I am using another excerpt today from my journal from 2002. That was twenty years ago, and I had around four years of experience with golf at that time. I had just placed third in my first tournament, the Pinon Hills Classic...in the high handicap division. In this excerpt, I clean my clubs after a few rounds, but I clean my clubs after every round now. I unpack what happened when I played in the tournament, and I get a cartoon in the mail from Mom and Dad that I still quote to this day...
Written on 8-2-02.
I just cleaned my clubs. It always feels good to get them nice and shiny after I’ve played a few rounds. I played with Eric at Pinon Hills a couple of days ago. Like I had mentioned before, he couldn’t play in the tournament because he was out of town. He had gone to his big family reunion. I didn’t play well, but I was doing something you shouldn’t do. I was working on a move. I was trying to do the...
Harvey Pennick “magic move” during the round. It is not a good idea to try this while playing, but I was pretty relaxed during these nine holes after playing at Pinon Hills under so much pressure. We also played from the blue tees to make it even tougher. I shot a 53, which was almost good enough to beat Eric. He shot a 52. Then we played again yesterday at Civitan. We played the full eighteen holes. It was fun. The “magic move” worked much better there. It is an incredible source of power, and it also helps tempo and accuracy. I was able to beat Eric after not having done so for a long time. The last time I remember beating him before that was at Coyote Crossing in Indiana, although I am sure I have beaten him since then. haOverall, I am very pleased with my first tournament. I found it very ironic that I didn’t place in a volleyball tournament the weekend before when I expected to at least get third, but I did get third place in my first golf tournament when I didn’t expect to place at all. The new book and new chapter are looking very good!
I had a revelation today. I was running on the treadmill, watching a piece that I had recorded earlier about the young guns coming up on the PGA Tour. Those players are Matt Kuchar, Charles Howell III, Ty Tryon, and David Gossett Jr. They all started playing when they were very young. I didn’t. I am really like an eight year old now just learning how to play. I started playing when I was four, four years ago. It’s been just about four years now since I started getting serious about having more fun with golf. I will start to peak and really play well when I am about the age they are now, 23. Of course, I will really be age 50, the perfect age to peak and start playing on the Senior PGA Tour.
Here are the confidence building holes or stats from playing in my first tournament. I shot 48, 43 for a total score of 91 on the first day. The 43 was my best score of the tournament. I shot 46, 53 on Sunday. During my best nine hole round of 43, I had four pars, three bogeys, and two double-bogeys. One hole I played very well both days. It was the par three #12. On Saturday, I hit a beautiful 6-iron to about ten feet past the hole. I almost birdied it with my putter. It was a great tee shot to a sucker pin location behind the trap. Bill was very impressed that I went for it, which I really did. I was confident my 6 would make it there. On Sunday, I used my 4-iron. The pin was farther back and on the right side this time. There was also a breeze coming at us. I hit it past the hole about eight feet, but missed the birdie chance again.
I also played the par five holes #9 and #17 very well on Saturday. On hole #9, I hit my drive to the left side of the fairway with my 3-wood. My second shot was with my utility club, which made it all the way up the hill on the left side. From my backwards walk of the course before the tournament, I knew I was in good position to go for the green from there. My third shot was with my 8-iron and it landed right of the flag about seven paces from the hole. My birdie putt fell just below the hole, and I tapped in for par. I paid more attention to the yardages during the tournament, especially where the flag was on the green, front, back, or middle.
I earned par on the toughest hole on the course that same day. I hit a big drive that actually went straight (most of my tee shots were going left). From there, it was a 5-iron lay-up shot to about ninety yards. I skulled my third shot a little bit, landing it on the fringe leaving myself a tricky, breaking, and long downhill putt. I putted from there to about four feet and made that for my par.
On Sunday, I had a good start on hole #1 with a par. It felt good to get off to a good start on the second day. All in all, I was very pleased with my play. My total number of pars for the two rounds was twelve. My total number of bogeys was ten. My worst holes I don’t want to write about anymore. I’ll just say that if I had gotten even a bogey on those two holes, I probably would have placed second instead of third with scores of 91 and 92 instead of 91 and 99. Don won, and he deserved it, playing really well on Sunday. He shot a 39 on the front, and I forgot his back nine score, but it was low, too.
It was a great learning experience, and now it’s back to the drawing board. Eric and I are planning to play in the tournament at Dalton Ranch at the end of September. I have two months to prepare for that one. I can’t wait! I look forward to competing again, and this time I want to do even better. It will be nice to play in a tournament that Eric is playing in as well. We can compare notes each day, and I won’t feel so alone.
Two more notes… I got a really funny cartoon from Mom and Dad, which I have memorized so that I can say it to Belinda just about every time before I leave to go play. It shows a wife watching her husband leave.
In the first frame, he is dressed in a clown suit, and it says, “What she heard…” and he is saying, “I’m abandoning you, our family, and any other responsibility for the rest of the day.”
In the second frame, he is dressed to go play golf, and it says, “What he said…” and he is saying, “See you later, honey.”
It’s funny, but I think it is so funny, because it struck a chord. I have guilt. I am so thankful for Belinda’s support. She hates golf. She hates watching it, but she loves me enough to allow me to play. Thanks, Belinda! I couldn’t do this without you.
My other note is that I haven’t played at Hidden Valley for a long, long time. I have guilt about that. That is the club where my handicap is. I am the secretary/treasurer for the Hidden Valley Men’s Club. I have just been playing at other places. Playing with Eric at San Juan Country Club is cheaper than playing at Hidden Valley. Pinon Hills has a comparable price, but it’s a much, much nicer course. It was ranked the #1 municipal course in the nation according the Golf Digest this past year. The greens are in great shape, and Hidden Valley’s greens are in terrible condition right now. The drought here in Aztec has not helped. I put all my money into practicing at Pinon Hills and the tournament entry fee, which left no money for playing at Hidden Valley. I will try to play there more before this next tournament, but only if the prices are reasonable for where I’m playing. I heard they had a two-for-one deal during July, but I never even knew about it. Maybe they’ll have a deal for August. We shall see. Until next time…
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