Written on 11-5-24.
I am so glad Election Day is here. The sooner we get this over with, the better. This morning, I attended Garylee’s funeral, and it was beautiful. My vote for 2024 is for Garylee and his family.
Belinda went up to the cabin with her sisters, because she has today off. That’s new. We didn’t get Election Day off all the years before. I hope she enjoyed the quiet of the mountains. I heard it snowed.
Back to golf…
The day before I beat Herman (not his real name, but I am sure he wouldn't mind if I used it), I was leading until the final two holes. He gave me six strokes on that day, too, but they dwindled to only three by the time we got to #17. Then I had a meltdown triple bogey (honestly, I didn’t even finish the hole) and a double after that. He had a bogey and a par, so I gave up the lead and bought him a beer…again. I should have a membership for buying beers for Herman; it would be less expensive.
Richard played really well that day. He shot a 44, so Herman actually had to buy him a beer. He did give Richard more strokes than he gave me, though. We normally play the front nine as a warm-up, and then the gloves come off and we have a competition on the back. After that, we buy a beer for Herman. That’s been the pattern.
He gave us six strokes each on Friday. That made sense. For Richard, it was fewer because of his win the day before. For me, it made sense because I blew up in a spectacular way. I am going to do a hole by hole this time, since I defeated Herman. I want to remember this in detail.
I won’t include Richard’s scores, however. He blew up in an even more spectacular way. When we got to hole #14, he jokingly offered to lend us his credit card and head back to the parking lot. My bad score from the day before would have beaten his round by six strokes. That’s how bad it was, and it was such a contrast from the day before. That’s golf.
Hole 10-Herman and I both got bogeys. I had a super chip for my third shot, but I missed my par attempt.
Hole 11-He earned a bogey, and I made a bogey, too. I putted my fourth shot from way off the green and below the hole on the left side. It was a swell play, and he was incredulous that I had putted it. He asked, “Did you just putt that?”
“Yes,” I said.
The grass was cut very low for some reason, so I thought it was super smart. I got up and down for another bogey, so that’s all that matters.
Hole 12-We both went right of the green. He pitched on and made a bogey. My pitch fell short and landed on the fringe. Sadly, my first putt went too far past the hole, and I missed my bogey putt. He gained his first stroke on me on this hole.
Hole 13-I teased him on the fairway before his second shot. I told him to splash his ball into the water and then get up and down for his par, because that’s what he did the day before. He ignored me, but then he got his par anyway without the watery part.
Then he teased me to put my third shot in the water and get up and down for a bogey. I didn’t mean to put my approach in the water, but that’s what I did. Next, I did what he told me to do, too. I got up and down for my bogey from about 30 yards. I had now lost two strokes to him, though.
Hole 14-We both got bogeys. I hit my approach into the bunker. Herman hit his into the bunker, and his ball plugged! I chipped on with my Sandy Andy, and I two-putted. Herman gouged out his ball, but missed his long par putt. No loss here.
To be concluded...
