Abilene, Ping Pong, Mother's Day, and A Par Save Over the Trees

Written on 5-14-17.

     Wow!  It’s almost halfway through May already?  That went by way too fast.  Belinda and I are heading back home after a weekend in Ablilene, Texas, for Erica’s college graduation. On Friday night, we were treated to a private tour of the campus with Erica, and that was a bonus we did not expect.  The house we stayed in was incredible!  It had a pool, a hot tub, an outdoor basketball court, three patios, one with three heat lamps, a HUGE kitchen, a pool table (in the family room) and a ping pong table (in the garage, four bedrooms, a family room, a living room, a large dining area, a foyer, and some functional workout equipment.  

     Another unexpected highlight for me was playing ping pong with Guy last night.  We just volleyed, and we didn’t “really” keep score at all, except for corner shots that knicked off of the edges.  I won that impromptu game 9 to 8 when it was all over.  That’s how we decided to end it, eventually, or we could have easily played on and on and on into the morning.  We begrudgingly and happily stopped at around 11:30.  When it finally ended with my last shot off the edge, we spontaneously hugged, because it was so much fun!  I went to bed all sweaty from playing silly ping pong.  I started playing in my Crocs, but my feet got so sweaty, I was beginning to slip out of them sometimes, so I chose to go barefoot.  

     Yet another highlight, and there were many, was...
today’s Mother’s Day breakfast.  Thanks to Erica’s graduation weekend, we all got to be together with our mom this morning before B and I left before everyone else.  The “kids” and Guy made breakfast for everyone.  It was the topper to a fun and fabulous weekend in Abilene.  

     Today, we are one week away from leaving for New Zealand!  We will drive to Lakewood this coming Sunday.  Wow!  I have my last week of work this week, and so does Belinda.  I still need to call Joe to see if he wouldn’t mind taking us to the airport.  I think I will text him right now.  Hold, please.  There.  Done.  He said he would be able to do it, and he offered to pick us up when we return, too.

     This new job has been a blessing.  Not only do I enjoy the work, but it’s been lucrative enough of us to be able to afford to go to New Zealand.  Thank you again, Laura, for letting me know about it.  And, thank you, Rocio, for hiring me.  It’s been a really perfect gig for me.

On to golf…

     When C.J. and I played just before we left, he chose to have us take on the Bogey Man, the first time with the new layout.  We set the goal at 79, the same score I shot the last time I played when I got my eagle and my two birdies.  A 79 would beat him, an 80 would tie, and anything higher would give us a loss.  

It was a lousy start.  Thankfully, C.J. kept us in the game with his three bogeys.  I started out with a snowman, a double, and a bogey.  I didn’t really get things going until hole #6 where I hit my first green in regulation.  On #7, I got up and down from behind the green for my first par.  On #8, I earned another par, despite my skulling my second shot across the green and into the ditch.  I finished with one more apron #9, so we ended up +4.

     On the back, I continued to keep my better play going.  I had a sweet chip on #11 to get a par, and I made a cool 12-footer for par on #12, getting up and down from a tough downhill lie from the left side of the green.

     I ended up with an interesting par on #13.  My “go for the green” tee shot smacked near the very top of one of the taller trees on this side of the ditch, causing it to shoot left and down to the other side of the ditch, where it settled right in the fairway, just a pitching wedge approach away.  I hit the green way over on the right side, but the flag was on the far left, so I had to putt all the way across the green to get that par. 

     I almost got up and down for another par on the tough #14, but my putt missed just left.  On #15, I earned another crazy par after going for the green again.  My drive came out too low, so it accosted the big cottonwood on this side of the pond.  Thankfully, it fell straight down and stopped in a decent spot left of the tree with a decent view of the green.  I could even see the flag just behind the poplar trees that guard the green from people who try to drive the green, like Bruce usually did.  

     This was the best shot of the round, and up there with one of the best shots…ever.  Despite the crusty lie, the ball below my feet, the water, and the tall trees close to the green, I clipped my ball neatly with my 8-iron, launching it high into the air and headed for the green and the flag.  I surprised myself so much with this fantastic result that I inadvertently said, “Good job, Pat!”

     It did end up on the green, and it was close enough that I had a legitimate chance for a birdie, but my first putt stopped short a foot, so I settled for a par, but a par with one of my best approaches, considering what I was facing.

     I loused up hole #16, but C.J. picked up the slack again and got a bogey.  The pin placements were ridiculously tough on some of the holes, including hole #17, where it was on the back left side on a small slope.  I got a bogey there, even though I hit the middle of the green.  We were +8 at that point, so we just needed a bogey on the final hole, but I managed one more par, so we really beat the Bogey Man by two strokes this time.  Who’s laughing now, Bogey Man?  Take that.  

     Belinda and I are nearly home now.  We are just seven miles from the Apache, but it’s been a long day.  We started at what would have been 9:00 our time, and it’s now 7:16.  That means we will be on the road for nearly eleven hours today.  Geesh!  That would not be so bad, really, if I did not have to get back in the car tomorrow for my final business trip.  I can do it, though!  I’ve got stamina.

Until next time…