Dawn Grant Reveals the Purpose of My Writing/Journal

Written on 5-19-24.

      I see in my notes that I wanted to write about the excerpts from Dawn Grant’s book, because what she wrote had everything to do with one of the purposes of this journal.  I took pictures of two pages to help me recount what she said, and then I gave the book back to John.

Here is part of what she wrote, “What does having fun again mean?  For the competitive person, having fun again can mean I can still set goals for myself and I can still have drive, but I’m also aware that I like being on the golf course.  I like these people with whom I’m playing.  I like being a golfer!”

She continues, “I have overcome fear and I can appreciate the ‘good’ in all, even in ‘bad’ shots and ‘bad’ scores, because I now see the gold nuggets and the golden opportunities to learn and advance forward…just like I want!”   

She also wrote, “…allow for...

Warming Up Really Helps

Written on 5-18-24.

    It’s a Saturday afternoon, and Belinda and I are taking a rest between graduation parties.  We went to Lily’s party this morning, and we are going to Keaton’s this afternoon.  It’s that time of the year.  Won’t it be a bit sad when all of the students we worked with are through the system?

On to golf…

I practiced at Hillcrest after having my pinkie finger looked at in Durango.  Sounds like the best option after meeting with a PA named Trevor is to fuse it into a bent position of 45º, so that is what I will do.  I have another appointment on Tuesday, and I am going to try and walk on at Hillcrest after that.  I was referred to an orthopedic surgeon that has a private practice in the same building, and he has our insurance.  I hope our insurance will cover it.

The practice was good.  Lately, I have had productive practice sessions.  When I worked on my putting at Pinon Hills before a recent round, I sunk five putts from over thirty feet.  It’s weird to me that I don’t get as excited about something like that like I used to.  It’s probably because I would rather have it happen when I am playing for a score instead.  The trick is to convert those swell practice sessions into better scoring.

We just got back from Keaton’s party.  What a super family.  He is going to...

A Bit South of Respectable

Written on 5-11-24.

      We ended with a par on that one.  I didn’t get it very close with my pitch, but Greg made an excellent lag putt, barely missing on the left side.  

For the alternate shot, we putted very well.  It added more pressure to make sure you got your first putt close enough to make it easier on the your partner.

We ended the alternate shot nine holes in a wonderful way with a par on the difficult #18.  I had the drive, Greg had the approach, and then I had a better chip (than the one on the previous hole) with my gap wedge.  Greg was tested with a short downhill breaking putt, and he finished it off with ease.  

Our more experienced competitors really struggled on this hole.  Michael left his putt from just off the green short.  Then Dave left his short, too.  Michael missed the uphill four-footer causing it to lip out an inch away.  We all gasped.  Dave was funny.  He said, “I can make that one.”

For the last nine holes, it was back to...

Golf is Like Water Skiing

Written on 5-10-24.

      Belinda and I have a date tonight!  We are going to Chili’s and a movie: The Fall Guy with Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt.  It is going to be fun!  The school year for her is winding down, and we are getting a tiny taste of summer tonight.  

I worked on window cleaning today, and I hope to get all of our spring projects done before school gets out.  I fertilized our lawn yesterday, too.  I could have played golf, but I was a little burned out and tired from the tournament.  I just set a tee time for Tuesday at 11:00 next week, though.

Back to golf…

On Sunday, we started on the back nine at Hillcrest, and that was the only alternate shot part, but Yost made a modification that I am sure helped everyone.  We would choose the best tee shot first, and then alternate shots in from there.  We played with...