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...
closer to a 10 than I originally thought after we played our first round together this season. I was wrong. He played so much better the last two times we’ve played, and what’s really obvious is how much he has improved since the last time we played with him a few years ago at Hidden Valley. He shot an 86 for 18 holes on Earth Day, and he shot a 44 on the front nine in this latest round. He said he’s taken lessons from Luke there, and it really shows, especially more so lately.
Bruce started us off with a par and a tie on #1. Then I had the only par on #2 for another tie, but it was C.J.’s pops on both of those holes that earned his net pars and the ties to keep us all square. Then C.J. got a third bogey in a row on the tough #3, so they went one up. Bruce tied it up right away, though, with a long birdie putt on #4, and we stayed even after Shawn and Bruce got pars on #5. I managed a bogey on #6, and Bruce did, too, but it didn’t matter when Shawn got the only par on this hole after a double-putt from pretty far away. We were one down again. We stayed one down when Bruce got a bogey and tied with C.J.’s double with another one of his pops. He asked for six pops per nine this round, because his scores have been so high lately, and we all agreed that was fair. We ended the front nine when C.J. got a bogey and a pop for another win, so we ended up two down at the turn. With Bruce, I knew we were not anywhere near being out of it, though.
After we arrived at the #10 teeing ground, however, the wind gusts really picked up, and dirt was blowing into our faces. The sky was dark and getting darker. We could see rain coming down, but we could see it wasn’t reaching the ground. I just learned that that is called virga. My partner chose to leave me to go home and close up his greenhouse. C.J. stayed for just one more hole, and then he left when he realized he had just lost his prescription glasses somewhere on #10. It was down to just two of us after just one hole on the back nine. Shawn and I agreed to just start over with a new match between the two of us with no pops.
Because of the wind and some short game malfunctions, we both got triples on #10. He won #11 when my putt for bogey stopped right above the hole. It might have fallen if the wind was blowing in the opposite direction. He beat me on #12, also, with a stubbed chip and a long putt that hit the stick for his par. I got a bogey out of the bunker. I was two down already.
I won the next hole with a long bogey putt, though, and then I won the hole after that to get it back to even with a par on the short par four, one of only two pars during the entire round. Yes, it was ugly, but it feels good to write about it. This was the brightest section of the round for me when I worked hard to get it back to even again.
On the next hole, I missed a putt for par from less than two feet after Shawn said, “Good par.”
Because he didn’t really concede the putt, I chose to take that hole as a loss, but it felt like a par after a great tee shot that flew right over the flag and a sweet lag putt that rolled just to the right of the hole before stopping directly behind it.
I managed to win the next hole to get it back to even one last time before blowing up on the final two holes. He easily won two up with no holes left to play, because I never really challenged him after hole #16.
My game is a bit of a mess right now. When it gets better, I can look back on this and know I faced some lousy play and a bit of tough adversity. I know I can shoot in the low eighties or possibly even break 80 there.
My bit of tough golf adversity, however, is nothing compared to what some friends and family are facing right now. Golf always does a fine job of keeping things in perspective. I’ve learned of two deaths this past week, one just yesterday. Krista (last name), my recovery nurse after my brain surgery died suddenly this past week. It’s still unknown how she died, but my heart breaks for her family, her daughter, and for myself. I taught her daughter, Kara (not her real name), and I taught her brother, Garylee, too. The Zunigas are very special to us. Her funeral is this coming Saturday.
Wes McCall died two days ago, and he was my uncle through marriage. He married my Aunt Mary who died of a heart attack when she was 45. My cousins, Bethleen and Avery, have now lost both of their parents. He was found on his front yard by his riding lawn mower, similar to the way my grandfather died. He survived a terrible accident out on the dirt roads around Yuma years ago and never really was the same again after that. He had multiple surgeries and plenty of rehab, and he struggled. In a positive light, he has no pain anymore. Mom said he was 64. Sigh.
Until next time…
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