Our First Golf Trip Really Blew Us Away

Written on 3-14-24.

      I am watching The Masters on a Sunday, and the final group just started the back nine.  I have about two hours of wonderful golf and writing.  How rare!

Belinda and I just came back from Father Raja’s 20th anniversary luncheon at Holy Trinity.  He came to Aztec during the pandemic after the sudden death of Father Badger.  He was so thoughtful to ask me to invite Belinda.  He is always asking about her and my family.  Congratulations, Father.

Back to golf…

I watched some of the action at The Masters on Friday, and it was reminiscent of what the winds were like in Page.  I wondered how the pros would have handled the howling winds and gusts up to 40 mph, and I was able to see it. 
They handled it better, of course.

It was always worse on the back nine when we were in Page.  Winds would gather speed as they came up and over the cliffs where the greens were, especially on holes 11 through 14.

Some of the most difficult things of playing in the wild winds were...

my vision, my club choices, and my putting.  When I would take my stance over my ball, the wind would cause my eyes to water, so that would affect my shots.  I would under-club and over-club, and when I would choose correctly, I wouldn’t chip or pitch well to make up for it.  Ugh.  

One example was the tee shot on the par three #13.  I used my utility club, and I made a great strike, but the wind held it up and dropped it just before the front of the green.  I thought I could chip/pitch aggressively into the wind, but it was never enough.  The wind would just knock it down.  After a while, it became hilarious.

The putting wasn’t as bad as it was at The Masters on Friday.  Our golf balls would not blow away while they were just sitting on the greens (the greens at Lake Powell were not as fast, of course), but they would affect the speed and the lines of our putts, and they were so unpredictable.  Just more hilarity.

I stopped using my Arccos sensors after the first couple of holes on the second day.  The wind was so loud that they weren’t picking up the sounds of my clubs striking my golf balls.  I didn’t want to add in all the shots that it would have missed after the round.

Our scorecard blew right off of Eric’s cart (from underneath the clip on the steering wheel!) near the green on hole #14.  Eric said so, and I looked back on the fairway to see it tumbling away.  I immediately said I would go get it for us, but then a group came up to the teeing ground.  I decided to let it go.  Every time we play, I want to play a game.  This time, because of the wind and the futility of it all, I chose to let it go.  I was willing to let the scorecard (and the desire to see who would win the game) go.  It just didn’t matter anymore. 

So, our first golf trip is over, and despite the wind, it was really fun.  Those guys are just great to hang out with, and I enjoyed the road trip, the meals, and the conversations.  Maybe for our next trip, the weather and the golf will be better.

I will play at Hillcrest this Tuesday, and Greg and I have decided to be partners in the Across the Border tournament coming up on May 4th and 5th.  I need to get my handicap going for that one.

The Masters is finishing up and Scottie Scheffler is in a commanding lead at -11 with two holes left to play.  That will be two championships in the past three years for him.  Another thing to note is that Verne Lundquist, the commentator, is retiring after forty years of announcing The Masters.  That’s so cool.

Until next time…