Written on 8-1-2020.
B is driving our Escape, and we are on our way to Albuquerque to pick up James. He is coming home to the U.S.A. for good…we think. I can picture our embrace right now, and I am certain the tears will be flowing. Hopefully, we will see him in less than five hours now.
I learned today that Mom and Dad bought their home at 1542 South Benton Street on this date in history. That was fifty years ago today! We always wondered whether I was about two or three years old when we moved into that house, but I was actually coming up on my fourth birthday. I am 53 now, so if they bought it fifty years ago, I would have been three years old in August way back then. Wow! It boggles the mind.
The Edgertons ended up painting/staining their cabin deck on their own, because the sprayer wouldn’t work for them. I feel bad, because we could have helped them out, but nobody knew the sprayer wouldn’t work. I chose to play golf instead when I heard we would be free.
On to golf…
I chose to go play golf after two straight days at the range. I had some really productive sessions during my time on the range, and I mostly had met my goal that I had mentioned earlier. I thought I was ready, and I was looking forward to seeing the improvement on a golf course. Wrong.
It was just not as good as I thought it would be. Now, I did not...
warm up at the range, so there’s that to consider. B and I relaxed and slept in knowing that our time alone was ending soon. I chose to play at Riverview, because they had a tee time available that I could make at 9:50. They put me with a father/son duo, and we got along right away, but I could sense they wanted to play alone, so we separated after playing hole #2.I arrived at 9:20, so I knew I wouldn’t have enough time to go to the range, and I had to go to the bathroom, too, so that really ruled out a chance to warm up properly. I thought I wouldn’t need it after all of my range practice, but looking back I see it would have helped, since I got better the more I played.
Hole #2 kicked my butt. The first time, my first two golf balls dived right over the hill and into the water. They took identical swan dives, and I can laugh about it now. Thankfully, my third shot with my 6-iron made good enough contact to reach the front of the green.
The second time, I had nearly an identical result. Hit thin, my balls jumped off the tee and straight into the water. I was impressed with how consistent each shot was, and because they were so similar, I wondered how close they were to achieving perfect impact.
The third time, I hit one more into the water with that exact same trajectory, and then I swung through a teed up (higher than normal) 5-iron directly to the middle of the green. Finally!
I played the front nine twice, and I was so frustrated that I wanted to play again. I did not want to go to the range once more. It just didn’t appeal. The day was incredibly hot, and I would be stuck out in the sun with no relief from the shade. I could learn something else on the range and take some more videos, but I was honestly sick of the range after two straight days of “bonus” range balls.
I really wanted to play again and do better. I wondered how much 18 holes with a cart would cost, so I went in and asked. It was only $25.00, so I jumped at the chance.
I played the back nine first this time, and I did do better. I was slicing my drives for the first 18, but I straightened them out for the next 18. The only problem is I don’t know what I was doing differently to have this success.
My scores got better, too. I shot a 57, a 52 and then a 45 and a 50. I’ll admit that I didn’t have much focus left for that last nine, but my drives were so much better overall. These holes saw some of my best drives: #1, #4, #5, #7, #8, #9, #10, #14, and #16. Most of those came in that last round, so I feel good knowing I had figured something out…somehow. One adjustment I made, and this is just a guess, was aiming left and not swinging so hard. Maybe that’s why they were better?
I had never thought of myself as a practice or range player until yesterday. I have done really well on the range lately, but I couldn’t transfer that to superb play on the golf course.
When I played at Civitan, I didn’t pay much attention to the score. I was using that round as a practice round, and I paid more attention to my swing. When I played those two times with Shawn at Pinon Hills and Riverview recently, I could say the same thing. I wasn’t focused on the outcome. I was this time, and I think that made a difference. I really wanted to score better, and I was thinking that this was going to be my first excellent score with this new swing. I would have said, “Wow! I figured it out. Look how straight my ball goes every time!”
Nope. It wasn’t meant to be. Looks like I need more practice and refining. I can hear Moe saying, “Hard work. Can’t buy it.”
I did get some pars and a lot of bogeys. Let me count them. I managed seven pars and eleven bogeys in 36 holes. Actually, that’s better than I thought. I just had some blow-up scores (like #2! %&*$), and those raised my scores a substantial amount. The best stretch came on the back nine with the final three holes. I earned three pars in a row, but it was only on #17 where I earned it the “normal” way. I swung my 8-iron, and my ball landed and rolled right past the flag. I lagged my putt close, and then I tapped in for my par.
On #17, I earned my par despite my low approach; my ball ended up just off the green on the right side. On #18, I had a low tee shot that didn’t go very far, and a thinned 5-iron that ended up short of the green, but I got up and down with my sand wedge and made an excellent putt from about fifteen feet.
I was wiped out. I ended up with a slight headache, and I moved slowly when I got back home. I drank a lot of water, reapplied my sunscreen, stayed in the shade often, and rode in a cart for the second 18 holes, but it was still a long, overwhelming day for me.
I am glad that today I feel mostly recovered. I felt good enough to run on the treadmill and do a lower body workout this morning, and we both did some housecleaning to get ready for the “prodigal son’s return.” Well, that’s it for now. I am going to take over driving again, so I will sign off.
Until next time…
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