Today is Guy's 58th birthday! We spoke this morning (close to noon for him), and we joked that he was having such a wonderful day that it would be fine if he would keel over at the end. He wanted to make it to the end, but then he could die. Ha! We joke like that, but the point is that he is very blessed. It's hard to believe, but Guy is close to 60, and Bev will turn 60 this March. I was talking with my friend Darrell the other day, and we realized that we had known each other for forty years. Time is a funny thing.
Continued from 9-23-23.
Pagosa Springs Golf Course-Hole #7 on Meadows-Birdie #5 of 2023
I am so happy I was able to get another birdie, because my score on the front nine was abysmal: a 49. This one was pretty straightforward. I hit the fairway. I hit the green. I made the putt. I used my driver and my 7-iron, and I got all the points that were possible on this hole. Eric managed a par, so I was thrilled to have made my putt to get the points for winning the hole, too.
I want to get some of the lessons from this round in here, too. Many things were not good, especially on...
the front nine. Here’s the first…When we came to hole #5 on Meadows, my course management went out the window. I shouldn’t have used driver; my 3-wood would have sufficed. My driver put my ball very near the out of bounds. It was so close, I had to hit two more times, and those actually went out of bounds for sure. Ugh. Eric was loving it, and he said as much as I teed up my third tee shot. My 3-wood would have made for a longer approach, but I would have had a better score.
The second lesson was to take an unplayable lie for the second shot. My ball was inbounds, but it was sitting in a hole that may have been dug by a gopher. If I had taken an unplayable, I would have had a much better chance to keep it in play. Instead, I topped it, and it nearly went out of bounds again. It was super close and questionable (whether it was inbounds), but Grant allowed it. I thought it was.
That’s when I shanked my next shot out of bounds. Good grief. I ended up with a nine on a par four. It was a series of seriously bad decisions that multiplied. I couldn’t blame the cold or the allergies I felt coming on yesterday or anything. Just awful golf decisions.
A weird thing happened on the first hole. The lesson is to make sure you putter face is clean. I lined up my simple bogey putt from a couple of feet. A piece of sand was on my putter, and I didn’t notice it. My golf ball made a strange sound and my ball shot to the left of my intended line. Everyone got a bogey on the first except me, because of it. Bummer.
Eric really laughed when I said, “There was a rock on my putter face.”
Grant and Peter laughed, also. They all agreed they had never heard that excuse before. Thinking about it now, that does sound like a lousy excuse. I don’t think it would have sounded much better if I said I had a grain of sand on my putter face.
Another lesson was to get my first putts to the hole. I left many putts short, because I was playing too conservatively. Thankfully, I made about half of the second putts, but I didn’t on hole #4 and #6. Something funny happened on #6, though.
I teed off last on this hole, because of my nine on #5. I used the turf buster, and I swung a good one, getting my ball on the green from 178 yards. I was the only one to do it, and then we all heard some light applause. Three guys were standing on one of the patios for the townhomes, and they were watching. As we drove by, I said, “I’m glad you didn’t see how I played the last hole.”
They laughed.
Because I hit the green, I got more points than Grant even though he earned a par. I got four points by getting my ball on the green and for the closest to the pins on the par three’s, but I got a bogey. He got three for winning the hole. That doesn’t seem fair to me, but it’s right with the game we were playing.
When we were finishing up the Meadows, Grant did something amazing. It’s a long hole for a par four, and we all had around 200 yards for our approaches. Grant’s was a little closer to 180, though, and he used his utility club. His ball came out low and headed straight for the water, and it did dive right in. I saw the splash, but because it had come in low, it also splashed out like a skipping rock. It was over the hazard safely, but he still had some work to do. I chortled. Afterwards, he made a great pitch onto the green and made the putt! Very impressive, Grant!
Eric got a big break on the Ponderosa nine. When we came to the very narrow hole #3, his tee shot bounced off the hill to come down to the flat area. Then he messed up his approach somehow. I didn’t see it, but from around 120 yards, he pulled his shot over to the pine trees left of the fairway. Thankfully, he got a favorable bounce, and his ball came back down to the fairway! Off the trees! From there, he got up and down for a par to tie Grant. I left another of my first putts short, so I earned a bogey.
The scores for the 1, 2, 3 points game were Pat: 40, Grant: 25, Peter: 15, and Eric: 12. Peter didn’t score really well, and I don’t think he got a single green in regulation, but he was consistent off the tee with his rented Taylor Made driver. He hit eight fairways for the round, most of them with a low baby fade that was very consistent.
It’s cooling off quickly here in the shade, so I am going into our Alto to make dinner. Next time, I will add what happened on the final three holes.
Until next time…
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