First Two Birdies of 2022

Written on 4-30-22.

        Okay, here are the birdies, and then I will say why it was close to four birdies that day.

Riverview Golf Course-Hole #7-Birdie #1 of 2022

It could have been two birdies in three holes, but I will explain that in a bit.  I teed off with my new Ping driver.  I can still call it new, I feel.  Bruce outdrove me on most holes by twenty yards or so, by the way!  Talk about switching things around.  Normally, I would be the one with the longer drives.  

My ball settled into the first cut on the left side, but it was hard to tell which was fairway and which was the first cut; it was all cut pretty low and the grass was dry.  I was inside 100 yards, so I chose to use my pitching wedge with a low shot vs. a high sand wedge with a full swing.  It worked super well, and my ball landed left of the hole, stopping 12 feet away.  Yes, it was another sandy green, so I put some extra speed on it, and it rolled right in for the first birdie of the year.  Hooray!

It was hole #5 where I could have had my first birdie, and it was similar to the one I just wrote about.  The differences were that I was on the fairway and the putt was longer.  It wasn’t a legal birdie, because I moved the ball with my club when it was on the fairway, and it happened when I was telling Bruce about what took place (the episode that tested Danielle’s values) at her school when I accidentally touched the ball at address.

Riverview Golf Course-Hole #16-Birdie #2 of 2022

This round became a practice round on the back nine without question, especially for me, and possibly for them as well.  On one of the holes, C.J. accidentally played Bruce’s ball, and we all had some larger scores.  On holes #12 and #13, I didn’t get...

a legal score, so it was mostly about working on pre-season stuff on the back nine.

I used my 3-wood to tee off, and I hit a beauty to a spot somewhere between 130- and 140-yards away from the green and right in the middle of the fairway.  That was a splendid tee shot, and I should have done that more often in this round.  My 9-iron put my golf ball right below the hole, so I had a good opportunity on this hole for another low score.  I took advantage, and I saw a right edge putt when sizing it up.  It did roll right over the right edge, and then it fell in on the back side.  Phew!  C.J. even said, “Darn it,” when it missed, but took it back immediately after he saw it was a successful putt.

        On the very next hole, the last par three, I nearly made another one.  It was my 9-iron that got the call again, and this time my ball landed six feet from the hole.  I nearly got another birdie, but I just didn’t give my first putt enough speed.  It was a downhill putt that I misread, and there was some fear of it being fast.  It was kind of fuzzy and slow, so I should have been more aggressive on my birdie putt.    

The two birdies and having Bruce back after a long hiatus made this round totally worth it.  I kept a small bucket’s worth of range balls from C.J. for after the round, and I took some more time to go practice after the round, too.  Bruce came over to visit with me for a bit before he left.  It was great to catch up with him after two years of absence due to Covid, and he was atypically conversational.  He made it clear he was ready to play again, so I will definitely let him know when I/we go play from now on.  Diane is now able to drive around in their new van, so her independence gives him more…independence. 

It’s shaping up to be a super season this year.  I will look into when the Robbie Ward will be played and do my best to get a team together for that, also.

Until next time…