Written on 8-9-19.
After he drove away, Danielle showed up and we had a wonderful dinner together before she went dancing with her friend, and then I headed home. For the entire trip, I got to be with some of my favorite people. I saw Emily, Carter, Bev, Daryl, Katie, and Adi in the Springs. I spent an entire evening with Mom, Dad, and Joe, and we had great conversations while enjoying Mom’s Spanish Rice and Joe’s usual entry ticket into their home, another lemon meringue pie from the Village Inn. Mom and Dad destroyed Joe and me in two games of Sequence. Heck, Dad even finished us off with one move that completed two sequences at once in the second and final game. Ouch. It was a fabulous trip!
Now, I’m back home, and I could have gone to play golf today, but I chose to stay home and get caught up on some writing, so that’s what I’m doing. B is doing tire inventory for Big-O, and I’m home alone with the pets. If I had gone to play, I would have been alone there, also. Shawn took his mom to Albuquerque, and C.J. chose to swim instead. The weather is overcast, though, so it would have been a super day to play due to the cooler weather. Oh well. I want to catch up here, especially because I have three birdies to record.
I chose to buy a brand new, slate gray, North Face backpack from Dick’s with my prize money. It actually cost over $150.00 with tax, so I used the gift card as a $100.00 discount. I am really happy with my choice, even though it’s not golf-related. From here on out, every time I look at or use that new backpack, I will...
think of our victory together and our fabulous day of golf. I look forward to looking at it and using it often, not only for this upcoming school year, but beyond.
I have texted Troy twice to share the success I’ve been having. He, of course, has been super supportive. After I told him I had beaten my best low score at Pinon Hills the last time I played (an 85), he asked me to send a video of my swing, so I’d like to do that when I go out again. We will play a lot next week, I bet, so I can do it then.
I was fortunate to earn three birdies during that lowest round of the season, and here they are…finally.
Pinon Hills-Hole #2-Birdie #9 of 2019
It’s fun to write about getting birdies at a different course (not AMGC), especially a course as difficult as Pinon Hills. It’s also a relief to know that it’s possible to get birdies out there. Birdies at Hidden Valley, especially hole #14/new #8, happened more frequently. Getting a birdie there every round was more likely than at Pinon Hills.
As I had written above, we were playing the GIR Game, and Shawn was already in the lead after getting up and down for a par on #1. I teed off with my driver, hoping to continue the excellent driving that helped us during the scramble. I aimed left of center and took a big swing. It flew up the left side of the fairway, and it stopped an inch from the first cut, but it did end up on the fairway. The pin was tucked left, and I chose my approach wedge, because it was close to 100 yards away. The ball was a bit lower than my feet, so I spread my feet apart to compensate. It flew up in the air quickly and right on line. I couldn’t see where it had landed, but when we got up to the green, I found it was less than a foot away. I made that easy putt to earn eight points and take the lead.
C.J. got eight points on hole #4 when he hit the green and made a longer downhill putt for a sweet birdie, so he was only a point behind me after that one. I managed a second GIR on hole #2, and with a read from Shawn I was able to get a par there to keep my lead.
By then end of the front nine, we had a close, exciting match going. I had 24 points, but the other two were tied with 23 points each. When we got to the fairway on hole #13, however, C.J. got overheated, lost some focus (it was a super dry heat that day) and chose to head home, so it was down to Shawn and me for the rest of the round. Something like this happened earlier this season after C.J. and Bruce both took off when the wind really started to gust on hole #10. Shawn beat me that time.
Pinon Hills-Hole #14-Birdie #10 of 2019
I’ve hit a couple of stinker tee shots on this hole this season, but it was Shawn’s turn this time. His shot was pushed right and headed toward the desert rough, the same way my stinkers had flown before. He found it, but he had to pitch out sideways.
I chose my utility club to tee off, and this time it went straight, heading for the middle of the fairway, so I was surprised when I found it in the farthest bunker that is just left of the fairway. Too much club. It must have rolled in there. I chose my approach wedge again, because it was in that 100 yard range, even though the pin was on the top back tier. Although it was in the sand, I chose to swing as if it were on the grass, and I clipped it neatly. It flew to the right of the flag, and I thought I missed the green, but Shawn assured me that it was close and on the green.
He was right. I was on the green, and I had close to fifteen feet for my birdie putt. It broke just ever so slightly to the left with a slight downhill slope, and I read it and rolled it correctly. It dropped right in! I earned ten points for that birdie, because we had pushed some points from ties from the previous holes.
Shawn won the next hole by hitting the green and getting his par. I didn’t know the score for our game, but I felt I had the edge after that birdie, and I think he thought so, too. Then I really sealed the deal with a third and final birdie.
Pinon Hills-Hole #16-Birdie #11 of 2019
This hole reminds me of hole #7 at Hillcrest. It’s a dogleg right, so it doesn’t fit my eye or my right to left ball flight. I aimed for the right side of the fairway, though, and hit it hard again, and it worked out. My ball headed for the left side of the fairway, bounced and rolled over the hill that is on the far side of the corner. Fortunately, it stopped past a tree with enough room for me to take a full swing, but the lie was pretty rough. I chose my 9-iron and made a decent swing. It headed left, and I thought it might make the green, but it stopped short on the side of the hill that is the first one on the left side over there.
The hole was just over that hill and on the front of the green, and I used my sand wedge to chip it. I planned to land it off the green and on the other side of that hill to let it bounce down and onto the green. Boy, did it work! It bounced onto the green and rolled until it hit the flagstick and dropped in! Hooray! Three birdies in one round at Pinon Hills. That’s a first, too.
Shawn was long and left with his approach, and he made an amazing par save from over there, so it was a good thing I chipped in for a birdie. I was really impressed with his par, and he made a long putt to earn it.
When it was all over, I had shot an 85 and won the game 56 to 46. Shawn and I both earned pars on #18, too, and that’s not easy to do. I had my best drive ever there, so I am going to use that image to give me confidence every time I tee it up there from now on. Shawn shot an 86, and that was with a nine on hole #17, so he could have easily beaten me if he had played better on that hole.
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