Blues from the Blues and 2 on 1 Again

Written on 12-8-12.

    C.J. and I have played together a couple of times recently.  He beat me handily in a game I came up with this past Sunday.  Since I have been driving the ball so well lately, and I was originally going to play with Cameron from the blues (he couldn’t make it), I decided to see if I could beat C.J. from the blues with him playing from the whites.
    It was back and forth until the last two holes.  Playing from the blues is...
different and difficult.  I can drive it far enough, but my lower scores as of late have come from being able to drive it far on the par fives and near the greens or on the greens on the shorter par fours.  That advantage was gone. 
    We tied on #1, but C.J. earned a par to beat my double on #2.  I got back to even on #3 with a par that started with a beautiful drive that might have landed on the green if I had teed off from the whites.  Then I went one up on #4 with a bogey.  He countered with a par on #5, but I went one up again on #6 with another par.  On #7, I had a disaster of a hole with a ball that probably went through the fence and a provisional that was never found.  I took a handicap 7 for my score and we were even again. 
    On #8, I knew I had it in my grasp.  I just had to play these last two holes well and the difference between the blues and the whites were smaller than the first holes.  A long putt from 20 feet for a stinkin' double was not enough to beat C.J.’s bogey.  My drive ended up in the ditch for a bad start. 
    On #9, my drive was a little too long and a little too left.  It went in the ditch and was never found.  That was the third ball I lost in this round.  I had a downhill putt to save my par and tie up the match, but it lipped the hole and stayed out.  C.J. had held me off.  His par on the last hole was good enough to secure the match.  With a handicap 7, I shot a 46; C.J. shot a 44.  He is playing really well.  He shot a 39 with an eagle and a birdie just this past week!  His e-mail ended with, “I’m smiling.”
    We played again this past Wednesday after school.  It was the best day for weather the entire week with a high of 60.  I saw Chris and Jeff on #18 as I was jogging over to hole #1, so I invited them to join us.  They did, and I was glad.  I recommended best ball match play, one of my favorites, but Chris hesitated.  He likes to play just play, and I get that.  Somehow, they changed their minds, though.  I think it was their tee shots.  We only played three holes with them before they left, and we won.  I like the games.  I like the competition because it helps me play better and focus.  On the first hole, I earned a birdie to give us the lead.

Hidden Valley Golf Course-Hole #1-Birdie #42 of 2012

    My tee shot was long again, past the cottonwood.  It was just off the fairway on the right side, though.  I chose my 9-iron to go for the green in two.  It looked great to me.  I watched Jeff hit his approach, and it looked like it hit the hill and stopped short of the green or just barely on.
    When we arrived at the green, I was so confident that it was my ball that was close to the pin and Jeff’s ball that was not that I didn’t even check.  I was wrong.  My ball was just on; Jeff’s was closer to the cup that was on the top tier on the right side.  My eagle putt rolled past the hole about 3 or 4 feet, but I made the comeback putt for the bird. 
    Chris and Jeff left after we played hole #3.  Chris’s par won that hole, but we had won hole #2 with a par, so our short-lived match was over.  C.J. and I debated over what to do next.  I wanted to play holes #15 through #17 to finish up the round I had played with James.  I had a great score going, but we had skipped those holes to go rake leaves and catch the movie Red Dawn.  On all of those holes except #12, I had earned the scores by myself, so I wanted to see if I could get to even after nine holes, or even better under par for the first time.  We decided together that we didn’t have time to play three holes; it was getting dark and cold in a hurry, so we thought we would just play #1 and #3 again and call it good.
    When we played #1 again, I birdied it a second time in a row.

Hidden Valley Golf Course-Hole #1-Birdie #43 of 2012

    This time my tee shot not only made it past the cottonwood, but it was farther and it was on the fairway.  I only needed my pitching wedge for my approach, and my ball went off the back of the green this time.  It was in the small grass bunker on the back right side.  The top of my head was even with the putting surface as I figured out what my next shot would be.  I considered chipping, but I went with the putter instead since the grass is so dead and brown.  My putt rolled quickly through the taller grass, slowed, and then stopped within a foot of the hole.  This one was a tap-in.

    We played #2 from the red tees after that since it was still light and warm enough to get in at least two more holes.  Speaking of red, that was the color of the sky as we played these last three holes.  Well, it was red and pink and purple.  Okay, it was mostly pink.  For a while it showed in the East.  When it was in the West, though, it was the most brilliant and colorful.      Playing from the reds was different.  I got a par after putting it out of the bunker.  On #3 I was finally able to get my drive to go to the left.  It was just past the ditch on the left side this time.  All of my drives for the past month or so (since I started attempting to drive this green), have gone wide and right.  They would be over the ditch, but they were down below the hill on the right side, and I would end up with a bogey even with a long drive.  I got a par instead of a bogey because this drive went left.
    C.J. and I felt we had received a gift with the weather, the golf, and the sunset.  C.J. said anytime we can play in December with our noses dripping, there’s nothing better than that.