It's my 52nd birthday today, and I am celebrating by posting everything that remains from the end of last year's journal. What a super way to start this new year!
Happy birthday to me!
Written on 12-26-18.
Well, we celebrated a fabulous Christmas in Lakewood before Christmas Eve, and yesterday’s Christmas back here at home was wonderful, too. In Lakewood, we had our final Christmas at the White Fence Farm, because they close down forever on the 30th. Sigh.
It almost didn’t happen, or it almost didn’t happen the way we hoped it would. They somehow double-booked the Colony Room, the room we normally get, so Bev asked me to speak with a manager to set things right. I told him that Carolyn had just confirmed with me recently, and I purposefully added that I had my first real job there as a busboy years ago. He said he would try his best to work something out, and then he did. The other party of 30 people was put in the big room near ours.
Now we are back at home, and we celebrated without James yesterday morning. It was weird to have only the three of us (five if you count the cat and the new dog) together for Christmas morning. Then we celebrated without Dale (and James and Becca and Matt for that matter) over at the Edgerton’s for the big Christmas family dinner, and that just felt plain wrong. Tears flowed right at the beginning, mostly from the sisters, and although it was a delicious meal with great company, his absence was profoundly felt.
Back to golf…
Hole #6-I went back and forth in my mind with my 8-iron and my 9-iron. Sure, the 9-iron is the “go to” club for this tee shot most of the time, but the tee markers were back more than ten yards from where they’ve been when I’ve used my 9-iron, so I clubbed up to the 8 instead. The flagstick was placed way over on the left side again, so it’s a narrow landing area. The 8-iron was definitely the correct choice, and my ball flew right at the flag. It landed on the green and right of the flag a bit, but the sidespin and some wind caused it to roll to the left and stop at a spot where the green and the collar meet.
I determined the ball was more on the green than off, so I marked it. I had 18 feet to the hole, and I chose to...
putt it. The distance control continued to work well, and my ball stopped just short and left of the hole less than a foot away. Another par kept me at three over again.
Hole #7-I aimed left and hit it hard again, and it really worked well on this hole. My ball flew up the right side of the fairway and stopped on the fairway close to 200 yards away. My 5-iron approach came out low and drew over to the left side of the fairway, heading near the tree that was C.J.’s nemesis for a time. Due to the low ball flight and the hardened ground, my ball rolled past that tree and stopped in the taller grass short and left of the green. Keeping my arms super straight helped keep the clubhead low, and my ball popped up the way it is supposed to, landed on the green, and stopped short of the hole. Two putts later and I had earned my fourth par in a row. Three under.
Hole #8-This was the worst hole of the entire round, and this was also the hole where I pictured getting one of the two birdies I needed to get 50 for the year. Not meant to be, though. My drive flew to the left and although I couldn’t see it, I could hear it hitting at least two of the trees over there. I chose to hit a provisional, because I knew I may not ever find that first ball. The provisional went way right, but it ended up in some tall grass over on hole #16. I never found that first tee shot (a Titleist), so I used the provisional (a Taylor Made), and my 6-iron from there flew over a tree at the top of the hill, headed straight for the green. I never found that one either. Assuming it went into the ditch, I dropped and managed to get up and down from the back left side with a chip and a short putt for my 7. Ugh. I went from three over to five over in one hole.
The great news, however, was that I switched to the Bridgestone that finished out the round, and boy oh boy, did that golf ball finish out the round in magnificent fashion.
Hole #9-I aimed left and hit it hard again, but it flew a bit too far to the right this time, stopping barely on the fairway over there and with some tree trouble again similar to #3. My 6-iron approach flew straight and high, missed all of the trees and headed for the left side of the green. It hit the green, but it didn’t hold. My ball was stuck on the taller grassy green part on the back left side, a nearly impossible spot to get in with only two shots when the hole is cut on the front right side. I did my best, but my ball rolled above and past the hole, barely stopping on the collar on the front right side. With two more putts, I had another bogey, and I was six over for a 42 on the front nine.
