A Miraculous Recovery After a Discovery

Written on 1-25-14.

    One of the best and most wonderful things in my life happened today.  I was at Eric’s Big-O Tire, hanging out in the waiting room while our GMC truck was getting lubed across the street at the new Big-O Quick Lube, working on the official birdie and eagle count when I hit a huge roadblock, coming to a dead end at the close of Golf Diary-Part 3 and the beginning of Golf Diary-Part 4. 
    Part 3 ended in May of 2004, and Part 4 started at the end of 2005.  I was missing over a year and a half somewhere, everything from May of 2004 and the entire year of 2005!  It made no sense to me; I was certain I had continued one right after the other, but somehow a huge chunk was missing. 
    I went home, scrambling to find it.  I turned on the Mac Mini and hooked up the external hard drive.  I opened them up from there and got the same result.  Then I remembered...

A Great, Fun Match With C.J. This Time

Written on 1-21-14.

    Ten days ago, C.J. and I had a great, fun match of our own.  We did the escalating skins game, a favorite of mine.  It came down to the last hole, and then it went one more.  Here’s what happened.
    On hole #1, C.J. won with a par.  Then he won on the next hole with another par.  I was struggling. 
    Truthfully, we were both struggling to play...

Starting the Year Right With Three Birdies in Nine Holes

Written on 1-13-14    

    I shot an 80 on this round, a 41 on the front and a 39 on the back.  I  thought it was interesting that the first three birdies I earned this year were on a par 3, a par 4, and a par 5, just not in that order. 

Hidden Valley Golf Course-Hole #11-Birdie #1 of 2014

    As I stated earlier, I played on alone after Bruce and C.J. went home after nine.  I started with a bogey on #10, but I got it right back on this hole.  I aimed my tee shot over one of the cottonwoods on the right side past the ditch, but my golf ball flew low, left, and long instead.  With the harder, drier ground it ran right through the fairway, past the cart path for #9 and ended up in the harsher ground off #9’s fairway.  I chose my A-wedge for the approach.  The pin was on the back, so my goal was to have my ball hit the top of the green and roll down to the back.  It did!  I had only four feet left, and it was slightly downhill, and it broke a wee bit to the right.

Hidden Valley Golf Course-Hole #14-Birdie #2 of 2014

    I did not do so well after that first birdie of 2014.  I followed it up with two double bogeys, so it was great to get another birdie and get back on track.  The drive was an “alley” drive.  Once again, with the harder ground my ball actually ended up on the right side of the fairway.  It was far, too.  It was 150 yards out.  I chose the 9-iron, but it was a bad choice.  I put a smooth swing on it, and I had pure contact, but it ended up short and right.  Of course, I wanted my ball to land up on the top and farther left, so it would roll down into the toilet bowl and go in the hole for my first ever double eagle.  Nope, didn’t happen. 
    I did my new open stance chip shot, and this was the best shot.  The ball popped up nicely, landed just off the green, and rolled slowly into the bowl.  It turned right like it’s supposed to, but it stopped short of where I wanted.  I had a putt of about ten feet this time.  It trickled in for another birdie on the hole I birdie the most. 

Hidden Valley Golf Course-Hole #16-Birdie #3 of 2014

    This round was getting better.  I had two birdies in my pocket.  I had just gotten a par.  Things were looking up.  Then it improved.  I expect to get a birdie on #18, not this one.  Here’s how it happened.  The pitching wedge got the call even with the flag on the back (another reason why this birdie was so special).  It headed left of the green, so I hoped it would kick right, and then it did.  I saw it roll towards the back of the green, but I did not know it had ended up off the back until I walked over there.
    I brought my wedge and my putter, not sure which one I would use.  The grass was so crusty, so I chose the putter.  Great choice.  My ball rolled onto the green, turned right and quietly fell into the hole.  It shocked me.  I whooped.  A birdie on this hole, with the hole cut in the back?  Awesome!

Happy 2014!

Written on 1-9-14.

    Well, hello 2014. Happy to be here after all that brain surgery stuff that took place a while back.  It will be three years this June.  I checked the Caring Bridge web site recently.  It’s up to almost 10,000 views now, so somebody’s reading it.  Don’t know who, though.  That was some of my best writing, in my opinion, but the material was excellent fodder.  Not like this diary/journal, although it does have a drama all its own. 
    I’m still writing in here.  What is the deal?  It started out as a way of just keeping my confidence up while learning how to play golf.  It still is.  After all, I am still learning.  The truth is, I enjoy it, the writing.  I have found an unlimited amount of writing material here. 
    Another great side effect of the writing, so to speak, was the recording of our lives since 1999.  It only shows up every once in a while, between the descriptions of games and birdies that take place on the various golf courses I play, but, they are written down, recorded for all eternity, and I am so glad for that.
    Speaking of non-golf related material, here’s a slice...