My First One Under After Nine Holes!

Civitan Golf Course-Hole #1-Birdie #1 of 2016

    I just realized these are the first birdies of this new year.  Yahoo!  Let the lifetime birdie count continue.
    This was our second time around the course.  We were playing the greens in regulation game.  A large group was coming out of the pro shop when we were making the turn.  I recognized one of them, but I don’t know his name.  I offered to let them tee off before us, but they knew they would be much slower than we were going to be (they had seven guys!), so they kindly and rightly let us go first. 
    I chose my PW this time because my AW ended up being short the first time around.  It was about halfway through the first nine holes that I figured out I needed to club up one club on most holes.  My ball flew...

New Year, New Golf Milestone!

Written on 1-31-16.

    Belinda and I are up at the cabin home.  Eric and Amanda just left.  Amanda wanted to leave tonight in order to be able to sleep in their own bed and not have to worry about driving on what will more than likely be snow packed roads tomorrow morning.  I think they made the right decision.  She does, after all, have to be at work tomorrow. 
    Belinda is reading a book on her iPad called Gone for Good.  I’m sitting to the left of the fireplace in the glider rocker we had reupholstered where I can plug in the laptop and stay warm, quite the contrast to my arrival at the kids’ places when I dropped them off at college after the break. 
    An INXS song is playing on my iPhone, and it’s thumping out of my new charcoal black Sony Bluetooth cube-shaped speaker.  I noticed Danielle’s adorable speaker over the break (hers is aqua blue), and I thought it was great, so James and Danielle just bought one for my birthday that was just two days ago.  Oh yeah, I’m now 49 instead of 48.
    Eric turned 50 on January 26th, and Dave Golden also just turned 50, but on January 23rd.  Rocky’s birthday is coming up on February 9th, but he is the youngest of the four of us, and I’m actually not sure how old he is.  We all went to a surprise party for Dave last night, and it was a hoot.  He thought the ladies were having a purse party instead.  Julie organized it all, and many of his close friends were there.  Just like Guy, he had no idea what he was in for. 

On to golf…

    Earlier that day, I got to go play golf with C.J.  Riverview was the only “real” golf course open nearby, but we didn’t have time to go that far to play 18 holes, so I recommended Civitan.  It’s much closer, and I hadn’t played there for years, and C.J. agreed that it would be a welcome change, so off we went.  It was a very small weather window, it turns out.  It’s snowing and raining in our area again.  Our home course and Pinon Hills have not been open for a couple of months. 
    Okay, this is big!  This is one the many reasons I play.  I reached a new milestone!  I was one under par for nine holes at Civitan.  That’s right…I was under par for nine holes this time, not just even, but sadly this round has some asterisks.  The asterisks are that Civitan is not considered a “real” or regulation golf course, and we were hitting off mats due to the weather conditions. 
    But, hey, I’m taking it; it was completely legal and legit.  It was some of the best golf I’ve ever played, and it came very close to the best stretch of five holes I’ve ever played before, too.  I have not topped my five under after four holes yet.  Not sure I’ll ever be able to top that, though.  Three under after five holes, however, is nothing to scoff at.  Here’s how it happened…

See next post for the details.

The Kids are Back in Town, Their Town

Written on 1-12-16.

    Once again I am writing while on a road trip.  Danielle is driving.  I’m sitting behind her, and James is resting in the front passenger seat.  Ocito (Little Bear), Danielle’s and Becca’s hamster is in his cage next to me. 
    I just finished up entering the data from the evaluations of my first ever Time to Teach training.  The reviews were mixed, but mostly positive.  A few things stood out.  First, some  thought it was geared more towards elementary schools.  I told them in the first session that this program was even more effective when implemented in secondary schools, but I guess a couple didn’t see it that way.  Second, they liked me.  I got the majority of the high scores, so that boosts my confidence as I move forward.  I will send the results to Aaron and see what he thinks.  Third, even though I thought it went really well, you can’t please everyone.
    It’s later in the evening now.  We got Danielle to her work meeting on time, and then James and I went to his place to unpack his things and wait until her meeting was over.  Both of their places were freezing.  They’ve since turned on the heat, but as I sit here tapping away, I’m shivering a bit.  We were gone for about an hour to do some shopping at Wal-mart ($50 each) and then go out to dinner at Santorini’s, but it wasn’t long enough to heat it to a comfortable level. 
    Honestly, I got out the laptop to warm up my lap more than to write, but I’m always happy to be writing.  Danielle is returning some snow pants she borrowed from a friend, and it’s taking longer than expected.  Ah, she just walked in, so it’s time to start the movie.  They want to watch Fandango with me, a cult classic and one of my favorites.  It’s more fun to watch when I’m watching and laughing, or so they say.

A New Year, Another New Journal, and a Full Circle

1-8-16

    I am in bed.  B and Danielle are at a party, a painting party? at the (last name's).  I chose not to go due to my cold and wanting to stay home after seeing The Force Awakens for the third time, this time with Rocky.  It’s funny and ironic because I really wanted to see it today, but I couldn’t think of how I would be able to do it and then I got a text from Kelly stating that Rocky wanted me to attend with him because she had “NO desire” to see it.  Yahoo!  That worked out. 
    James is driving home after taking Nicola back to the Albuquerque Airport.  I hope he makes it.  I just sent him a text to check in, but he had 4% power on his phone when he was leaving from Rio Rancho, so I doubt I’ll get a reply. 
   

    Welcome to another golf journal.  I’m writing tonight because I just watched an unauthorized biography on J.K. Rowling on Netflix, and it was inspirational.  She just “wanted to write.”  I, in no way, feel like an expert writer, but I definitely understand that urge to want to write, to express my thoughts, and here I go again.  Year in year out since 1999 I’ve continued to...

Ending Last Year With Even Par* For the First Time

Written on 12-24-15.

On to golf…

    Joe bought me some new Titleist ProV1 golf balls (two dozen) and some golf tees for Christmas.  Phew!  I was down to my last Bridgestone golf ball, but now I’m set for winter and spring golf. 
    This is how I shot even par* the last time I played…

Hole #10-8-iron to top of the green and a putt that went down the slope and moved left to right to stop even with the hole over on the left side.

Hole#11-Drive past the fairway and into some black and crunchy stuff on hole #9.  A PW approach that went past the green and just off the back.  Two putts from there to earn my par.

Hole #12-My tee shot went to the right side of the green, but it rolled off.  My chip with my SW barely got my ball on the green, but I was close enough to finish up with two more putts.  This was my first bogey.

Hole #13-My drive headed toward the...