Now that I’m back home, I’ve played a couple of times. My back feels better, but it still has some unpredictable issues. Just yesterday, it was “catching” while I was standing to do the dishes. I’ve never had this type of feeling in my back before, and I am considering visiting my friend Dave Rakita again if it persists.
C.J., Bruce, and I played this past weekend. C.J. and I walked while Bruce rode in a cart, and it was my idea for C.J. and I to take on Bruce. Bruce was riding since he said he also had a cold. He said everyone in his family had a cold, and he didn’t want to overdo things. My cold was in its fourth day, and I wasn’t feeling too badly. I could walk eighteen holes, so I believe it was on its way out, despite a nagging cough. C.J. and I were playing well, and we were actually 4 up on Bruce after nine holes. For the first time ever, we all...
tied with 44s on the front nine, and those were with varied scores on each hole. For example, we went 5, 6, and 7 on the first hole. On #3, we went 5, 3, and 4. That was unusual. The odds of the three of us, with our different handicaps, earning the same score after nine holes have to be extremely high.
Bruce said his goodbyes and headed for home after holing out on #9. C.J. and I were headed over to #10 when we saw Bruce turn his cart to come join us after all. He said, “How can I not stay?” It truly was a beautiful fall day, and I knew he had some better golf in him, even with his cold. Boy, was I right! Without consulting me, C.J. gave Bruce three pops on the back nine to see if he could catch us and win. Well, that’s just what he did. The pops didn’t really matter, except on the last hole when he and I tied with pars. He had back to back birdies on #13 and #14. That’s when I earned this birdie.
Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #14-Birdie #40 of 2015
The hole was in the bowl, so that’s always a fantastic birdie or eagle opportunity. Bruce drove his shot into the alley, but he thought it was too far to the left. It wasn’t. It rolled out onto the fairway after a bit of uncertainty. My drive was straight up the fairway and just past his. My 8-iron put my ball just off the green on the right side. I pushed it a bit. If it had gone straight, it would have been in the bowl with that great look at the eagle opportunity. For Bruce’s third, he pitched onto the green from about 20 yards, where it bounced just off the green and then rolled into the bowl stopping about 10 feet behind the hole. I putted from off the green, and my ball went into the top of the bowl and turned to the right as it should, stopping about six feet away and just to the right of Bruce’s putt. Bruce, of course, nailed his putt in the center. Now it was up to me to keep us one up. I know my putt was shorter than his, but it sure felt great to drain mine right after his. That’s twice now I have matched a birdie putt after Bruce or Rei have made theirs, a true confidence booster.
Bruce played in true “Bruce style” on the back nine finishing one under par, a 34! If C.J. had not given him those three pops, we would have ended in a tie, which is still a ridiculous comeback! With the pop on hole #18, he ended up winning one up. Well played, Bruce, well played.
Okay, one last birdie to report. This is fun! I like how earning birdies forces me to write. It’s not the birdies that are important, but rather the writing around the birdies that is. The birdies are important, too, but it’s the journaling that’s not about golf is of greater importance.
Laura texted me a couple of days ago to ask if I wanted to go play golf with her. My back felt reasonably better, so I agreed. Belinda and I worked at the Villa Serena Park that morning, but I still felt my back could handle playing, so we met for nine holes at 1:00 that afternoon.
Tonight, Belinda and I are treating Tink and Laura to dinner in Farmington as a “thank you” for all they have done for us in this new stage of our lives. Without Laura, I would not have had those technology trainings. Without Tink, we would not have our priorities straight. I still remember him saying, “Do you want to work to live, or live to work?”
We definitely were living to work more than we were working to live as teachers, even with all of our years of experience. Those years actually made the work more bearable because Belinda and I could prioritize better than a new teacher, knowing what was important and what could be put off until later. We were still, however, working every weekend for around four hours each in order to be prepared and survive, and hopefully thrive, every week.
I’m so glad Laura called. She said I could help her in any way with any tips, but she had definitely improved since the last time we had played together. She even tied my score on three holes. I had to earn a birdie on #7 to beat her par. She was up against the fence when she made what I thought was the shot of the day from 100 yards or so to get her ball up and on the green, about 20 feet away. Then she followed that up with an equally impressive putt for par. Wow!
Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #5-Birdie #41 of 2015
My drive was left, and it headed for the second set of bunkers. I found it among the trees over there, and it ended up left of the bunker. I used my “turf buster,” Bruce’s old club, and my next swing put my second shot on the left side of the hill that’s next to the green. That flight was mostly straight, and it was my goal to land my ball past the rough area up there. Laura was impressed that I was able to get it to go that far. I used my approach wedge, and this pitch was cool. It matched the arch of the hill, and I couldn’t see the end result, but Laura said it was a great shot. It landed on the downslope and rolled out onto the green just 12 feet away from the hole. My putt had a bit of left to right in it, and the hole’s location was middle left, just to the left of the bottom of the slope there. Just like when Harry told Sally after they had slept together for the first time how nice it is when two people can sit and have dinner and not have to say anything, it’s so nice to see a putt, read it correctly, and have it fall in.
