My First Birdie of the Season!

Continued from last post... 

        When we were done, we saw Shawn in the Grill on the Hill.  He was hiding, he said, from his mother-in-law and work.  He bought the beer I said I would buy for Herman (not his real name) and the iced tea for me, too.  He said he owed Herman anyway.  After a mix-up when I said I would play on Friday with Herman, I ended up playing with Shawn instead on Thursday.

He shot a 44 on the front, and I had another 46.  I thought I had a chance to catch him on the back, and I got a birdie on #12 to help.

Pinon Hills Golf Course-Hole #12-Birdie #1 of 2023

This is fun!  I was hitting my driver well.  I had just hit three fairways in a row, 9, 10, and 11.  This is a par three, and I had hoped to keep hitting it straight.  Boy, did I.  The flag was on the back, so it was 208 yards, even from the whites.  I chose my 21º utility club, and I hit one...

right at the flag.  It landed 12 feet short of the flag.  We played with Cliff and Joe (a lady), a couple from Prescott.  Cliff said, “Let’s see this birdie putt.”

I lined it up, and let it go and it went right into the hole.  Cliff said something like, “Oh, it’s that simple, huh?”

I am so excited to get my first birdie of 2023.

I was able to play well enough to win, but it was really close.  Shawn had an amazing, accidental stinger approach shot on 18.  It looked like it had enough speed to roll off the back of the green, but it ended up three feet from the hole.  Wow!

I had a similar approach to the one with Herman with the same utility club I used to get my birdie.  I was left in the grass bunker nearly pin high.  The day before, I was just off the green and that’s why I was able to chip it close enough to get my par.  For this round, I was farther away, but I was still able to pitch it onto the green to get a shot at another par.  My par putt missed, so I ended with a bogey.  If Shawn had made his birdie putt, he would have tied me, but he missed low.  I broke the 46, 46 curse by shooting a 46, 44.  Shawn shot a 44, 47.  Phew!  Glad I caught him early on in his season.  I don’t think he has been playing as much now that Tim is moving to San Antonio to be near grandchildren.  

Well, I am caught up mostly.  It only took a trip to the new cabin home to do it, but now it’s done.  I plan to play with Melton again this Thursday before I head back to Lakewood and Colorado Springs to cover for Bev and Curt being gone for their 35th anniversary in Alaska.

Until next time…