Thursday, November 13, 2014

28th Excerpt From My Original Golf Diary

10-15-01

     I am talking with Guy on the phone right now.  We regularly talk about golf.  I was telling him about how Eric and I played golf this past weekend, two days in a row actually!  That is rare considering our wives don’t normally allow it, but Friday we had Parent/Teacher conferences, so we got to leave school a couple of hours earlier than usual.  We got to play at Civitan.  I hadn’t played there for a long time.  Like I had said, we played on Friday after conferences.  Then we played again on Saturday, eighteen holes both times.  Highlights were five pars in a row and another birdie!  I also tied my best score there, a 32!  Or did I score a 31 once? I will check my scorecards to see if I did. No, I haven’t.  I also scored six pars in another set of nine holes.  I played very well, very consistently.  I also got a par on the very difficult ninth hole, which is 173 yards or so.  I beat Eric on all nine holes, except the last nine, where we tied with a 36.  On that nine, I scored a six; however, on hole number two, all because of four putts!  YUCK!

11-17-01


    Hello again.  I just finished playing today, and wanted to tell about another birdie I got.

Hidden Valley-Hole 8


    This is the same short par four where I made the long downhill putt I wrote about just a little bit ago.  I pulled my drive pretty badly, bouncing it off the cart path and landing it near the green of hole #12, the raised par three.  From there I hit one of my best pitches with my pitching wedge.  It landed on the green about eight feet above the hole.  I rolled it right in from there for a three.  I had a witness, some guy waiting to tee off on #13, but he didn’t know it was a birdie putt and I have no idea who he was.  Some very steady playing today preceded that birdie.  I ended up with one birdie, five pars, and five bogeys.  I scored a 45 on both the front nine and the back nine.  They let me play the back nine first.  I played alone.  Danielle chose to go to the Fall Festival at McCoy instead of playing with me.  I guess games and prizes are more exciting than golf to her, and I guess I can’t blame her considering she is six years old.  Ha 
    I played at Curt’s golf course with Guy, Curt, Daryl, and James last weekend.  That was great fun, too!  Curt could only play the front nine because he had to go to announce a high school football game.  Guy, the two boys, and I continued on to the back nine.  I shot a 91, which I was very happy with.  My goal was to shoot in the low nineties, or get my handicap in the high teens by the end of last summer.  That is about where I am at right now. 
    I won another prize!  Sort of.  Dad challenged Guy, Curt, and I to see who would score the lowest.  The winner would receive one of Dad’s lottery tickets worth one dollar.  If it would have been a winner, it was worth about four million.  I...

won!  Not four million, though.  I am keeping the ticket even though it wasn’t a winning ticket.  It was the first time I “might” have been playing for millions of dollars! ha 
My play was very steady and confident that day.  I had four pars on the front nine and two on the back.  No birdies, though.  This was a fun par.

Springs Ranch Golf Club-Hole 6

    I hit a low left to right drive over the ditch, which set up a nice straight second shot off the fairway.  I hit my eight-iron right on, and then right off of, the hard green.  The greens were hard due to the cold, so it sounded like my ball bounced off a hardwood floor.  It ended up on the cart path.  Guy and I agreed I should get a free drop, but no closer to the hole.  I pitched back on to the green, but well short of the hole. That’s when I made another one of my longest putts ever.  It was one of those feelings again.  I knew it was going in.  It felt so good.  I picked the spot where it would break and start to roll toward the hole, and I just hit it there.  It was at least twenty feet or more and downhill.  Everyone there witnessed it.
 

Updates…  
    I couldn’t find a scorecard from Civitan where I had shot a 32, but I remember Eric adding it up wrong once.  I have shot 31 there.  That is my best score there so far.  Also, I was going to talk about how Body for Life has helped my game.  First, I am physically stronger.  My midsection is stronger which allows me to coil better for more power and distance.  My legs are stronger which helps me maintain a stable and “quiet” lower body.  My arms and shoulders are also more defined and stronger.  I know stronger forearms add more distance to drives.  I am also mentally stronger.  During the aerobic sessions we go to a Level 10 at the 19th minute.  During that Level 10, when I am most fatigued and going as hard as I can, I visualize myself playing a difficult hole.  I always pick a “nemesis” hole that has given me fits before.  I play it perfectly in my mind, ending with a birdie or maybe even an eagle.  Also, my physical improvements have had a boost for my self-esteem in general.  I feel better about the way I look and that helps me feel better about the way I play.  I will continue to use Body for Life to help me improve my golf.

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