Catching Up With Birdies at Abiquiu

Also written on 9-12-17 at the Abiquiu Inn.

Aztec Municipal Golf Course-New Hole #5-Birdie #16 of 2017

     I didn't get any birdies in that round, but I managed one when I played alone on Wednesday, the third of my four rounds last week.  

     I typically aim for the left side of this fairway to avoid the out of bounds.  Recently, I hit one over the fence and had to scream, “FORE!  FORE!  FORE!” because I saw people visiting at the house that sits just on the other side of the fence there.  Thankfully, I did not hit anyone.  

     For this tee shot, though, I actually aimed for the left center of the fairway, and it actually landed on the fairway near where I was aiming.  I recognized that if I am off by just ten or fifteen yards, I am in the trees and scrambling for a par, or even a bogey.  

     With a tee shot in the fairway, however, I could confidently go for the green with my utility club, so I did.  I missed left, and my ball stopped in the tall grass that's even with the hole, which was cut in the middle near the bottom of the slope of the hill there.  I swished out my ball with my sand wedge a bit too far, so I ended up with a downhill putt of around 14 feet.  It did not move much, but I still felt fortunate enough to find the correct line to get it to go into the hole.

Aztec Municipal Golf Course-New Hole #12-Birdie #17 of 2017

     C.J. joined me once more for my fourth and final round of my marathon week of golf.  He wanted to play match play for the first nine holes, so this birdie helped me go two up after three holes.  It ended up being another tough day for C.J.

     I had a boomer of a drive that drew and flew over the left side of the trees.  My ball stopped in the fairway just a short pitch away from the green and in line with the flag.  I saw Donna’s husband playing by himself on hole #11, so we said hello before I took my second shot.  It was a simple...

Back in Abiquiu

Written on 9-12-17.

     I am back at the Abiquiu Inn, but my view is not as great as it has been during other stays.  I’m sitting on the front porch of rooms 10 and 11 (I’m in 10), and the grill of our truck is smiling at me from right here in its parking space.  A construction trailer is across the road and to my left.  Just outside of the trailer, a porta-potty sits, but it’s getting dark, so I can barely see it anymore.    

     I will be here (in this area) for three days for this CORE visit.  I’ll spend the first two nights here and my final night at the Ojo Resort.  It just worked out that way.  The Abiquiu Inn only had these two nights available, and I got the final room available on Thursday night at Ojo.  Phew.  

     Belinda is watching PV host Durango for volleyball tonight.  That would be a fun match to watch, but at least she is updating me occasionally.  It’s only 7:48, but I am suddenly feeling tuckered out.  I did a lot of reading about the program called Math Solutions tonight, and I also watched the majority of the clips on the included DVD.

     In golf, I have three birdies to catch up on, and when I last wrote, I said I would recount the GIR game I played with C.J.  Here I go.  

     First, I was discouraged by my play during those four days in a row, especially on the front nine, but when I look at the scorecards, I see I improved as the week went by.  I started with a 48 and then a 50 on the front nine.  On the second day, though, I shot a 46 and a 44.  With handicap adjustments, due to some blow-up holes, it sounds even better, of course.  On the second day, with those adjustments, I shot a 44 and a 43.

     It was similar with my play on the back nine.  I played it three times, because I played the front nine one last time on the second to last day, but only six of those holes due to the aeration and the sanding of the greens.  They closed #6, #7, and #8 that day.  On the back, I shot a 42, a 41, and a final 38, so once again I improved on both the front and the back nines as the week went by.      
     I played decently when C.J. and I faced off with the GIR game.  I hit three greens when we played the front nine the first time, and then I hit four on the second go-around.  C.J. struggled after his great play from the round before, so the score at the end of this game was 55 to 17.  He did get a sweet birdie on hole #4, though, for eight points.  

     This is how we scored it.  A GIR was worth 5 points, but only if two putts were used.  Using only one putt was worth seven points.  Using three putts was worth only three points, but we thought it would be better next time to get only two (it should be more punishing to triple-putt, we thought).  If a player got up and down for a par, it was worth three points.  Winning a hole was worth one point, too.  

     I was working hard to get 5 greens per nine, but it didn’t work out.  At least I got the win this time.

The Bad, the Ugly, and the Good

Written on 9-5-17.

     It’s nearly sunset as I sit out on Sanctuary, our big deck on the east side of our home.  The sky today has been hazy, like there’s a forest fire, but it’s hundreds of miles away and mostly contained.  I don’t really know if there is a forest fire, but that’s what makes the most sense to me.  Today, while playing golf with C.J., it seemed like we were playing at a course near an ocean or a large lake due to all of the haziness.  It looked like extra humidity.

     Belinda is helping her mother wash windows, so I’m all alone.  I’ve got my new Sony speaker, the one I bought for trainings, playing music from Pandora.  I wanted one that could fill a large library with sound just in case the speakers at whatever school I was at were not working.  It’s my Plan B speaker, and it sounds great.

     It’s time for a scorecard review.  I played today and yesterday, and I’ve got one other round from four days ago, too.  I have no work this week, and I really want to take advantage of my membership, so the goal is to play every day this week, except Friday when Belinda and I go to Albuquerque for my CORE staff meeting on Saturday morning.  

     I’ll start with four days ago and work my way up to today.  Bruce, C.J., and I were reunited for a round at Hidden Valley.  I suggested Stableford, and...

Decidedly Dominating Day

Written on 8-27-17.

     I am sitting up straight and tall on my new computer room chair at my new computer room desk, and it’s marvelous.  This desk has a dark redwood color, and it even matches the colors of the frames on Belinda’s Newsweek tribute displays.  We didn’t plan that, but it worked out.  This desk is the same size as the dreary white plastic card table we had in here, but it looks oh so much more professional and just…better.  It’s even called a writing desk, and that’s perfectly appropriate, especially considering that I am typing away on my keyboard "write" now.  Belinda is taking her mid-afternoon nap out on our couch in our living room/“refuge,” and it’s a lazy Sunday afternoon here at the Swope’s.  

     That amazing golf continued after the Solheim Cup was over last weekend.  I also watched the end of the USGA Championship between Doug Ghim and Doc Redman at the Riviera Country Club.  Down two holes, Doc came back to win with a long eagle putt on #17, a birdie on #18, and a clutch tee shot to the front of the green on the first playoff hole on #10.  Wow!  Impressive.  My takeaway is that the match is never over until it’s over, and it was proven with Lexi, Ann, Doug, and Doc on that day.  Incredible comebacks and superior golf!

     Speaking of superior golf, Bruce had a dominating day at Pinon Hills this past Thursday when we managed to get Eric to come join us for at least the first nine holes.

     Eric and I took on Bruce and C.J. in best ball match play, of course.  It was over in...