At this point, I wasn’t thinking about shooting the best score of the year at all. A 42 is not the best score on the front, but it’s respectable.
Hole #10-The four birdies on the back nine were super, but this hole called for the best of my short game skills, and that’s what made this hole so satisfying. It set the tone for the back nine, for sure.
I chose my 8-iron, and I pulled it just enough to miss the green on the left side. My ball ended up in the grass bunker near the back side of the green. The good news was I was pin high, but the bad news was that a delicate chip was required. I had a small space between my ball and the green and the green sloped downhill and greatly away from me. Too much “oomph” and my ball would end up on the other side of the green. Too little and my ball would not roll out onto the green at all.
Once again, my swing thought for my chip was long and straight arms, and it helped. The contact was so good it gave me greater control, and I knew a small chip that landed off the green would be just right to get my ball onto the green and rolling towards the hole. My ball rolled slowly as it got closer to the hole, and it had a chance to roll right up next to it, but it stubbornly stopped eight feet above. I was faced with a very slick, fast, downhill putt, and I had to find the right line to get it to go in. It was unlikely that it would stop before the hole, so I focused on the correct line. It worked! My ball meandered its way, wiggling a bit to the left and the right before it fell in. That was a well-earned par. Six over after ten holes.
Hole #11-This was another hole (like #8) I expected to get one of my final two birdies of the year, but it didn’t work out that way.
I aimed left and hit it hard, but this was a huge miss out to the right this time around. My ball ended up right of the teeing ground on #12, and I was fortunate it landed on some grass and not some dirt. I had to pitch my ball over the hill that guards the right side of the green, and I couldn’t even see the top of the flag. My sand wedge worked well, and I looked up just in time to see my ball land right on top of that hill. Cool! I was optimistic that my ball was close to the flag, but it ended up way over on the left side and near the collar. I had a long putt to go back across the green, but that distance control on long putting continued to stay with me. I nearly holed it, and I had another easy tap-in for the second par in a row, but it ended up being the last par of the round. Six over after eleven holes.
Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #12-Birdie #49 of 2018
Gee. It took eleven holes to get the first birdie of this round. Before I teed off, I stopped to say hello to Robbie and his mother, Sharon, who were playing hole #17 next door. I didn’t even know they played golf. Robbie is Danielle’s high school boyfriend, but they are no longer together, of course. I saw them before I headed off to #1, but I didn’t recognize them immediately, or I would have stopped to talk to them then. Once we were all caught up, I headed back and smashed my drive. I aimed left again, of course, and my drive went straight up the right side of the fairway, and it was a long one, too. I was only 30 yards away from the green, so I chose my sand wedge. It was sitting down a bit in a track, but it was still on some grass, and I was able to pop it up and out and get it heading in the right direction. My stance was wide open with my feet just a tad right of the target. My Bridgestone landed just off the green, rolled up the hill on the first tier, continued past the hole on the middle tier, and stopped on some taller grass four feet above it. If it hadn’t gotten stuck, it’s possible it would have rolled back down and gone into the hole for an eagle, but it didn’t. The putt was downhill again, but not as severe as it was on #10. I wanted to make sure it didn’t miss on the right side, so I aimed left with good measure and gave it enough speed to hold the line. It worked. I was back to just five over.
Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #13-Birdie #50 of 2018
This is a suitable hole to aim left and hit it hard, because if it ends up going left, it will be on the fairway, or past the fairway with a good view of the green, or it will fade towards the hole and end up close to the green. My Bridgestone did the latter. I was worried about not finding it; that’s happened before, because it’s a blind shot when it goes over the cottonwoods. Thankfully, I found it in short order just past the bunker. This pitch was very similar to the previous hole, so I did basically the same thing. The hole was on the back middle this time, and my ball rolled past it on the right side leaving me a 12-foot putt this time, but this one had no slope. I had left some putts short on the front nine, so I made sure to give it plenty of power this time, and it fell in due to the correct line and plenty of speed. I was four over after this hole, and I had just earned back to back birdies, which is always fun.
