Six Birdies!

Written on 8-3-18.

     It’s a Friday afternoon, and Danielle left a couple of hours ago after a surprise visit.  It was wonderful to see her, of course, but it tugs at our heartstrings.  We joke that we (Belinda and I) are the “needy girlfriend.”  

     Do you need to go?  You can’t talk anymore?  Oh, okay.  Can you call us later?  Maybe?  Oh, okay.  Love you.  Bye.  Are you only staying until 2:00.  Oh, okay.  Can I get you anything while you’re here?  Lunch?  A coffee?  Do your laundry maybe?  Oh, okay.  Is it time for you to go already?  Oh, okay.  Thank you for coming.  Okay.  Bye.  Love you.

     Truthfully and non-sarcastically, we couldn’t be more proud.  While she was here, Eric showed her a couple of trees that he wants cut down at Craig and Dorrie’s.  Then she saw his chainsaw and knew the number.  Then she started it with some very strong, super fast, and incredibly efficient pulls of the cord.  It was something to behold.  She’s obviously more of an expert with chainsaws now.  

Also, she will be living with us starting mid-October when she’s done in Pagosa Springs.  The “needy girlfriend” will have plenty of time to be with Danielle then.  Or, more than likely, it will be ultimately up to Danielle.

On to golf…

     I have six, yes six, birdies to recount.  I earned two when...

I played alone earlier this week.  Those occurred when I tried out the strokes gained scoring feature on my new app called 18Birdies.  I earned four more in one round yesterday when our regular threesome got together to play at Hidden Valley.  I’m going to get right into it, because I need to leave soon to go teach the full swing to some young Catholic adults at the Pinon Hills driving range.

Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #5-Birdie #23 of 2018             

     As I had just written, I was trying out the new app, 18Birdies, especially because it has a strokes-gained feature.  I am still working on it.  It was not intuitive or easy to use.  If I go play alone again, I will give it another go, though.

     My drive was long, and my ball stopped on the fairway on the left side.  From there, I chose my 21º utility club, and my ball made it all the way up to the green and pin high, but it was off the green and on the left side.  The app doesn’t have a lie called “the collar,” so that’s something I would suggest they add.  My ball was on the collar, though, and I chose my sand wedge to chip it to the hole that was on the right side of the green and near the middle.

My chip shot landed my ball on the green, and then it rolled to a spot a few feet past the hole, leaving me a downhill putt.  The putt was from right to left, and it reminded me of the putt on #17 at Hillcrest that I made recently during our best ball match play there.  I made it without an issue.  Hooray!

     I just looked at the stats from the app, and it said my tee shot was 233 yards.  Then it said my second shot was 222 yards.  I don’t know about that.  This hole has an uphill, downhill feature that makes it play longer than it really is, though, so it could be right.    

Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #18-Birdie #24 of 2018             

     I chose my driver, and because the out of bounds is back in play, I changed my aiming spot.  I chose a leaf at the top of one of the cottonwoods near the end of the row that lines the right side.  In other words, no more cutting the corner.  

My ball drew along the row of trees, missing every single one.  When I walked up to the end of the cart path, I saw my ball out on the fairway and well past the corner.  I was in a similar spot where Bruce’s tee shot had ended up during the Robbie Ward.  My approach was blocked by that same tree, but I attempted to go over it with my pitching wedge.  It flew over the left side, so I pulled it a bit.       My ball landed in the rough on the left side of the green.

I pitched on with my sand wedge, but it did not come out cleanly, so it stayed on the left side of the green.  I had a really long putt that went up and over the hill and then down and to the right.  I checked out some of the lines at the top of the hill, and I took some practice swings with my putter to try and figure out the correct line.  When I lined up for my putt, though, I chose a line that was much lower than where I had just looked.  

My putt went up and over the hill, and it looked like it was going too fast.  It didn’t slow down and creep over like I had pictured or hoped.  As it straightened out it got on a line that headed right for the hole, though, and after it got inside ten feet, I thought it had a super chance of going in.  And then it did.

     I whooped, and I looked up at the people on the patio, but I got nothing from them.  They must not have been watching.  Or, maybe they were and just weren’t impressed.  I knew I had just gained some strokes, and I was curious what the app would say about it.  I have looked and looked, but I don’t see where those stats are.  I might be only able to see those stats with a Premium Membership, however.

     I only got to get those two descriptions in before I had to leave for Pinon Hills.  I had a great time teaching that group tonight.  We had five younger adults show up, and I brought some of my training clubs to help them out, my Kallassy Swing Magic, and the two weighted Momentus Clubs that Don gave me, the driver and the iron.  The participants had some success, and it was super mellow and fun.  

Back to the golf and the birdies…    

   

Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #2-Birdie #25 of 2018             

     We chose to play our own version of the Reverse Handicap Game this time, but it took the first four holes to figure out our unique scorecard.  I was caught between focusing on my golf game and getting the scorecard set up, but when we got it done, it was fair and we all agreed it was fine, just fine.  The most important part was figuring out the five toughest holes and the five easiest holes.  The ones in the middle did not matter as much, in our opinion.  

