33rd Excerpt From My Golf Diary!

     I am behind with my writing, so I rely on these excerpts when I haven't been keeping up.  In this excerpt, I lose to Eric and Rocky at Civitan in a skins game, but I am proud of the way I followed my routine each time I had putts for par.  Rocky no longer plays golf, and their daughter, Courtney, is now a junior in high school, and she has a sister, Kacy, who is a freshman.  They are both awesome volleyball players, and Courtney already has a scholarship to go play at what used to be called Mesa, the school my brother played college basketball.  Eric still plays at Civitan, more often than I do, and that's because it's a way for him to spend time with his mom, Dorrie, and to give her a break from Craig, who continues to struggle with the beginnings of dementia.  Once again, the more things change, the more some things stay the same.  I am at the very beginning of my birdie count with only sixteen or eighteen birdies.  Now, some 16 years later, I have 460 birdies and 24 eagles.  Still no aces, though. 

Written on 3-5-02.

     I just caught up on some of my earlier writing.  I enjoy reading and keeping this diary.  It lifts my spirits to read it sometimes.  Anyway, I have another birdie to write about. I also still need to share some of my opinion on Tiger’s new book, but it is getting late and I don’t think I will get to it this time.  

Civitan-Hole 2

     I played with Rocky and Eric at Civitan the day of Courtney’s birthday (Kelly and Rocky’s daughter).  Eric joined us at Civitan after the party.  We played skins and this was the only skin I won that day.  Bummer!  The wind was very strong.  I would normally take an 8-iron or a 9-iron depending on the hole location, but I used my 7-iron.  I hit one of my best punch shots right into the wind.  It floated and rode the air and settled right into the middle of the green.  The hole location was near the front on the right side.  I had about a fifteen or twenty foot putt.  I remember aiming at the shadow on the side of the cup.  I wasn’t particularly sure which way it would break when I went to putt it, but I must have intuitively guessed correctly.  It went right on in.  Eric and I were the only two to make birdies that day.  
     My full swing was terrible on the front nine.  It was mostly the Rocky and Eric show on the front.  On the back, though, I felt much more confident.  Eric won most of the skins that day.  We pretended that starting from hole #1, each hole was worth $10,000.00 more, starting with $10,000.00 on the first hole.  Hole #9 was worth $100,000.00!  On the last four holes I went par, par, par, bogey.  We played three extra playoff holes, and nobody could win the last skin.  We ended up splitting the last $250,000.00.  Eric won over $600,000.00.  Rocky came in second and I came in last.  Bummer again!  
     This was one of those days when I felt good even after losing, though.  I could have given away any one of those last holes, but I played well enough to keep pushing the skin to the next hole.  I only regret not making three putts for par that would have put me past Rocky in earnings.  I don’t regret my routine, though.  Line it up, take your best shot and accept the results. I did that on every putt for par that would have won the skin for me.  I did that on hole #9, #1, #2, and the final hole #3.  All of those had putts for par that would have won the skin for me.  I can live with knowing I followed my routine, and that I did the best that I can do.  Okay, I am going to bed.  I have to administer the CTB Test in my class tomorrow.  Until next time! Speaking of next time, I need to figure out my birdie count for this year.  I am up to either sixteen or eighteen. I will find out next time.