Saturday, February 13, 2016

My First One Under After Nine Holes!

Civitan Golf Course-Hole #1-Birdie #1 of 2016

    I just realized these are the first birdies of this new year.  Yahoo!  Let the lifetime birdie count continue.
    This was our second time around the course.  We were playing the greens in regulation game.  A large group was coming out of the pro shop when we were making the turn.  I recognized one of them, but I don’t know his name.  I offered to let them tee off before us, but they knew they would be much slower than we were going to be (they had seven guys!), so they kindly and rightly let us go first. 
    I chose my PW this time because my AW ended up being short the first time around.  It was about halfway through the first nine holes that I figured out I needed to club up one club on most holes.  My ball flew...

just to the right of the flag and over it where it landed and then spun back a couple of feet.  One of the guys in the oversized group complimented my shot.  My putt was about 15 feet back toward the hole, and it was slightly downhill.  The hole was on the left side near the middle.  After it fell in the hole, I wondered if the guys in the group behind us had even noticed, but then I quickly wondered why that would even matter.  Even with this birdie, I still only got two points for hitting the green and then getting either a par or a better than par score.

    I barely hit the front of the green on #2, but after one very long putt and one much shorter putt, I had earned a par.  The first time we went around we skipped holes #3 and #4 because of the two guys who were playing in front of us.  It reaffirmed that you can run into some “different” players when playing at Civitan.  These guys just stood and talked right next to the green on #2 either oblivious or indifferent that we were waiting to tee off until C.J. finally got impatient and shouted, “HEY!”
    They moved out of the way, but as slowly as if they were using walkers instead of golf clubs.  When we got up to the green, they still hadn’t teed off on #3 yet, and when the first guy did give it a go, he hit his ball off the heel of his club and sent it skittering backwards toward us and the fringe on the right side of our green.  Despite my pointing it out, he still didn’t see it when he walked over to look for it.  Then he mumbled something about it not being a great shot.  Hmmm, you think?  That’s why we trudged up the hill to #5, to get as far away from them as possible.  Ack!  I sound like a golf snob, but gee whiz!

Civitan Golf Course-Hole #3-Birdie #2 of 2016

    So, this was our first time seeing this hole this round.  I chose my AW because it was 101 yards according to the sign.  The hole was toward the back left side.  My ball landed on the left side, but somewhere between the front and the middle of the green.  I had a putt of about 30 or 35 feet.  C.J. had a longer putt from the front right side of the green and darned if he almost didn’t hole it.  His ball lipped the hole and then stopped a couple of feet past.  I did one better than that, though, by dropping a bomb right in on the target.  My birdie once again, however, did not give me an advantage with our greens in regulation game.  We both earned two points.

Civitan Golf Course-Hole #5-Birdie #3 of 2016

    On hole #4, I hit the green in regulation and finished up with two putts, so I was off to a swell start on this second go-around.  For this hole, I clubbed up again after learning a lesson from the “front nine.”  My 7-iron landed my ball past the flag, but it managed to keep my ball on the green.  This putt was of similar length to #3’s, around 30 to 35 feet.  This hole was on the right side and slightly closer to the front.  This putt, just like the one on #3 dropped right in like a bomb.  It rolled in like that’s what it was supposed to do.  I just looked at it, took a swing with my putter, and the ball rolled into the hole like a wild rodent looking to stay alive by avoiding flying predators.  I just shrugged and smiled and laughed.  C.J. looked incredulous.

    In the first five holes on our “back nine,” my scores were 2, 3, 2, 3, and 2.  I was three under after five holes.  Part of me was thinking about how this could be a new record for me for nine holes, but I quickly pushed that out of my mind and did my best to focus on the present.  Mostly, for the remainder of the round, that’s what I did.  I faltered on holes #7 and #8 with two bogeys. 
    On #7, my chip from behind the green wound up short, and I missed the putt for par.  On #8, I hit the green and my first putt got my ball within a few feet, but the third putt from a few feet away broke down the slope and to the left just barely missing the hole.  I righted the ship on #8 and #9, though, by hitting both of those greens and using up only two putts, the way it’s supposed to be done.  With three birdies, two bogeys, and the rest pars, I was one under for nine holes for the first time ever in my life.  And there was much rejoicing!  At least in my own mind there was.

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