     This hole was worth 22 points, but that was because C.J. and I had pushed the points from the first hole.  His double bogey with a pop matched my bogey on that hole.  

     I chose my new 8-iron because the hole was on the back right side, a tough position.  With very little effort, my ball flew directly at the flag, and it settled just behind it, only six feet away.  After my partners got their pars, I lined up my putt and let it go.  It was mostly straight, and I had to make it to win the hole and the points.  Bruce had an amazing pitch to about a foot from behind the green for his par.    

Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #6-Birdie #26 of 2018             

     Once again, it’s been the 9-iron that has gotten my golf ball in some great positions on this hole, and that includes that demo 9-iron Don let me try out.  This was no different.  The hole was on the left side again, another tough position, but my ball landed within 15 feet on the right side of the hole.  This putt was mostly straight, too, and my thought was to get it just past the hole.  That is always a good thought, because my putts have a chance to go in when I do that.  My ball rolled right in.  I was using the AA Graded Titleist ProV1X golf balls this round.  With four birdies this round, I bet I will be buying more of those someday.    

Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #8-Birdie #27 of 2018             

     Bruce and I both birdied this hole.  After I teed off, C.J. said, “I thought Bruce hit a long drive until I saw yours, Pat.”

     It was a long, lower than most, drive that settled just past the rough that sticks out on the left side of the fairway.  I chose my pitching wedge for my approach, and that was because the pin was on the top left side, another tough pin position.  I wanted my ball to land just over the grassy hill on the left side and then roll down to the hole, but it landed just on the front of the green instead.  Bruce’s golf ball was up there, too, but his was a bit closer, so I gave him the benefit of a bit of a read, even though his ball was closer to the bowl than mine.  My putt made a big swing from left to right, and it also went up and then down before it settled just to the left of the hole and two feet away.  From there, I collected my third birdie on the front nine.  We pushed the single point for this hole to #9 where Bruce ended up earning his first points of the day.  He did not play well at all on the front nine (for Bruce), and he ended with a 47.  

Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #13-Birdie #28 of 2018             

     The small controversy on this hole is the new out of bounds that is in play.  The white stakes start at the teeing ground, go across the ditch, and then eventually cut over to the cart path that goes up the hill to #10.  My thought, however, is, “No big deal.”

     My drives rarely end up on the right side of that cart path down that hill anyway, so I did what I always do on this hole, I drove my ball over the cottonwoods.  My tee shot just nicked a leaf at the top of on one of the trees along hole #10, but it continued its flight long after that and ended up just a pitch away from the green.  

     I hit a provisional, though, because we had no idea where the first tee shot had gone.  The provisional hit the first cottonwood, but we didn’t see it after that; we just heard the loud whacking sound of ball hitting tree.  It ended up on the fairway, though, and I continued to play it from there.  I hit a stinker that went left, hit the hill and bounced over it.  I was looking at a very high score until C.J. said he saw a ball that turned out to be my first ball.  C.J. was fine with me playing that one, and when I asked Bruce, he concurred.  That really helped, because I went from four strokes and behind a hill to one stroke and a pitch away.  

     I chose my sand wedge, and my ball bounced up and onto the green leaving me a long putt to the hole that was back and left this time.  Somehow, I rolled that long putt in for my birdie.  It was around thirty feet away.  

     Randy and one of the main greenskeeper guys were driving around in a cart when we were looking around for my first drive.  He told us that if we played it to the fairway, the way the hole was designed, we would get a par every time.  Well, I couldn’t disagree more, and this birdie helped prove my point.  I cut the corner and earned a score better than a par.  Sorry, Randy.

     C.J. ended up being the victor this round, despite my four birdies.  I earned 43 points and the lead on the front nine, but I was mostly shut out on the back.  At the turn, the scores were Pat: 43, C.J.: 34, and Bruce: 18.  C.J. made a crucial putt on #13 for his par to match my birdie, because he gets a pop on that hole.  Then he won #14 with a bogey while Bruce and I struggled.  I even lost a ball on that hole, but C.J. allowed me to take a free drop.    

     He got 35 points for that hole and the two holes before it to take the lead.  After Bruce earned the ten points for hole #15, the match was over; not enough points remained for me to catch C.J.  The final scores were: C.J.: 73.5, Pat: 53.5, and Bruce: 43.  Bruce nearly turned it around enough on the back side, shooting a 37, to take second place away from me.  It was definitely an off day for our Bruce Almighty.  C.J. agreed to share the 11 points for hole #18 with me after we tied on that hole, so that’s the reason for the half points.  I did have the best stroke play score with an 81.  I thought at first I had shot a 39 on the front, but I added incorrectly.  Bruce shot an 84, and C.J. shot an 88.  

     That’s it for now.  It’s been great to bounce back after the less than satisfactory golf in Mexico.  I’ve shot back to back 81’s at the home course, so that’s more like it.  I forgot to mention earlier that I bought a big umbrella from the Hard Rock Riviera Maya Golf Course as a useful souvenir.  We didn’t have a large umbrella, and I really like the logo that has the silhouette of a golfer swinging a guitar like a golf club over his shoulder.  Now if we could only get some rain to be able to use it.

Until next time…