Written on 9-28-14.
Well, what a wonderful visit. It was fantastic to see all of our children, all four of them. We hung out, we ate together, we played a large amount of volleyball together, and we took in a volleyball match, too, NMSU vs. Bakersfield from California. The Lady Aggies squeaked one out, barely winning the fourth set to force the fifth where they then won handily 15-8.
Now, it’s back to the two of us again, driving back home alone. Sigh. I am happy, of course, to be with Belinda only again, but I miss our children, too. I pause as I write to look up through our new moon roof. Clouds are drifting by and blocking out the sun, so it looks more like a bright yellow circle cut out of the sky. We’re getting closer. It’s that part of the road trip where...
we know we only have 45 minutes to go, but it somehow takes two hours to get there. We have so much work to do when we arrive, though, that I am hoping it does take a long time to get there.
On to golf…
I earned two more birdies when C.J. and I played together last weekend. We played a full eighteen holes, and the weather couldn’t have been better. It was sunny and warm, and as comfortable as a new golf glove with a great fit.
Hidden Valley Golf Course-Hole #1-Birdie #27 of 2014
My drive slipped off well to the right, but it was on the fairway for #5, and it was far enough that our “first tee shot mulligan” wasn’t even a question. I utilized my 5-iron for the approach, and I made solid contact, but it wasn’t enough to get it over the hill on the right side, so it stopped on that hill. I’ve been pitching well lately, especially when I use my approach wedge, so that’s what I used next. I concentrate on a fuller follow-through and my club swishes right through the ball, popping it up high in the air. The hole was cut near the hump in the middle of the green on the left side. My ball rolled past the hump, and it ended up short and left of the hole with about 20 feet remaining. This was my first putt of the day (no warm-ups), and after it left I was confident I had not given it enough to get it there, but after it left my vision, I looked up and it continued to roll and roll until it finally dropped in. Great start!
Hidden Valley Golf Course-Hole #8-Birdie #28 of 2014
I was so overjoyed to earn two birdies on the front nine, but it didn’t really dent the three double bogeys I had made on three other holes. This was an unexpected birdie, for sure. I chose to use my driver from the blues (I was playing from the blues, and C.J. was playing from most of the blues), and my tee shot flew just left of the trees, but it stopped in the rough, not escaping to the fairway like I had hoped it would. I chose my approach wedge, but it slipped under the taller grass and squirted my ball out to the right side of the green. That was the worst shot on this hole. I was happy it didn’t go near the cart path or the fence on #13, or worse, over the fence. My lie was fairly tight, so I am not sure why I chose to flop my next shot.
Thinking back, it was not the smartest call, but it also wasn’t that bad of a lie. I wouldn’t have attempted it if I didn’t think I could pull it off. I was also considering bumping it into the hill next to the green, but talked myself out of that one. My ball shot straight up and headed right towards the flag. The hole was on the middle tier, but it was close to the right side. It landed in front of the flag, bounced up and hit the flagstick dead center about two feet up, stopping all forward momentum. From there, it fell straight down, landed in the hole, where it popped up as if to take one last peek outside before falling in and staying in. I whooped! What a shot! A bit of luck came into play, I am betting, but as Obi-Wan would say, “In my experience, there’s no such thing as luck.”
Until next time…
Well, what a wonderful visit. It was fantastic to see all of our children, all four of them. We hung out, we ate together, we played a large amount of volleyball together, and we took in a volleyball match, too, NMSU vs. Bakersfield from California. The Lady Aggies squeaked one out, barely winning the fourth set to force the fifth where they then won handily 15-8.
Now, it’s back to the two of us again, driving back home alone. Sigh. I am happy, of course, to be with Belinda only again, but I miss our children, too. I pause as I write to look up through our new moon roof. Clouds are drifting by and blocking out the sun, so it looks more like a bright yellow circle cut out of the sky. We’re getting closer. It’s that part of the road trip where...
we know we only have 45 minutes to go, but it somehow takes two hours to get there. We have so much work to do when we arrive, though, that I am hoping it does take a long time to get there.
On to golf…
I earned two more birdies when C.J. and I played together last weekend. We played a full eighteen holes, and the weather couldn’t have been better. It was sunny and warm, and as comfortable as a new golf glove with a great fit.
Hidden Valley Golf Course-Hole #1-Birdie #27 of 2014
My drive slipped off well to the right, but it was on the fairway for #5, and it was far enough that our “first tee shot mulligan” wasn’t even a question. I utilized my 5-iron for the approach, and I made solid contact, but it wasn’t enough to get it over the hill on the right side, so it stopped on that hill. I’ve been pitching well lately, especially when I use my approach wedge, so that’s what I used next. I concentrate on a fuller follow-through and my club swishes right through the ball, popping it up high in the air. The hole was cut near the hump in the middle of the green on the left side. My ball rolled past the hump, and it ended up short and left of the hole with about 20 feet remaining. This was my first putt of the day (no warm-ups), and after it left I was confident I had not given it enough to get it there, but after it left my vision, I looked up and it continued to roll and roll until it finally dropped in. Great start!
Hidden Valley Golf Course-Hole #8-Birdie #28 of 2014
I was so overjoyed to earn two birdies on the front nine, but it didn’t really dent the three double bogeys I had made on three other holes. This was an unexpected birdie, for sure. I chose to use my driver from the blues (I was playing from the blues, and C.J. was playing from most of the blues), and my tee shot flew just left of the trees, but it stopped in the rough, not escaping to the fairway like I had hoped it would. I chose my approach wedge, but it slipped under the taller grass and squirted my ball out to the right side of the green. That was the worst shot on this hole. I was happy it didn’t go near the cart path or the fence on #13, or worse, over the fence. My lie was fairly tight, so I am not sure why I chose to flop my next shot.
Thinking back, it was not the smartest call, but it also wasn’t that bad of a lie. I wouldn’t have attempted it if I didn’t think I could pull it off. I was also considering bumping it into the hill next to the green, but talked myself out of that one. My ball shot straight up and headed right towards the flag. The hole was on the middle tier, but it was close to the right side. It landed in front of the flag, bounced up and hit the flagstick dead center about two feet up, stopping all forward momentum. From there, it fell straight down, landed in the hole, where it popped up as if to take one last peek outside before falling in and staying in. I whooped! What a shot! A bit of luck came into play, I am betting, but as Obi-Wan would say, “In my experience, there’s no such thing as luck.”
Until next time…
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