An Anniversary, a Birthday, and a Disadvantage

Written on 6-1-18.

     It’s my parents’ 55th anniversary today.  Five years ago, we had a huge celebration for their 50th, but it feels like it was ten years ago.  I’ve texted them to wish them well, and I hope to FaceTime with them at some point, too.

     Bruce, C.J., and I played our first round together with all three of us having now paid for our memberships.  Bruce and C.J. had played a few times before I had paid for mine.  It was another fun round, and it was wonderful weather, too, sunny and somewhere in the 80’s.  Ah, summer has arrived.

     We agreed to give the new “Battle for the Box” game a shot with all of us since Bruce and I had “perfected” it the last time we tried it.  It was a close match…between Bruce and C.J.  I managed only eight points for the entire round.  
     Bruce had 17 points after the first nine, so C.J. and I had a lot of work to do to try and catch him on the back.  C.J. was slowly creeping closer and closer to Bruce’s score, but when he failed to keep...

the box on hole #16, the match was over.  The final scores were Pat: 8, C.J.: 22, and Bruce: 27.  

     We all agreed that we liked the game and that we would like to play it again sometime.  It’s different.  I know that if I had made my putt for par on hole #13, I would have been right back in the mix, but because I missed it, I felt like I was under water.  It is very difficult to get the box back when you have lost it.  Often, I would make a par, but so would someone else, so it would go to earlier scores, and if I had lost those, no box for me.  Our final stroke play scores were Bruce: 77, Pat, 87, and C.J.: 89.  I had a lousy front nine, but I turned it around and scored better on the back. My back nine score was a 39, just five over.

Written on 6-7-18.

     Tomorrow is Becca’s 22nd birthday!  She’d be happy to know I am typing her name in my golf journal again.  This morning, she helped Belinda clean up the area below our retaining wall, because it’s overly crowded with Chamisa bushes.  They found the skeleton of something, and we are wondering if it was a bat or a frog when it was alive.  It’s hard to tell.  

     I have had two First Tee sessions so far this summer, and they were both for a Par group.  The first was a lesson that focused mainly on meeting and greeting (perfect for our first day together), and the second was something new called supervised practice sessions.  Both went very well, and I am excited to work with this group of seven young golfers, all with great attitudes.  Because they are in the Par group, I have worked with them before, so we have a history.  A few still need to catch up and certify from the PLAYer group, but that should be done by next week.  Tomorrow, I work with the Special Olympics kids again, and I am really looking forward to working with them again, too.  

     After yesterday’s practice session, Bruce, C.J., and I played eighteen holes.  Later that afternoon, I gave blood, so it was a relief to have today off to get some stuff done and recover a bit.  Tomorrow, Bruce and I are going to go play again after the session is over.

     Not too much to write about as far as golf is concerned.  I’ve lost the last few times we’ve played, so I am due for a win.  Bruce won the Skins game during the playoff hole I mentioned above, C.J. beat me by four strokes (with his pops and moving up to the reds sometimes) in stroke play for nine holes after the first session with the Par kids, and I lost yesterday to both Bruce and C.J. when we dusted off the Reverse Handicap Game.  Bruce shot a 73, and skunked us both on the back nine by taking all of the points!

     I am at a greater disadvantage now when playing with Bruce and C.J., but that is fine.  I am not complaining at all.  I want the tough competition, because I know that makes me better.  To make things fair, we all agreed that C.J. can either move up to the red tees on some holes or take a pop.  For example, he moves up on holes #3 and #5.  On #13, #14, and #15, he takes pops.  It all works out.  This makes him even tougher to beat.  Yesterday, he earned a well-deserved par on #14, so that was a net birdie.  Getting a birdie on that hole is like getting an eagle, so it is highly unlikely to beat him on that hole if he manages to get a par.  And, as far as Bruce goes, I have always been at a disadvantage when playing against him, especially when he shoots a 73.