Golf Epiphanies

     I have a few recordings on my iPhone 5c from my last round of golf, some epiphanies I had.  I need to get those in here, and I also earned one more birdie during that same round.

Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #1-Birdie #41 of 2016

     I played by myself on Thursday.  I let Bruce and C.J. know I was heading out, but they didn’t reply, so I went on my own anyway.  This birdie started the round with a bang, but as it continued it fizzled.  

     My drive was shorter than usual, but I did it hit the fairway to the right of the tree.  I pulled my 5-iron for the next shot, but only to help keep it low and not for the distance.  I aimed up the right side, but my club dug into the ground before my ball causing it to only skitter forward past the tree another 30 yards, but I was still on the fairway.  The flag was on the right side, and I used my 9-iron next, but I pulled it and I wasn’t even sure if had made the green.  My ball bounced up on top of the hill on the left side and disappeared.  I was pleasantly surprised to find it on the green, but I had a long (forty to fifty feet) and difficult putt that needed to go up the ridge.  The green was still sandy, and I picked a brown spot where a ball mark had once been.  When my ball curved to the left and fell in the hole, I made an expletive.  I said, “Sh*%.”

     It just came out because...

Our Adventurous Guzman Tournament

     What follows is how the rest of the holes played out for the tournament...

Hole #11-My drive ended up past the bunker and just a pitch away, but it was off the fairway.  Amazingly, I was the only one to get my ball on the green.  After four attempts, we left with another par.  I went last, and my ball tracked toward the hole, but it stopped short.  Still three under.

Hole #12-My 7-iron (not the 6-iron this time because the hole was closer and the tee markers were up) got us on the back left side of the green.  Unfortunately, the hole was on the opposite corner.  It was tricky to get a putt even close, so we were happy to get a par here.  Three under.

Hole #13-Despite a drive to the left side of the green, we were unable to get a birdie.  Each putt from off the green, except Mike’s, just kept rolling past the hole.  Mike’s was short, but it was so short that it ended up farther than the others and left us with a downhill putt.  We felt...

No More Astrisks, Please

     I went on to win holes #16 and #17, too!  I got the closest to the pin bonus on #16, but we all tied with pars, so the money was pushed to #17 where I got the only par on that hole with a nifty up and down from the left side of the green to a back right pin position.  With the bonus and those two holes, I won another $430,000.00, but would it be enough to win?  

     The next hole would decide it all, but I asked Bruce not to tell me where we stood.  Here’s where we stood, though, now that it’s over.  Bruce had $930,000.00, and I had $940,000.00.  He hit the fairway.  He got a par.  I missed the fairway.  I got stuck under a tree.  Then I knocked my ball farther under the tree.  I ended with a snowman!  Ugh!  If I had gotten a double bogey, I would have shot even par for the back nine, but it wasn’t meant to be.  Instead, I shot a 36, adjusted to an even par 35 for my handicap.  That’s twice I’ve shot even par for nine holes with an asterisk.  For once, I’d like to shoot even par with no asterisks.  

     That’s it for all of the birdies.  It was a birdie bonanza for me, but we had a birdie bonanza ourselves when we played in the tournament on Friday.  It was the Guzman Energy Tournament, and The First Tee was invited to have a team play for free; it even included a free lunch and four free drink tickets for every player.  Very generous.  

     Bruce almost did not play due to Rei having another collapsed lung, but he changed his mind when he heard the surgery went really well and Rei was feeling better than ever.  Bruce is always a first choice, but I was doing my best to get a team that was all First Tee.  When I heard that Pat and Patrick Otero and Tom could not play, I asked Bruce immediately.

It was a dream team, in my opinion.  We had Mike Goen, C.J., Bruce, and me.  Four of the most easygoing, skilled golfers I know.  This is a quick breakdown of how we got our score of twelve under with no mulligans.

Hole #6-Mike’s tee shot was just short of the green, and we got up and in from there with two putts.  Even.

Hole #7-Bruce’s drive was past the tree and on the fairway, and C.J. followed up with a second shot that was on the fairway around 100 yards.  I finished the hole with an approach to three feet directly in front of the hole, and they let me finish the putt.  One under.

Hole #8-Mike’s tee shot put us in the shade and 113 yards away from the hole that was on the middle tier.  Mike, Bruce, and I all got our balls on the green and on the correct tier, but Bruce was closest, and he finished with a breaking downhill putt from left to right.  Two under.

Hole #9-Bruce’s and my drive ended up next to each other on the fairway past the corner despite my ball hitting the trees on the corner.  We chose mine, but only because it was not as blocked by the other trees.  C.J. put us a pitch away from the green, but we almost chose Bruce’s ball that was in the front right bunker.  My pitch got us closest, just to the left of the hole.  I attempted to finish the birdie, but my ball went over the edge on the bottom side.  Thankfully, C.J. stepped up and did it the right way.  Three under.

AMGC @ HV Closing? & The "Official" Five Birdies

Written on 8-29-16.

     Well, the tournament was a blast!  It was one of the best ever, and it might also be the last ever at Hidden Valley.  I’ve been informed that the golf course is officially closing again, and I am feeling confident (and sad) that it will really shut down for good this time.

     I have my first fall session for The First Tee tomorrow.  Only a handful have signed up, so I am curious to see what the final number will be.  Belinda and I have gone back and forth wondering if I should just can the whole thing this time for a number of reasons, two of those reasons being that the numbers are low and the golf course is likely to close.  I could still choose to cancel once I see how many show up tomorrow.  That way I will feel better knowing I gave it my best shot for any parents who might have waited to sign up on the first day.  It would be weird to have so few participate, so it’s a tough decision for me.

     Let’s get those five birdies in here officially.

Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #1-Birdie #36 of 2016

     We chose the escalating skins game for this round.  My drive was long enough to be even with the cottonwood, and it was on the right side.  The flagstick was visible on the right side of the green, and I chose my 8-iron to go for it.  I pulled that approach a bit, so my ball ended up rolling and stopping on the right side of the left hill, and the remaining pitch was funky because my ball was so far below my feet.  I bent my knees and took a few practice swishes before I took my shot while C.J. watched and waited.  My ball came out low, bounced on the lower tier, steadied itself and rolled up onto the higher tier where the hole was, and I made the putt from there.  I won that hole and earned the first bonus of the round, the longest drive on the fairway for a total of $20,000.00.

     Before I write about this next birdie, I must record my amazing par on hole #3.  The tees have been way back on this hole for many rounds now, so it’s...