Hole #14-This tee shot with my 6-iron was similar to the approach on #5. It went farther right than I had aimed or expected. It took a bit to find my Bridgestone, but it settled at the bottom of the hill, and it was pin high again. The pin was on the back right side. My chip got it up on the green, but it was short and left. My par attempt barely missed on the left side, just two inches away, but it had enough speed to make it respectable. Back to five over for the round.
Hole #15-My driver sent my ball flying towards the trees that are on the right side of the fairway. I walked past my ball without seeing it, because I was thinking it might end up under one of them again (it’s happened before), but with just a little bit of searching, I found it in the tall grass before those trees. I pushed my pitching wedge approach, and I was pretty sure it would end up in a bunker. It did. It landed in the farthest one, but the hole was on the back right side, so I could swing freely knowing that if my ball flew too far, it would still have a chance of rolling back down to the hole. I splashed it out like a pro, but it ended up not rolling down at all, so the par putt was longer than I had hoped. This putt was also a near miss. It was going right at the hole, but at the last second, it turned slightly left and went over the left edge. If this putt, the first putt on the previous hole, and the par putt on #1 had gone in, I would have matched my best score ever on this golf course. Getting a better score on easy #8 would have really helped, also. I was unfortunately back to six over after this bogey.
Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #16-Birdie #51 of 2018
This was the most unexpected birdie of the round. I purposely carved out a draw from the tee box with my 6-iron, and that shot gave me a super position for my approach. I was 73 yards from the middle of the green, according to the Grint App, so my sand wedge got the call. I had decent contact, but that lovely Bridgestone of mine fell short, and it stopped on the taller grass that they’ve been allowing to grow instead of mowing it to green height. I only had to putt through a foot of that taller stuff, though, so it was like a normal putt in many ways. Seeing that putt go in surprised me tremendously. I gasped. I truly do not believe I could make that putt again after 100 tries. I am confident a pro could not make that putt after 100 tries either. It was thirteen paces away, and I know that because I stepped it off after I returned the flag. Five over again.
Hole #17-My tee shot was lousy. It was low and long, and it was millimeters away from better contact. I thought my ball was just off the green on the back left side, but that was some other ball. Mine was farther away and in the rough, hanging out with the dead leaves. I swished the leaves away and played my second shot. The hole was on the middle right side. My pitch with my sand wedge went too far to the left, so it rolled off the green and onto the collar. My par putt missed, so I ended up with another bogey on the back nine, making it three bogeys total on this side. Six over after seventeen holes.
Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #18-Birdie #52 of 2018
Like I had written above, I was hoping for two birdies, but I ended up with four. Sweet! This hole was dreamlike. It was like my body was performing the motions, but my brain and my eyes were just going along for the ride and enjoying the show.
For the final time, I aimed left and I hit it hard. I don’t think I’ve ever had a better result than I did with this drive. It faded up the fairway, turned right at the corner, and rolled to a stop 122 yards away from the green. That’s the truth, but I have difficulty believing it when I write it in here.
I chose my 9-iron, because I wanted to be sure to avoid being short and landing in the bunker on the front right side. It was the correct choice. This shot, too, appeared to fade a bit as it went up high in the air, landed just on the green, rolled directly to the flag, and I am fairly sure I saw it change direction due to lipping the hole. An albatross would have been a once-in-a-lifetime way to end this round and this year, but it did not go in. Finishing with two putts for my birdie was simple. My eagle putt rolled past the hole and stopped on the top side, leaving me a foot of a downhill putt for the final birdie of the day. I ended up one under on the back for a grand total of a 75, five over for the round and the best score of the year. Merry Christmas to me!
I am fairly certain I’ve just written about the last round of the year. I have work to do for Time to Teach and the CORE, and I want to finish our Prezi before New Year’s, too. We plan on going up to the cabin on Sunday for New Year’s as well, and the weather does not look super conducive for golf either.
My next task is to catch up the official birdie and eagle count for the year.
Until next year…
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