A Different Hillcrest Outing and the Final "Swope Green" Night of the Year

Written on 11-6-21.

        I am sitting in Baker Street, but it’s parked in its spot here at home.  We head to Canyonlands this Friday, though, so that’s exciting!  I just posted our pictures and videos from our trip to Wahweap and the North Rim on FaceBook and Shutterfly, and I am taking a break from that to get some writing in.  Once again, I am pressed for time, though.  Jessica is coming over at 5:30 to have dinner, so that leaves fifteen minutes to write.  I will quickly write what I want to cover, and then I will fill in the details later.

On to golf…

We had another “Swope Green” night this past week, most likely the last one of the year since daylight savings starts tonight.  Shawn and Eric came over.  It was great to have Shawn come for the first time and take a break from the construction of his workshop at his home.  We started at 4:00, because it has been getting darker earlier and earlier lately.

I played at Pinon Hills yesterday, and I ended up giving free golf tips to a couple.  Their names were Cheyenne and Steve, and it was both miserable and fun.  I will explain later.

During that round, I tried something new that worked for seven holes out of nine.  I will explain what I did later, too.

Herman (not his real name) and I spent a day at Hillcrest together, and it was super.  Normally, C.J. and Eric play there with me in the fall, and they asked me to set it up, but C.J. continued to have back/sciatica problems, and Eric forgot that Becca would be there on the day we played.  Thankfully, Herman decided to join me the day before with my late invite.  He played really well, as usual, and I played okay.  The putting threw us both off, because the greens were very fast, but it threw me off more…like off a cliff.  I triple-putted seven times!  If I had double-putted those, I would have scored a 90, and that is a closer score to my potential now.  They really had me baffled.

I have begun to take full swings off of my pitching mats for the putting green, and that is just an incredible and fun thing.  At anytime, I can just step outside and practice full swings.  I am sure to count the golf balls before I do, and I manage to get back over 95% of them.  I am only hitting 125-135 yard shots to the road (I watch for people that may be biking, walking, or 4-wheeling), and I have used my pitching wedge only, until today when I used my 9-iron instead.  We even incorporated full swings into a competition when Shawn and Eric came over.  Shawn won that one with a smooth shot that landed his ball closest to our makeshift target out there. 

Lake Powell National Golf Course

Continued from 10-18-21.

    Eric and I played at Lake Powell National Golf Course two days ago, and we can now say we have done it.  We talked about playing there for years.  Pretty much any time we drove by it.  I remember wanting to play there when Kelly and I were doing Spike Doctor clinics, so that’s been over twenty years ago.  We did one clinic in Page one summer, and we brought Stacey (last name) to help, since we had so many girls signed up in advance.

Eric wanted to play a different game, so we chose skins while we were driving.  He and I came early in their RV, the Compass, and the girls came later in our new Jeep towing the Safari Condo.  We decided on $10,000.00/hole, and we included the usual bonuses for $5,000.00 each.

He beat me pretty soundly.  He won six holes, and I only won two.  We pushed on the last hole, so nobody won that one, because Eric decided to switch games for the back nine.  He wanted to go back to the game we play most of the time, the 1, 2, 3 game, and I was fine with that.

We both had two blow-up holes on...

Swope Putting Green Fun and a Return to the North Rim

Written on 10-9-21.

        I am enjoying the view and the cool temperature out on our back deck.  Kody is lying down right next to me, and Belinda is waking up in our bedroom after a short nap.  James and Casey came to visit us this weekend, and it has been wonderful.  We had lunch at James Ranch, and then browsed around Honeyville for a bit after.  

On to golf…

I hosted another Wednesday night at our green this past week, and it was our largest group yet.  C.J. came for the first time, and Grant made his return.  Herman (not his real name) came for about an hour, also.  Eric had work to do with Miguel, so he didn’t come this time.  Grant and I were happy to have four players, so we could play the game we were thinking about from when we had it all to ourselves.  We thought it would be fun to have teams and have one teammate pitching and the other one putting for a competition.  It worked out that I got Herman first, and I was thrilled, because he has such a great short game.  He didn’t do too well, though.  He had a bad night.  I, however, made...

Never Forget! and Meeting a Difficult Goal at Hillcrest

Written on 9-11-21.

        I watched some of the memorial coverage on NBC this morning, and I have watched every episode except the final one of Turning Point’s series on 9/11 on Netflix.  I plan on watching the last one later today.  It’s a sad anniversary, but I want to remember what happened that day, so I can honor all of the innocent people who died.  Never forget.  

I have re-educated myself on the events of that day and the aftermath, and it’s been eye-opening.  The Turning Point series has a narrative that is saying America’s leadership took it too far when we went into Iraq to go after Saddam and the “weapons of mass destruction” that were never proven to have been there.  Hard to argue that point.

The citizens of Flight 93 who charged the terrorists have my highest respect.  They sacrificed their lives for others, and they decided that within minutes.  Wow!

On to golf…

Eric and I had fun yesterday playing at Hillcrest.  I probably had a bit more fun, because I won the game we played, but I think he enjoyed it, too.  Not the losing, of course, but the golf, the course, and the weather.  We played the...