I shot another 95 on our home course today, our home course. Good grief! I just entered all of my recent scores online, though, and it feels good to just own them. I am not proud of them, but they are mine. In the past two rounds with C.J., I did earn two birdies, one today and one the time before.
Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #8-Birdie #43 of 2016
C.J. and I were competing in match play, and even though we extended the match two extra holes, I still lost on hole #9, so we called it quits.
I definitely won this hole, though. I attempted to drive the green, and darned if I didn’t almost do it. My ball was so close to the green, just a few yards away, that I chose to putt it up onto the green to get it close to the hole. My ball rolled and stopped less than three feet away on its left side. The hole was cut on the lower tier this time. I made that putt to narrow the gap with C.J., but it would sadly not be enough on this day.
Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #13-Birdie #44 of 2016
Today, we chose to play the G.I.R. game. Then we played some of the worst golf we have seen at the Aztec Municipal Golf Course since they switched it over to 18 holes. My consistency has disappeared, and I’ve had some major blow-up holes recently, many coming in today’s round. My game is going south like the geese. Hopefully, this is only temporary.
For this hole, I received a temporary break from my uncharacteristic bad play. My drive headed for...
the bailout area on the right side of the green, and it ended up a foot off of the cart path on hole #8. I chose not to take a drop, and I used my sand wedge to get my ball to go high over the hill that protects the green from over there. My ball flew just over the hill, and I thought it would stay not only close to the hole, but certainly on the green. It rolled and rolled, however, and stopped just a foot from the fringe on the far left side. It was near some brown spots where the mower may have cut too deep. My putt was long, and I predicted three feet of break to the right.
I found an aiming spot on that line, and it worked out so well. My ball rolled and turned right and fell into the hole, giving me three points. C.J. and I both played so poorly on the front nine that we had only earned four points each, so on this hole alone I nearly matched our scores for the entire front nine. These three points ended up being the difference in our game, and I ended up winning 11 to 8.
There. I am all caught up with my birdies. I now need to get back to the official count again. It would feel marvelous to get that done, a real accomplishment.
Until next time…
Written on 10-19-16.
Bruce, C.J., and I played together today, a rare treat. Bruce played only nine holes, but C.J. and I got in all 18. Bruce has been working diligently on getting Rei’s car ready. He plans to bring it to him in Fort Collins next week. C.J. went to Texas for a funeral this past weekend, so I was on my own. The weather was so great that I played on Saturday and Sunday, the same weekend as the Club Championship.
Sadly, I could not play in the Club Championship, but it’s not without a legitimate reason. With my new job through NMSU, I now have monthly meetings on certain Saturdays, and my first one just happened to land on this past Saturday, so no tournament for me. We also had visitors this past weekend. Joe and Tammy came through on Friday night for dinner, a walk through our neighborhood, and a trip to the Vanilla Moose, of course. They left just before my Zoom meeting, though, after a yummy breakfast with eggs, fresh fruit, bacon, and waffles.
After the meeting was over, I chose to go play by myself. Richard greeted me, and he said the groups were just starting to come in. Before I teed off, I decided to find out how my score would compare to the rest of the field. I saw Randy make his approach onto #18 from #3’s fairway before I teed off, and he was not happy. He cursed and slammed his club down on his golf cart.
I played well, though. I earned a birdie right off the bat, and despite my struggles on the front, I was relieved and happy to see I could still play some decent golf. Remember, my golf game was heading the way of the geese in my most recent rounds. This round kept my game closer to what it should be.
Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #1-Birdie #45 of 2016
After Randy finished his rant and drove away, and after I felt I had sufficiently warmed up (more than usual since I was going to do my best to score well and compare my score to the others in the tournament), I blasted a tee shot up to the right side of the cottonwood. I had a clear view of the flag that was on the bottom right side, but I did not transfer my weight well enough and only scuffed my ball up to a spot just even with the front of the two hills. My approach wedge pitch was the best shot of this birdie. It was pulled, but only a tad, and my ball stopped just three feet to the left of the hole. The putt was mostly straight. What a fantastic start to my pretend championship round!
The front nine was frustrating after that. I hit four greens in regulation, but I triple-putted three of them. I also made some clutch putts…but they were putts for double bogeys. Two of those putts came on holes #3 and #4, and they were really difficult, long putts, but I made them! I ended up with a 46, but then I got a fresh start on the back.
Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #10-Birdie #46 of 2016
It’s fun to start a new nine holes with a birdie, and I was able to do it twice in this round. My 8-iron was the perfect choice for this hole, and my ball mark and my ball were three feet away from the hole on the back left side. The putt was from left to right, and I aimed a full cup to get it to break enough to go in.
I had an audience, too. Some guys were just sitting in their carts between this green and the teeing ground on #11. They were there for a long time, too, because I remember hearing them cussing to each other when I was playing hole #8. As I walked over to #11, I teased them about looking stressed out, and they laughed, but I felt I was invading their little party there, so I rushed to the teeing ground and continued on.
I managed to par the next two holes, and I made sure to text C.J. later that I had made it through the sisters/witches at one under. Then I got another birdie!
Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #13-Birdie #47 of 2016
Yes, I attempted to drive it; I always do now. It worked well, too. My ball ended up just off the green on the front right side. The pin was on the front left side, so I only had to putt it across the green to get it as close as I could. My ball curled around the hole as it got closer, and it settled behind it with only a couple of feet left to finish off this birdie. I had earned three birdies in this round after this hole, and I was two under after the first three holes on the back. I cannot lie, though. I shouldn’t have done it, but I thought about being even for the back nine, but it wasn’t meant to be, and it turned out that the next hole made the difference between being even or being over par. I got a double on #14! Ugh!
My putt from just off the green to get it close for my par rolled past the hole and down into the bowl. From there, I used up three more putts to get a double on the easiest hole on the course. Curse this wicked game! Thankfully, I earned another birdie, however, to keep me from getting overly upset. Not that golf ever gets me too upset.
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