Sunday, August 6, 2023

An Incredible Gift for My 12th Birthday

Continued from 6-30-23.

        Unfortunately, I won’t play on this trip.  No golf courses nearby except Bernalillo, and that’s about an hour away.

        I played with Herman (not his real name), C.J., and Patrick at Pinon Hills before we came here.  That was on my 12th brain surgery birthday two days ago like I had written about earlier.

The best birthday gift I received that day was beating Herman on the front nine!  He said he was ten over when we were on #10’s teeing ground, and I ended up being eight over.  I teased him by saying I was basking in the light of having a lower score than he did after those nine holes as I held my arms open and looked up at the sky.  He laughed.

He said his brother-in-law, John (not his real name either), had kept him up the night before due to bathroom troubles.  John has Down’s Syndrome.  I didn’t even know he had a brother-in-law with Down's living with him until he mentioned this.  

Herman moves pretty slowly most of the time, but he was really dragging on this round.  I told him after the round that he was like a zombie on the front nine.

Well, he woke up on the back, and my play slowed down.  He shot two over, and I didn’t even get a legal score on #18 after my third shot out of the greenside bunker went sailing into the trees behind the green.  I also really loused up the par three #16, scoring a seven.  Still, I am more optimistic about being able to beat Herman.  I am beginning to believe it’s possible, and that’s more than half the battle.  He just has to play really badly, and I need to play out of my mind.

It was great to see Patrick and C.J., and I was glad they could join us.  C.J. only played nine holes to help him get warmed up for his ENMU fundraiser.  Patrick ended up having a bone spur in his knee, but he was able to play by riding in a cart.  He didn’t do too well, but he was joyful to be out.  This was Herman and Patrick’s first meeting.

We played earlier (8:10 AM) due to the heat.  I managed to get a tee time, and I believe things are slowing down a bit at Pinon Hills after all the curiosity about the construction and remodeling.  Normally, I wouldn’t have been able to get a tee time early in the morning in the summer.  I have even set another tee time for this Wednesday at 7:40 AM, and I invited Herman, C.J., and Eric.  Herman replied this morning that he thought he could play again.  Good.  Another opportunity to beat him (wink, wink).

That’s about it.  I am just so happy to get another opportunity to write.


Until next time…

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