Written on 7-14-15.
B and I are out on our deck. Our gas fire pit is going. Solar lanterns are lit. Christmas in July lights (still hanging after our retirement party) are shining. Ah, summer. In my head, I am celebrating the official end of the summer session of The First Tee here in Aztec. I met with two of the Par players tonight to finish up their summer session. It had been postponed for over a week due to one of them going away on vacation, but it’s done now. The other Par player played with the PLAYer group instead, because they wanted to get out of town early for the 4th of July weekend. This is the second birdie of that round where I shot a 38.
Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #7-Birdie #20 of 2015
I hit six greens in regulation in this nine hole round, and I am finding that that is my key to excellent scoring. Obviously when I hit greens in regulation, I can score my best scores.
My drive landed my ball in the bunker to start this birdie. My 7-iron helped me escape the bunker easily. I was 100 yards away from the hole, so I chose to...
do a shorter backswing with my pitching wedge. I was thinking, “Get that ball on the green.”
I wasn’t necessarily thinking, “Put my ball seven feet away from the hole.” That’s what happened, though. The ball was slightly above my feet, too, so I swung away from my body to avoid a big pull. I aimed toward the right side of the green, and my swing did tug the ball a bit to the left. That was great, though, because my ball landed just before the flag and stopped just past it. The flag was near the middle, and it was slightly on the left side, too. For the entire length of this putt, my head and my eyes stayed still. I literally only heard this ball go in. I was impressed with my peek resistance.
Shooting this 38 was great, and I am tempted (and terrified) to say that it was even easy. It was effortless. When I got to #9, knowing (incorrectly) that I needed to get a par to finish my round at even par, I just looked at my target on the fairway and swung at it. Same for my lay-up. Same for my approach. I took a longer than usual time to read my putt, but when I settled on what looked best, I just looked and putted.
After those nine holes, I stopped to eat a snack, cool off, and hydrate. Then I noticed that the group that was ahead of me was about halfway through their lunch, so I chose to take off ahead of them. I made a hurried bogey on #10 because I saw two kids tee off on #11, and I wanted desperately to get ahead of them, too, so I made an incredible putt for bogey, a 12 footer with a foot and a half of break to the left. They let me play ahead. One of them was the son of one of the ladies who works the register, so I knew they were not paying customers, nor serious players at all. Getting stuck behind them would have been miserable. They let me through. I made another hurried bogey. Then I made a great pitch to save a par on #12. After #13, though, I chose to not use this score for my handicap. I wanted to play a serious round on the back to match my front nine 38, so I played around for the rest of the holes. And that’s when I made another birdie on #14.
Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #14-Birdie #21 of 2015
Because I was experimenting, exploring, and just goofing around, I felt very confident and loose with this tee shot. I chose to aim left, directly at the trees actually. My goal was to swing as hard as I could with control, knowing that a harder swing would produce a fade or a slice. It worked. It was more of a fade, but it landed on the fairway and rolled over to the right side. I was farther away than I usually am, so I chose my 21 degree for the next shot. It pushed to the right, and I figured I would be short and right of the green. I saw J.P. playing hole #2 before I played my third shot. I was in the bunker above the hole on the right side. I cuffed my ball out of the sand with my approach wedge, and this was the best shot for this hole. It landed on the green, rolled and slowed down at the top of the bowl, where it fell in, turned right, and rolled down to where I couldn’t see it despite moving and craning my neck. J.P. complimented it, though, so it must have come close.
It was only two feet away. I missed a birdie putt just outside of this length a couple of rounds ago, so I put more pace on this one to help it keep the line I chose, and this one dropped. I had earned three birdies in 18 holes, but this second nine holes just could not be used for a serious score due to the hurrying.
B and I are out on our deck. Our gas fire pit is going. Solar lanterns are lit. Christmas in July lights (still hanging after our retirement party) are shining. Ah, summer. In my head, I am celebrating the official end of the summer session of The First Tee here in Aztec. I met with two of the Par players tonight to finish up their summer session. It had been postponed for over a week due to one of them going away on vacation, but it’s done now. The other Par player played with the PLAYer group instead, because they wanted to get out of town early for the 4th of July weekend. This is the second birdie of that round where I shot a 38.
Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #7-Birdie #20 of 2015
I hit six greens in regulation in this nine hole round, and I am finding that that is my key to excellent scoring. Obviously when I hit greens in regulation, I can score my best scores.
My drive landed my ball in the bunker to start this birdie. My 7-iron helped me escape the bunker easily. I was 100 yards away from the hole, so I chose to...
do a shorter backswing with my pitching wedge. I was thinking, “Get that ball on the green.”
I wasn’t necessarily thinking, “Put my ball seven feet away from the hole.” That’s what happened, though. The ball was slightly above my feet, too, so I swung away from my body to avoid a big pull. I aimed toward the right side of the green, and my swing did tug the ball a bit to the left. That was great, though, because my ball landed just before the flag and stopped just past it. The flag was near the middle, and it was slightly on the left side, too. For the entire length of this putt, my head and my eyes stayed still. I literally only heard this ball go in. I was impressed with my peek resistance.
Shooting this 38 was great, and I am tempted (and terrified) to say that it was even easy. It was effortless. When I got to #9, knowing (incorrectly) that I needed to get a par to finish my round at even par, I just looked at my target on the fairway and swung at it. Same for my lay-up. Same for my approach. I took a longer than usual time to read my putt, but when I settled on what looked best, I just looked and putted.
After those nine holes, I stopped to eat a snack, cool off, and hydrate. Then I noticed that the group that was ahead of me was about halfway through their lunch, so I chose to take off ahead of them. I made a hurried bogey on #10 because I saw two kids tee off on #11, and I wanted desperately to get ahead of them, too, so I made an incredible putt for bogey, a 12 footer with a foot and a half of break to the left. They let me play ahead. One of them was the son of one of the ladies who works the register, so I knew they were not paying customers, nor serious players at all. Getting stuck behind them would have been miserable. They let me through. I made another hurried bogey. Then I made a great pitch to save a par on #12. After #13, though, I chose to not use this score for my handicap. I wanted to play a serious round on the back to match my front nine 38, so I played around for the rest of the holes. And that’s when I made another birdie on #14.
Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #14-Birdie #21 of 2015
Because I was experimenting, exploring, and just goofing around, I felt very confident and loose with this tee shot. I chose to aim left, directly at the trees actually. My goal was to swing as hard as I could with control, knowing that a harder swing would produce a fade or a slice. It worked. It was more of a fade, but it landed on the fairway and rolled over to the right side. I was farther away than I usually am, so I chose my 21 degree for the next shot. It pushed to the right, and I figured I would be short and right of the green. I saw J.P. playing hole #2 before I played my third shot. I was in the bunker above the hole on the right side. I cuffed my ball out of the sand with my approach wedge, and this was the best shot for this hole. It landed on the green, rolled and slowed down at the top of the bowl, where it fell in, turned right, and rolled down to where I couldn’t see it despite moving and craning my neck. J.P. complimented it, though, so it must have come close.
It was only two feet away. I missed a birdie putt just outside of this length a couple of rounds ago, so I put more pace on this one to help it keep the line I chose, and this one dropped. I had earned three birdies in 18 holes, but this second nine holes just could not be used for a serious score due to the hurrying.
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