Continued from the last post...
My Partners
I am ashamed to say that I have completely forgotten my partners’ names from the tournament. Completely! On Saturday I played with an older gentleman whose company is in Denver. His company was the reason he was in the tournament. He was very nice and I even played with him again on the second day as well, which is rare, and makes me feel even worse that I forgot his name.
My other partner was from Monte Vista. I think he was a rancher? I wish I could remember. I was so depressed about my play that I didn’t write for a long time, and that’s why I forgot their names.
My third partner was the “much older gentleman” I mentioned earlier. I think he was in his seventies. He played the best of all three of my partners. His brother had won the Club Championship many years ago. He was a straight shooter, but lacked the distance to be in a better flight. He also had quite a temper. He lives right behind the golf course.
I will be sure to remember my partners’ names next time.
The Weather
The weather was bad. We had to stop play on Saturday when we were on the seventeenth fairway. I learned a big lesson. I was about to hit my gap wedge after a nice drive when lightning struck very close. I didn’t see anyone coming out to tell us to stop, but it was so windy and the rain was coming down hard.
I addressed the ball again, but all I was thinking was, “Please don’t get struck by lightning.”
Well, I chunked the ground and my ball went maybe twenty feet. Right after that, a cart pulled up with a tournament person telling us to head to the clubhouse! I was so upset that I had swung when I wasn’t really ready to swing. Next time, I will mark my ball and wait! When we came out to resume play, I played even worse. I got a high score because I had allowed the weather to disrupt my concentration. I will prepare better when that happens, so it won’t happen again!
On Sunday, we had another delay due to the weather, but this time I waited before I took another swing. I knew someone would be coming to tell us to go inside. And this time, I made sure I was ready to swing and focused on my target when we came back out to resume play. I even ran up and down some hills to make sure I was warmed up.
One more comment about the weather. It did rain quite a bit for the first two holes, but then it cleared up just like I said it would. I did my best to stay dry, but realized a big mistake was that I hadn’t brought rain pants. If it had continued, my pants would have been soaking wet by the fourth hole. They were allowing us to play when it was just raining and there was no lightning. Luckily, it did clear up, though. I wonder if Chris or Eric thought of O.P. when the sun came out. Ha!
Final Comment
I want to say one more thing about this tournament. I was very disappointed in my overall play on both days. If I missed a green, my short game was nowhere near it needed to be in order to be able to save par or even a bogey. Many times I would hit a trap, and then either hit it short, long, left, or right, but not on the green where the ball needed to be.
I think I was most disappointed in my cowardly play on hole #9 on Sunday, though. It was the last hole for me, because we had started on hole #10. I hit an okay drive and a good second shot to the left of the green. I had about a forty-foot pitch to get it on the green, but there was water and another trap on the other side. I chickened out and barely hit it close to the green, and then I barely hit it on the green. I left my first putt way short, and then my second putt short, too. I finally got it in for a seven. Yuck! I was so afraid of having a terrible hole that I ended up having a terrible hole! Next time... go for it. Eric took 19th in the tournament, and I took 20th. I believe there were 24 participants in each flight.
That’s enough about this tournament. I look forward to next summer’s tournaments. I will not place in every tournament, even though I should expect to. I am happy with my third place at Pinon, and I am thankful for the lessons I learned at Dalton. At least my money went to a great charity, the American Cancer Society.
Next time I write, a nice round back at Encanto in Phoenix. This time I got to play the back nine, and I played it very well.
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