A New Birdie and Finally...A Lower Score at Pinon Hills

Written on 5-30-19.

     We are hanging out in bed talking to Kyle on the phone right now.  It’s late; it’s 10:17.  He has to defend his thesis tomorrow morning.  I’m confident he will do well.  I honestly don’t know why he is talking to us right now, though; he should be sleeping.    

     I am writing this late, because I play golf again tomorrow.  I wanted to get another new birdie in here before I head out to earn some more in the morning.  Also, I just posted to my blog for the third time this month, and it was the first time I pasted an excerpt from My Golf Diary Part 2.  That post was from 2002.  Good grief.  I’ve been playing golf for nearly two decades now.  This September will mark the 20th year I’ve been writing about golf.

     When Bruce, C.J., and I played on Tuesday, I played much better.  The weather was better, and I was well past finishing those antibiotics for my sinus infection this time.  I believe those two things helped me to be able to concentrate and play closer to my potential.  I also did a focused visualization of myself playing the golf of my dreams there, and I physically practiced by hitting into the impact bag multiple times as part of a lower body workout the day before.  I am betting all of those things contributed to a lower score this time.  My goal was to break 100, and I ended up breaking 90, too, with an 86, shooting 43 on both sides.

     Here’s how the birdie came about this time…

 Pinon Hills-Hole #9-Birdie #7 of 2019

     The last time I played this hole, I pulled out my driver and then quickly replaced it with my 5-wood when I remembered that left and long is not where I wanted to be on this hole, and with my pulls and hooks lately, that was a real possibility.  

     The 5-wood was not enough last time, however, especially when it went left, too, so I switched to my 3-wood this time.  It went left, also (ugh), but it ended up on the fringe just off the fairway, and my ball was in a farther position than the 5-wood had given me.  

     From there, it was up to the utility club to get me up the hill and in a position to make my approach.  I have been “utilizing” this club often and well lately.  I do my best to swing hard like I want it to slice, but it never slices.  It just goes longer and straighter.  Cool.  

     This time, though, it did curve to the left just like my tee shot.  Thankfully, it wasn’t a duck hook that went into the desert or over to hole #18.  It stopped in the rough, though, and it was still far from the hole.  I saw another ball over there, and I almost played it, but when I saw my ball ten yards ahead, it made sense that that’s where my ball should have been.  I chose my 5-iron for my third shot, and I hit a low, straight shot that stopped just short of the green on the right side.  Because it was thick grass, it didn’t go as far as it should.  

     The approach wedge got the call for my final pitch shot.  I aimed well out to the right, because the slope of the green where the flag was funneled the ball towards the hole.  The flag was cut in the middle part of the green on the right side.  My pitch went much farther right than I had pictured, but because of the result I was happy it did.  It bounced in the taller grass first, then hopped once on the fringe before it started rolling right at the hole.  Then it fell in for my first birdie ever on this really long and difficult par five.  

     I won the hole, of course, but I didn’t win the game.  Next time I write, I will explain the game and how it went.  I need to go to sleep now.

Until next time…

1st Excerpt From My Golf Diary Part 2

     In this first excerpt from my second golf journal, the birdie count becomes more and more official.  I am up to 20 at this point.  I take a mulligan and count the birdie for the last time.  Also, I see that I'm playing at Country Club, because Dori and Craig had a membership there, so I was allowed to go play with Eric.  Lastly, I lament about how expensive golf can be.

Written on 6-8-02.

     I completely printed the diary up to the point above this entry.  I can’t believe I have written 128 pages all about golf.  Let’s get on with even more writing.

Written on 7-23-02.

     I wrote this at Ziems Ford Corners while waiting for the truck to have its transmission checked out.  It’s been squeaking between second and third gears.  They couldn’t find anything, though.  Figures.  They were nice enough to shuttle me up to Pinon Hills to practice when I found out it was going to take several hours.  It was nice to write in the old journal for a change.  Here’s what I wrote…

     I have three birdies to write about.  I have now met my goal of doubling the number of birdies I had last year!  Here they are…

Country Club-Hole 11

     This hole is usually Eric’s lucky hole.  He has birdied this hole twice.  One time he birdied it from one hundred yards away!  I hit my 3-wood off the tee aiming over the tree on the left side of the fairway.  It looked like I had hit the top of it.  Craig didn’t think it had made it through.  I was playing with Craig, Dori, and Eric.  Luckily, it had made it through to the open area behind the tree.  From there I hit 8-iron onto the green, but only barely.  It was...

Two Birdies to Help the Poor Golf

Written on 5-7-19.

     I leave for Crownpoint tonight at around 5:00.  I wish I felt better.  Danielle, Belinda, and I all have a cold, and it’s a pretty nasty one.  I just feel sapped.  I took Kody for a mid-afternoon walk and then I scooped the poop, and now I am spent.  My back is really tender and tweaky, too.  Ugh.  Hopefully, it will pass through quickly; Danielle’s graduation weekend is heading our way.

     I was going to play golf with C.J. yesterday, but I cancelled.  I didn’t even attend church on Sunday.  No energy.  I dropped off my clubs with Don Greenwood today, though, so I can get them all re-gripped.  That will be a welcome change.  Many were feeling slick and worn, and I needed a grip on my new driver that matches the rest of my set.  I will pick them up on Thursday evening when I return.

     When we played on Friday, we finally got to complete the match that started and then ended when Bruce and then C.J. left on the back nine when the weather turned windy and ugly.  Bruce and I took on Shawn and C.J., and it was a decent match, coming down to the last few holes.  I was worthless for the first seven holes.  I substituted the new driver with the old one to see if that would help with the low and left pulls.  Nope.  I had some serious hooks, and it really hindered my scoring.  I teased Bruce about...

Wonderful Weight Loss, Shawn Really is a 10, and Two Shocking Deaths

Written on 4-28-19.

     They didn’t work well.  I struggled, and I turned in my worst score yet, a 104.  A blow-up hole at Hidden Valley meant a double or maybe the crazy rare triple.  At Pinon Hills, a blow-up hole is a quad on a par five, a triple on a par four, or possibly multiple blow-up doubles in one set of nine holes. Bogeys feel like pars at Pinon Hills to me right now, and I must bring my best game with me in order to shoot in the high eighties right now.  It’s quite a change from the 75 I shot at Hidden Valley at the end of last season.  Good thing I like a challenge.

     In some different and very good news, we (A, E, B, and I) have all lost weight due to a weight-loss challenge that Belinda came up with.  We added it all up today, and between the four of us, we’ve lost 55 pounds in the past two months!  

     The deal is that the losers have to wash one of the cars of the winners.  Sadly, we have lost twice in a row after today’s weigh-in (we will wash their Jeep this time), but we are all winners, or losers depending on how you view it, because we all are looking healthier and more trim.  I am closer to 205, the weight that’s actually on my driver’s license, than I’ve been since 2010.  I remember getting to 207 just before we went on the Christmas Caribbean Cruise that year.

     So, I’ve got that going for me.  The golf, though, not so much.  Here’s how it went when we played on Friday.

     It was my turn to team up with Bruce to play against Shawn and C.J.  I’d like to start by saying that Shawn is really...