C.J., Bruce, and I played this past weekend. C.J. and I walked while Bruce rode in a cart, and it was my idea for C.J. and I to take on Bruce. Bruce was riding since he said he also had a cold. He said everyone in his family had a cold, and he didn’t want to overdo things. My cold was in its fourth day, and I wasn’t feeling too badly. I could walk eighteen holes, so I believe it was on its way out, despite a nagging cough. C.J. and I were playing well, and we were actually 4 up on Bruce after nine holes. For the first time ever, we all...
tied with 44s on the front nine, and those were with varied scores on each hole. For example, we went 5, 6, and 7 on the first hole. On #3, we went 5, 3, and 4. That was unusual. The odds of the three of us, with our different handicaps, earning the same score after nine holes have to be extremely high.
Bruce said his goodbyes and headed for home after holing out on #9. C.J. and I were headed over to #10 when we saw Bruce turn his cart to come join us after all. He said, “How can I not stay?” It truly was a beautiful fall day, and I knew he had some better golf in him, even with his cold. Boy, was I right! Without consulting me, C.J. gave Bruce three pops on the back nine to see if he could catch us and win. Well, that’s just what he did. The pops didn’t really matter, except on the last hole when he and I tied with pars. He had back to back birdies on #13 and #14. That’s when I earned this birdie.
Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #14-Birdie #40 of 2015
The hole was in the bowl, so that’s always a fantastic birdie or eagle opportunity. Bruce drove his shot into the alley, but he thought it was too far to the left. It wasn’t. It rolled out onto the fairway after a bit of uncertainty. My drive was straight up the fairway and just past his. My 8-iron put my ball just off the green on the right side. I pushed it a bit. If it had gone straight, it would have been in the bowl with that great look at the eagle opportunity. For Bruce’s third, he pitched onto the green from about 20 yards, where it bounced just off the green and then rolled into the bowl stopping about 10 feet behind the hole. I putted from off the green, and my ball went into the top of the bowl and turned to the right as it should, stopping about six feet away and just to the right of Bruce’s putt. Bruce, of course, nailed his putt in the center. Now it was up to me to keep us one up. I know my putt was shorter than his, but it sure felt great to drain mine right after his. That’s twice now I have matched a birdie putt after Bruce or Rei have made theirs, a true confidence booster.
Bruce played in true “Bruce style” on the back nine finishing one under par, a 34! If C.J. had not given him those three pops, we would have ended in a tie, which is still a ridiculous comeback! With the pop on hole #18, he ended up winning one up. Well played, Bruce, well played.
Okay, one last birdie to report. This is fun! I like how earning birdies forces me to write. It’s not the birdies that are important, but rather the writing around the birdies that is. The birdies are important, too, but it’s the journaling that’s not about golf is of greater importance.
Laura texted me a couple of days ago to ask if I wanted to go play golf with her. My back felt reasonably better, so I agreed. Belinda and I worked at the Villa Serena Park that morning, but I still felt my back could handle playing, so we met for nine holes at 1:00 that afternoon.
Tonight, Belinda and I are treating Tink and Laura to dinner in Farmington as a “thank you” for all they have done for us in this new stage of our lives. Without Laura, I would not have had those technology trainings. Without Tink, we would not have our priorities straight. I still remember him saying, “Do you want to work to live, or live to work?”
We definitely were living to work more than we were working to live as teachers, even with all of our years of experience. Those years actually made the work more bearable because Belinda and I could prioritize better than a new teacher, knowing what was important and what could be put off until later. We were still, however, working every weekend for around four hours each in order to be prepared and survive, and hopefully thrive, every week.
I’m so glad Laura called. She said I could help her in any way with any tips, but she had definitely improved since the last time we had played together. She even tied my score on three holes. I had to earn a birdie on #7 to beat her par. She was up against the fence when she made what I thought was the shot of the day from 100 yards or so to get her ball up and on the green, about 20 feet away. Then she followed that up with an equally impressive putt for par. Wow!
Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #5-Birdie #41 of 2015
My drive was left, and it headed for the second set of bunkers. I found it among the trees over there, and it ended up left of the bunker. I used my “turf buster,” Bruce’s old club, and my next swing put my second shot on the left side of the hill that’s next to the green. That flight was mostly straight, and it was my goal to land my ball past the rough area up there. Laura was impressed that I was able to get it to go that far. I used my approach wedge, and this pitch was cool. It matched the arch of the hill, and I couldn’t see the end result, but Laura said it was a great shot. It landed on the downslope and rolled out onto the green just 12 feet away from the hole. My putt had a bit of left to right in it, and the hole’s location was middle left, just to the left of the bottom of the slope there. Just like when Harry told Sally after they had slept together for the first time how nice it is when two people can sit and have dinner and not have to say anything, it’s so nice to see a putt, read it correctly, and have it fall in.
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