done, I went to play nine holes, but it almost didn’t happen.  Of the three options I had, golf seemed the least likely.  I could have gone home to go to church at 6:00.  I could have gone home to clean house to get ready for Aunt Sylvia’s visit; she was coming on Monday afternoon.  I could have stayed and played nine holes at Hillcrest, and that was the original plan. 
    I was set to drive home.  Danielle and Becca were supposed to go home with Anna since I had planned to play golf, but they forgot and came and got in the van with me.  Or maybe I neglected to tell them.  Without them, though, I had already decided to go home to help Belinda clean the house.  Originally, I was going to help her clean the next morning, but I had "conveniently" forgotten that I was going to cover open gym for Anna since she was going to be gone to Soccoro for student council. 
    I was tired, angry and frustrated.  I wanted to play golf.  I wanted a break.  I wanted something just for me, which is selfish, so that’s why I was heading home, but then Belinda called.  She was already on her way home with Amanda in the Fit, but she had called to give me her blessing to play.  I told her I had the girls and I had already given up on the idea, but she said she would come back and pick them up.  I agreed, and I met them at Sonic to drop them off.
    I’m glad I did, because I got an eagle on the last hole I ended up playing, hole #3, the uphill par five.  When I came to this hole, I was exhausted.  I had already walked nine plus a couple more after being on my feet most of the day coaching the girls.  To get in some extra holes on the back, I had to run a few times to get ahead of a foursome. 
    I used my driver and one of my new inappropriate golf balls, and I mustered up all my concentration and energy for the tee shot.  I was sweating, and my knees and back were aching, but this tee shot stopped all of my pain.  It was long.  My ball was in the middle of the fairway, and I was just past the 200 yard marker.  I quickly checked the scorecard to see what the yardage for my drive was, and this hole plays 468 yards from the blue tees, so my drive was close to 270 yards.
    For my second shot, I pulled the 4-iron replacement club since it’s my go to club from that distance.  This was another smooth swing, and my ball came out low, but it also looked low since it was an uphill shot.  I figured it would be just to the right of the flag, but I didn’t know if it had made the green. 
    When I arrived at the green, my ball was just off the green in the taller grass, so I had a choice.  First, I pulled my putter, but then I switched to my wedge.  I was thinking get the birdie, get something out of this, have something to write about later, please.  Well, I got something to write about all right.  The hole was on the front, and my ball was to the right, so I saw a couple feet of break.  I picked a small spot on the green well short of the hole.  My ball popped up, landed, short, and started a long roll to the left that got slower and slower as it headed towards the hole.  I was happy because I knew I would have a putt for birdie that would be pretty close, but then the ball kept getting nearer and nearer the hole, and then it tapped the stick and fell in.  I dropped my wedge, put both hands up in the air and said, “Whooooooo!”  That eagle made the walk back up to the clubhouse and the drive home so much sweeter. 
    I stopped at McDonald’s for a late dinner.  I was rewarded with two extra free cheeseburgers since they forgot to add the green chile, so I ended up with four, two without green chile and two with.  I ordered large french fries and a large iced coffee, Hazelnut flavor, and I managed to eat three of the burgers.  As I was driving and eating, one of the Rocky songs I had just bought came on randomly.  With a mouth full of fries, I cheered and then sang along.  The song is called “No Easy Way Out” by Robert Tepper and it’s from Rocky 4.  For me, it was a super summer moment, a celebration of the volleyball, the golf, and my eagle.  Or maybe it was the rush from the McDonald's?  Either way, it was fun.  The girls ended up taking second in the silver division at Fort Lewis.