Written last night.
I am home alone. B has gone to her sister Char’s place with Amanda and Danielle has gone...well, where she usually goes: to see Robbie. I am watching the Netflix Original Movie called The Short Game. I have watched it before. It fascinates me. I feel equally thrilled and disgusted when I’m watching it.
I am thrilled because these little athlete golfers have such a naivete, such motivation, such enthusiasm. It’s encouraging and fun to watch.
I am disgusted because it’s a bit much. It’s over the top. I worry that these children are missing out on their childhood. I am also disgusted by a few of the overly competitive parents. I’m thankful that it all takes place in a “gentleman’s” game, though, where honesty, integrity, and sportsmanship are expected.
Our wi-fi just went out. No more movie. That’s okay. I can focus more on my writing this way.
I earned...
a couple more birdies the last two times I played, both on two of the par fives at Hidden Valley.
Hidden Valley Golf Course-Hole #1-Birdie #7 of 2014
I played with Bruce. He and another guy named Dan (not his real name) I’ve played with before during the Club Championship were waiting for me on the #1 tee. It was getting crowded on a Sunday (players from Colorado are coming, we believe, to our warmer, drier golf course), so we were in a hurry to get going, but I was running a bit behind. I teed off without any warm-up, except for four practice swings, the two before my routine and the two during. When I made that first contact, it sure felt great, but nobody saw my ball. Even when I asked the eight or so people who were waiting, they all gave me blank looks and said they saw nothing. Bruce allowed me the one mulligan we always get on the first tee, though.
So, I teed up another one, and it felt great too. We all saw this one. It was long and straight. I ended up just on the fairway on the left side, and with the hard ground, I was past the cottonwood too. I chose my pitching wedge from there. The funny thing about the approach was that I thought the flag was on the left side again; I couldn’t see it. I pushed my approach, though, and my ball ended up just off the green on the right side where the flag really was. That worked. My eagle putt from off the green almost went in. Bruce made a comment about not having his $5.00 handy. The birdie putt was not a guarantee. It was a downhill, right-to-lefter on a slick, dry green from about three feet, but I read it and rolled it true.
The other birdie came during a very special round with Bruce and C.J. We were the only ones on the entire golf course. That’s right, eighteen holes and only three golfers. It was as if we owned the place; the golf course had never seemed so peaceful. The reason we had it all to ourselves, and on a Sunday no less, was because Tom had banned carts due to the conditions with the melting snow. Because we walk, we were allowed to go out. Awesome!
It started out with just C.J. and me, but Bruce showed up when we were on #11, driving straight from Purgatory. I was just about to text him to let him know it was just us, but he pulled in when I looked up from my phone. We started over again on #10 now that our regular trio was there. I came up with a weird game. Whoever got the first bogey, or better, earned one point. After that, whoever got the first par, or better, could earn two points. Finally, the player to get a birdie on what would be considered the “birdie hole” would earn three points and then it would start all over again. Different, huh? Of course, winning a hole would earn one point, too, and if a tie happened to occur, the points would push.
Bruce won the first hole (without a warm-up, of course) with a par and a win. He earned two points immediately. Then he earned another par on #11, earning three more points. C.J. earned one point by winning #12 with an excellent chip that stopped within tap-in range for his first par.
This is where the points started to pile up. I tied C.J. with a bogey on #13, and then I tied Bruce with my birdie on #14.
Until next time...
I am home alone. B has gone to her sister Char’s place with Amanda and Danielle has gone...well, where she usually goes: to see Robbie. I am watching the Netflix Original Movie called The Short Game. I have watched it before. It fascinates me. I feel equally thrilled and disgusted when I’m watching it.
I am thrilled because these little athlete golfers have such a naivete, such motivation, such enthusiasm. It’s encouraging and fun to watch.
I am disgusted because it’s a bit much. It’s over the top. I worry that these children are missing out on their childhood. I am also disgusted by a few of the overly competitive parents. I’m thankful that it all takes place in a “gentleman’s” game, though, where honesty, integrity, and sportsmanship are expected.
Our wi-fi just went out. No more movie. That’s okay. I can focus more on my writing this way.
I earned...
a couple more birdies the last two times I played, both on two of the par fives at Hidden Valley.
Hidden Valley Golf Course-Hole #1-Birdie #7 of 2014
I played with Bruce. He and another guy named Dan (not his real name) I’ve played with before during the Club Championship were waiting for me on the #1 tee. It was getting crowded on a Sunday (players from Colorado are coming, we believe, to our warmer, drier golf course), so we were in a hurry to get going, but I was running a bit behind. I teed off without any warm-up, except for four practice swings, the two before my routine and the two during. When I made that first contact, it sure felt great, but nobody saw my ball. Even when I asked the eight or so people who were waiting, they all gave me blank looks and said they saw nothing. Bruce allowed me the one mulligan we always get on the first tee, though.
So, I teed up another one, and it felt great too. We all saw this one. It was long and straight. I ended up just on the fairway on the left side, and with the hard ground, I was past the cottonwood too. I chose my pitching wedge from there. The funny thing about the approach was that I thought the flag was on the left side again; I couldn’t see it. I pushed my approach, though, and my ball ended up just off the green on the right side where the flag really was. That worked. My eagle putt from off the green almost went in. Bruce made a comment about not having his $5.00 handy. The birdie putt was not a guarantee. It was a downhill, right-to-lefter on a slick, dry green from about three feet, but I read it and rolled it true.
The other birdie came during a very special round with Bruce and C.J. We were the only ones on the entire golf course. That’s right, eighteen holes and only three golfers. It was as if we owned the place; the golf course had never seemed so peaceful. The reason we had it all to ourselves, and on a Sunday no less, was because Tom had banned carts due to the conditions with the melting snow. Because we walk, we were allowed to go out. Awesome!
It started out with just C.J. and me, but Bruce showed up when we were on #11, driving straight from Purgatory. I was just about to text him to let him know it was just us, but he pulled in when I looked up from my phone. We started over again on #10 now that our regular trio was there. I came up with a weird game. Whoever got the first bogey, or better, earned one point. After that, whoever got the first par, or better, could earn two points. Finally, the player to get a birdie on what would be considered the “birdie hole” would earn three points and then it would start all over again. Different, huh? Of course, winning a hole would earn one point, too, and if a tie happened to occur, the points would push.
Bruce won the first hole (without a warm-up, of course) with a par and a win. He earned two points immediately. Then he earned another par on #11, earning three more points. C.J. earned one point by winning #12 with an excellent chip that stopped within tap-in range for his first par.
This is where the points started to pile up. I tied C.J. with a bogey on #13, and then I tied Bruce with my birdie on #14.
Until next time...
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