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...

toe up, toe up pitch shot with my approach wedge, and my ball actually hit the flagstick!  Sadly, my ball did not go in, though.  Instead, it popped out to the right of the flag, less than a foot away.  Finishing up was a simple task.

Aztec Municipal Golf Course-New Hole #18-Birdie #18 of 2017

     When we got to hole #18, C.J. had surged back to just one down after being three down through hole #14.  I helped by having some below average play on the three previous holes, including a blow-up hole with a hooked tee shot on #16.  

     I teed off three times on this hole.  My first drive was questionable, because it headed over the cottonwoods to a spot that might have been out of bounds.  I could not tell if it had made it, and usually I have a decent feel for whether or not I made the distance, but not this time.  The line was reassuring, though, because it was just over the cottonwoods and not way out to the right.  To be smart, I teed up a provisional.  That one, however, flew much farther out to the right than my first, so I was even more confident that that one had not made it.  So, I teed up one more.  That one, thankfully, went right up the right side of the fairway.

     When I got up to the cart path, I found my first ball in some water, but it had made it.  Phew.  I took my free drop, and my 9-iron got the call, because I was pretty close after cutting the corner like that.  My ball hit the green, but it had some right to left action, so it rolled off the front.  C.J. chipped his fourth shot to a few feet out to the right of the hole, so the pressure was on, especially since he gets a pop on this hole.  My approach wedge was the right club for my chip shot, and my ball stopped just below the hole, close enough for C.J. to let me finish first.  He missed his par putt low, so I won two up with no holes left to play.  I had managed to hang on for the win this time.

     For that nine, I had hit four greens in regulation, and I shot a 41, and that was with that disaster hole on #16, too.  I really wanted to get five greens in regulation before the marathon was over, and I managed to do so with the last trip around the back nine.  

     C.J. chose to pick up on the last hole.  He was over it.  He was not swinging well, and he wanted me to know he was going to banish his clubs and take a total break from golf the next week.  I know how that feels.