Written on 3-14-15.
It’s Pi Day, the really rare Pi Day that only comes around every 100 years. It makes sense then that this day, this Pi Day, Bruce earned his first official hole-in-one ever! We (our regular foursome) all met today to play 18 holes at the “new” Aztec Municipal Golf Course at Hidden Valley.
The good news abounds. First, it’s official that the city of Aztec has taken over our local golf course. Thank you, Josh Ray and the city for doing this. I bought my membership right away when I went to the course, and as a teacher I got the government employee discount, more than half of what I paid before when it was owned privately. Because we walk, I’ll be saving even more money.
As C.J. and I were putting and waiting for the Dingwalls, I knew in my heart that it was the same old course, but it felt different and new. Maybe it was the...
new colorful signage at the entrances to the course and the pro shop. Maybe it was the cleaned out pro shop with the City of Aztec memorabilia in the glass cases (license plates, stickers, brochures, etc.). Maybe it was the new guy behind the desk, a most pleasant fellow with the same initials as my son, J.P.
Smoking is still allowed, but alcohol is now banned. I will be very honest and say I am thankful for that. All the alcohol kind of detracted from the golf experiences we had when we played there before the city took over, in my opinion, sometimes during play, but mostly after.
So, C.J. had one of the former Aztec High golfers, Patrick Otero, take our picture on the first tee. We chose to let him and his girl play through, so he at least owed us a picture. C.J. posted it on FB later, along with the picture of Bruce holding his golf ball next to the flag on hole #2, the hole where history was just made. C.J. said that Bruce should let the newspaper know, but he wanted nothing to do with that. So classy and humble, that’s our Bruce. I asked if I could write about it here, and he was okay with that. I think it helped when I said that nobody reads my blog anyway.
Here’s how it happened from my point of view. Honestly, I was more concerned with my swing and the shanks I’d been battling; I wasn’t really paying attention. I saw him tee off. His ball went low and toward the right side of the green. When I saw it, I didn’t even think it would end up on the green. Then Reilly said something like, “I just saw it roll into the hole!”
Later, Bruce said he saw it go in, too, but I thought Reilly was the only one who actually witnessed it. Then we all tentatively celebrated. I was hoping it was true, but there was some uncertainty.
It was true! After years and years of playing, after multiple swings on par threes, after all of the practicing, the tournaments, and the little competitions we have had, and after all of the talking about who would have the first ace and when would it happen, we can now relax. Bruce (my pick by the way for this to happen) earned a hole-in-one on hole #2 at the Aztec Municipal Golf Course at Hidden Valley. It was a 7-iron from approximately 151 yards. Wow!
If someone asks us why we do this, that swing is one of the answers. Bruce said he would never play that ball again after he plucked it out of the hole.
It’s Pi Day, the really rare Pi Day that only comes around every 100 years. It makes sense then that this day, this Pi Day, Bruce earned his first official hole-in-one ever! We (our regular foursome) all met today to play 18 holes at the “new” Aztec Municipal Golf Course at Hidden Valley.
The good news abounds. First, it’s official that the city of Aztec has taken over our local golf course. Thank you, Josh Ray and the city for doing this. I bought my membership right away when I went to the course, and as a teacher I got the government employee discount, more than half of what I paid before when it was owned privately. Because we walk, I’ll be saving even more money.
As C.J. and I were putting and waiting for the Dingwalls, I knew in my heart that it was the same old course, but it felt different and new. Maybe it was the...
new colorful signage at the entrances to the course and the pro shop. Maybe it was the cleaned out pro shop with the City of Aztec memorabilia in the glass cases (license plates, stickers, brochures, etc.). Maybe it was the new guy behind the desk, a most pleasant fellow with the same initials as my son, J.P.
Smoking is still allowed, but alcohol is now banned. I will be very honest and say I am thankful for that. All the alcohol kind of detracted from the golf experiences we had when we played there before the city took over, in my opinion, sometimes during play, but mostly after.
So, C.J. had one of the former Aztec High golfers, Patrick Otero, take our picture on the first tee. We chose to let him and his girl play through, so he at least owed us a picture. C.J. posted it on FB later, along with the picture of Bruce holding his golf ball next to the flag on hole #2, the hole where history was just made. C.J. said that Bruce should let the newspaper know, but he wanted nothing to do with that. So classy and humble, that’s our Bruce. I asked if I could write about it here, and he was okay with that. I think it helped when I said that nobody reads my blog anyway.
Here’s how it happened from my point of view. Honestly, I was more concerned with my swing and the shanks I’d been battling; I wasn’t really paying attention. I saw him tee off. His ball went low and toward the right side of the green. When I saw it, I didn’t even think it would end up on the green. Then Reilly said something like, “I just saw it roll into the hole!”
Later, Bruce said he saw it go in, too, but I thought Reilly was the only one who actually witnessed it. Then we all tentatively celebrated. I was hoping it was true, but there was some uncertainty.
It was true! After years and years of playing, after multiple swings on par threes, after all of the practicing, the tournaments, and the little competitions we have had, and after all of the talking about who would have the first ace and when would it happen, we can now relax. Bruce (my pick by the way for this to happen) earned a hole-in-one on hole #2 at the Aztec Municipal Golf Course at Hidden Valley. It was a 7-iron from approximately 151 yards. Wow!
If someone asks us why we do this, that swing is one of the answers. Bruce said he would never play that ball again after he plucked it out of the hole.
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