Bruce, Norm, and Riverview

Written on 6-22-22.

Bruce and Norm came over this AM to give Norm a chance to check out and play with our pitching area and putting green.  It was cool and cloudy, so we were never too hot, even though yesterday was the longest day of the year.  I did a lot of weed clean-up and blew off both areas before they came, and it all looked clean and crisp.  After B showed them our newly painted kitchen cupboards and the hope chest Bruce refinished for us years ago (still looks great), we played some games.

I won the first game of stroke play with pitches and putts.  It went to a play-off with just putting, and I made a long putt on hole #1.  Norm won the putting game with a putt to hole #2.  It was the “around the world” game that James came up with.  Bruce won the full swing game (no surprise there) with a smooth swing to a 2 x 4 that we stood up 100 yards away and just past the road.  It was all so relaxed, and I got the impression Bruce would like to come practice more often.  I just need to...

text him and invite him over.  

The three of us played at Riverview on Monday, and I earned two birdies.  So did Bruce, but he had a better stroke play score.  I had four holes where my scores went south.  Overall, however, I played solidly on the day.  Besides those two birdies, I had six pars and four bogeys.  Norm really struggled on some holes, but he had a few good ones, too. 

Riverview Golf Course-Hole #5-Birdie #8 of 2022

The driver got the call, and I sent one up the right side.  I was under a tree, so I tried to deloft my pitching wedge, but it still caught the bough hanging down, so my ball landed thirty yards short,  It was on the short grass before the green.  I chose to use my gap wedge for the pitch, and I decided to go while Bruce and Norm were driving their cart around to hole #6.  As they were driving over, my ball rolled into the hole for a birdie!  I shouted out, “Hooray,” and they saw that I had made it.  

Getting closer to double-digits with the birdies this year, and that makes me so happy.

Riverview Golf Course-Hole #14-Birdie #9 of 2022

Bruce birdied this hole, also.  Of course, we did it in different ways.  He went for the green in two, but his approach ended up short of the green.  He pitched on and made his putt.

My drive made it past the area that was being repaired on the fairway, and I know my drive from the scramble was short of that.  My 21º utility club (or the 213 yard shot club from hole #2 after the scramble) got the call to go for the green.  

It ended up past the green in a little bowl on the right side.  I had never been over there before, and I was fortunate that the flag wasn’t on the left side, because I may have gone too long and ended up down the hill where few golf balls are found if it was over there.  I pitched it on, but it came up short, and I had a longer putt than Bruce for my birdie.  It was uphill and mostly straight, so I gave it more speed to get it past the hole, but the hole got in the way!  Yeah!  

Bruce played hole #18 in a different and better way.  He teed off with his 7-iron, laid up with a utility club of some sort,  Approached from around 100 yards, and then nearly made a birdie.  I liked it.  I will remember that for next time, and I would like to try it out, even though I know Bruce is a better ball striker than I am…,but I am getting better.

Next up, we head to Lakewood for the postponed Fixx concert.  I will bring my clubs, but I doubt we will have time to play.  Then it’s time for the Firecracker Tournament in Cortez.  

Until next time…