Written on 4-10-16.
I’m at Chavolo’s in Mancos, and I’m the only patron in here. Danny Willet is the “in the clubhouse leader” for the Masters, and that’s the reason I’m sitting in this restaurant alone. We brought a TV Eric had just bought up to the cabin, but we couldn’t get it to work. I had painted a picture of watching the Masters up at the cabin, but that was smashed, so here I sit and watch and write…alone.
Jordan Spieth is putting for birdie on #16, the par three that Guy and I watched from the Masters green bleachers on a Saturday four years ago. He’s missed, and he now has a long comeback for his par. He made that one, but he still has two shots to tie for the lead and only two holes left to play.
Dustin Johnson just putted out on #18, and he finished at one under. I still believe he will win a major someday. Anyone who has come so close in so many other majors will certainly break through at some point; it’s all mental for him now. He has the skills, for sure. It reminds me of Payne Stewart before he finally got the monkey off of his back.
I have skills (nothing like the pros), too, but I have been humbled recently by getting beaten soundly by C.J. His exemplary play definitely helped, but I did not play like I am capable either. I won the first time we played the Reverse Handicap Game, but he liked that game so much he suggested we play it again, and that was the first time he beat me. Then we played the “rubber match” on Friday, and he showed me he was the boss when it comes to “reverse handicapping” this time around. I have the scorecards, so I will write about how he did it later.
Jordan just got a bogey on #17, so it’s a sure thing that Danny Willet is...
this year’s Masters champion. I’m glad I came into Mancos to watch. Now, I can go back to the cabin and spend the rest of the time with Belinda.
And, I am now back at the cabin. The fire is going, and Belinda is asleep on the couch. I won’t eat dinner now because I had a taco and some french fries while at Chavolo’s; I’m stuffed.
I’m going to start right away with getting those birdies and that new eagle in here officially, and with all the details.
Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #7-Birdie #11 of 2016
I was noticing that my new friend Rob (not his real name) and I were tying on every hole starting on hole #2 when he first joined me. We played through three groups when all was said and done. He is retired from San Juan College and the Marines. He said he gets close to $6,000.00 a month with all of his retirement pay and social security. Wow! He also told me he had been a member there at Hidden Valley for years, so I was astonished that this was the first time we had ever seen each other, no less played together.
Anyway, this was the hole where I broke our string of ties. He got a bogey to my birdie on this hole. I used my driver and my ball went way left and way long, ending up on the other side of hole #14’s fairway. He came over to watch me use my utility club for my second shot, and it was well struck. My ball flew straight and headed toward the left side of the green. I used my approach wedge for my small approach and came up just short of getting my ball to roll out and onto the green. My putt finished what that approach was meant to do, though, and my ball rolled into the hole after I asked Rick to take the flag out. Rob said he was confident that my ball would have gone in even if the flag was still in there.
Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #18-Birdie #12 of 2016
Rob talked about how he usually has a hard time on this hole before we teed off, and I told him that this was the hole that I have birdied more than any other hole on our golf course. We ended up with another tied score on this hole, though, and he proved himself wrong by getting a birdie himself. He made a great pitch from behind the green on the right side, and I putted my ball close from off the front of the green for mine. The flag was on the top right side this time. In order to get my ball just off the front of the green, I had used my driver and flown my ball way over to #7’s fairway. Then I used a mid-iron to get my ball back on track and just off the green where I could finish with just two more putts.
Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #18-Eagle #1 of 2016
Hooray! I earned the first eagle of the year this time. Bruce, C.J., and I have an agreement that the first person to get an eagle gets five bucks each from the other two. C.J. has paid me already, but I haven’t seen Bruce for a long time. Here’s how I got it…
I teed off with my driver, of course. I aimed for #3 and I hit it…sort of. My ball ended up on the right side of the hill that’s over there, the one with the three trees that can stubbornly get in the way of my approach sometimes, which is silly because I aim for #3’s fairway to avoid the trees on #18. This time, though, my ball was to the right of those trees, so they weren’t a factor at all. As a bonus, I had a slightly uphill lie making it easier to get my ball up in the air. I chose my 8-iron instead of my 9-iron due to the uphill lie, knowing that I was going to lose some yardage. My ball did fly really high, and it soared over the flag, stopping behind it 20 feet away.
The putt looked impossible. It was downhill and fast, and I knew from past experiences that it was best to put my ball out to the right to slow it down and get it to stop even with the hole. This time, however, I didn’t aim too far to the right. I picked a spot well back from the hole, but it still looked like my ball would never stop. As it got closer, I began to think that it might go in, and then it suddenly and surprisingly disappeared into the hole. I had no witnesses since Rob had already left, but C.J. said that it didn’t matter; I had earned the first eagle of the season.
Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #9-Birdie #13 of 2016
On an entirely different day, C.J. and I played the Reverse Handicap Game for the first time. This was the only match I won with that game because, as I stated above, I recently lost the last two matches. C.J. won the points for the first three holes, but I played well on the front nine and won the last six. This hole gave me the points for both #8 and #9.
I used my driver and took a shot at cutting the corner and placing my tee shot over on #11’s fairway. The out of bounds is still not in effect. It worked, but I didn’t cut the corner as much as I had hoped. My ball ended up on the dirt cart path that runs along the left side of the bunker for #11. I took my free drop and played my approach from there. My ball landed just off the green on the right side, and I had a really difficult play from there because the flag was on the left side and over the hump that divides that green.
I was putting so well from off the green, though, that it didn’t matter. I putted from out of the bunker on hole #6 earlier to win that hole with a par. This completely frustrated C.J. (he told me recently that he still gets angry thinking about it) because he was on the green and close in one, but he ended up triple-putting for a bogey and losing the hole.
My putt from off the green went up the hill, slowed at the top, turned left and settled even with the hole on its left side. From there, I made the putt from three feet to win the points.
Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #13-Birdie #14 of 2016
I drove my ball to the middle of the green, but it was just off on the left side. The hole was on the back third of the green, and I putted from off the green again, but this time my ball was really on the fringe. My ball went past the hole farther than I wanted, and I had a tough comeback putt from six feet with a bit of right to left action on it. I made a pure putt, though, and I won the meager three points this hole was worth.
Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #16-Birdie #15 of 2016
Using my 9-iron, I put my ball past the hole, around fifteen feet away. The cup was cut near the hill that’s on the green, so it had a bit of the slope from that hill to give it some serious break. This was a cool putt! It broke from right to left two or three feet before it straightened out and went into the hole. It was not only fun to make, it was also fun to watch. I won this hole and the last two as well to end the match 52 to 29 overall. I ended up shooting an 82 with a 41 on the front and a matching 41 on the back.
Until next time...
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