Written on 7-26-16.
I am sitting at the natural wood table in our VRBO. This amazing home is near Port McNeill, British Columbia. Eric and Amanda are settling down for a short summer’s nap in the living room. Scratch that. Now, I have moved into the quiet upstairs bedroom with a stellar view of the Pacific Ocean away from everyone, and Eric has moved downstairs. Belinda just walked into our bedroom, the master bedroom upstairs, for her shutdown time.
We are back from our morning activities on this, our first day of our 25th anniversary vacation together. We had a “stuff our tummies” breakfast at Tia’s Cafe, did the social media thing by uploading pictures to share, cruised around the docks, found our whale tour guide building for tomorrow, and completed some grocery shopping at a local supermarket.
I am drinking an iced coffee and eating washed M&M peanuts as I write. The M&M’s are washed because they spilled all over the floor at the store. I got them from...
a dispenser thing, but the bag closed as they started to pour out, so more than half dropped to the floor in a colorful rainbow shower, clacking everywhere they dropped and getting the attention of everyone nearby…and probably some others who were not nearby.
A burly millennial with short red hair came over to sweep them up, and A and B insisted we put them in a bag and buy them. When we saw how expensive they were (even with Canadian money), I decided to wash them and eat them. As I look in the white bowl, I think of an Easter art project thrown together by a kindergartner, one that has gone horribly wrong, but it doesn’t stop me from eating them and then wiping my fingers after each bite.
On to golf…
Let’s get those two birdies and one eagle in here officially. I also earned one extra birdie on Sunday before we came here.
Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #1-Birdie #31 of 2016
This birdie helped me win the first hole, because Bruce earned his par. Neither one of us got the bonus for the long drive, and we decided to play from the blues for this round. Both drives went left, but mine went a bit farther. My ball was in the rough left of the fairway, but right of the second hill on #3. I used my utility club to go for the green, but I had a long way to go. My ball took off and soared past the left side of the big cottonwood where it disappeared, but it looked like it had made it to the right side of the valley up there that is just before the green.
After walking up there, I spied my ball just off the green on the front right side. The hole was cut on the front left side of the green, so I only had to putt my ball across that tier to get it close. My ball rolled just above the hole and stopped on the far side just a foot away, so it was easy to tap in for this birdie. I earned the $10,000.00 for this first hole.
Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #14-Eagle #2 of 2016!
At this point in the game, Bruce was winning most of the money, and therefore, the game as well. I had $370,000.00 and Bruce had $650,000.00. If the bonuses had pushed like Bruce thought they might have been, I would have also earned the bonuses for #10 and #12 which totaled another $170,000.00, but we agreed that they would not push.
My drive from the blues ended up on the fairway on the left side, and it was pretty far, but it was a stretch to hope that I could get it on the green from there, so I was happy to get it as close as I did. I utilized my trusty utility club again to give it a shot, anyway. My ball headed over the hill and straight for the green. I knew the hole was in the primo position, and I secretly wished it had made it and gone all they way down into the bowl and into the hole, but it hadn’t.
It was short of the green, but it was in a super spot for a straight in chip, so I grabbed my sand wedge and clipped it crisply off the grass. My ball hopped up, landed just off the green, rolled slowly into the bowl, just like it’s supposed to, and then it continued to roll, getting closer and closer and closer until it got so close I thought it might actually go in, and then it tapped the flagstick and it did go in! Hooray! Bruce couldn’t see it, but he knew what had happened from my reaction. With the bonus and with the money pushed from #13, I had just taken the lead with $370,000.00 more.
It didn’t last. Bruce won the next three holes in a row, and those holes put him out of reach, but I did win the last hole with one more birdie.
Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #18-Birdie #32 of 2016
I chose the fairway on #18, and I hit it. It was a loose, relaxed swing that translated into a slow draw, and my ball was on the fairway and close to 160 yards out, enough to win the final bonus. I debated the 6-iron vs. the 7-iron, and the 6 won. Bruce was there helping me like he was my caddy, and I wanted to make sure I got it over the trees. I chose to fly my ball over the left side of the cottonwoods on the right side, and the flag was also on the right side of the green. My ball did fly over the trees and landed on the green, but well behind the hole and more toward the back. My putt was similar to the eagle putt I made earlier, but I couldn’t keep it high enough, and it slipped by on the right side of the hole, stopping six to seven feet away. I made sure to put enough speed on the comeback putt, and it went right in. With the bonus and the win, I earned the last $300,000.00.
I earned this last birdie when playing alone before we came here for our vacation. I chose not to bring my clubs on this trip for a couple of reasons, which is out of character.
First, I didn’t see a golf course near where we staying that was a decent one. Ack! I’ve become a golf snob. In my defense, the closest one is part of an RV park that also has a frisbee golf course and the next closest is only nine holes, and its only website is on Facebook. If I am going to pay to play and pay to lug my clubs through an airport, I want it to be more, more than an RV park and more than the same nine holes played twice. I am a golf snob.
Anyway, Bruce was still in Denver for Rei who had to have his collapsed lung repaired again with surgery, and C.J. was still recovering from his surgery, so I got my golf fix alone the day before we traveled. It was a pretty miserable round. I noticed playing from the blues produces more bogeys, so it’s a tad more frustrating than I am used to. This birdie helped with my frustration, but it wasn’t pretty.
Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #18-Birdie #33 of 2016
I played the back nine first, because a rush of people showed up when I was ready to head out, so this was my ninth hole. I wasn’t playing well; my drives, typically a strength for my game, were lacking, and it was a poor swing here, too.
My ball popped up enough to lose distance. It took me a while to find it, but eventually it showed up. It was in the taller grass between the cart path and hole #3, and it was a long way from home. I used my turf buster club to go for the green. It was true that my drive lost distance, but I still had a legitimate shot at reaching the green. Swinging down the slope, my ball squirted out to the right of my intended line, but it still flew over the cottonwoods and hit the pine tree that is on the front right side of the green, bouncing my ball back and to the right a bit. With a hideous jab at the ball with my 5-iron, my ball managed to go under the tree and tumble out onto the green. The putt was the opposite of the hideous jab, more like a polished, pure stroke that combined the correct speed with the necessary line to have my ball curve confidently into the hole from 20 feet away.
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