15th Excerpt From My Original Golf Diary-Part 2-A Big Dream

Written on 3-22-03.

I am flying on my way to go see Guy.  It’s my spring break, and I will have three days to spend with him.  We plan on playing golf, lots of golf!  I look forward to this like I used to look forward to my birthdays and Christmas when I was a kid.  Actually, I still look forward to those.  Now I look forward to my birthdays due to my dream.  I want to play on the Champions Tour.  So, every birthday gets me closer to my dream.  I look forward to Christmas because of James and Danielle.  Christmas is excellent family time and watching my children at Christmas makes me feel young and happy.         James, Danielle, and my wife Belinda continue to be the pride and love of my life.  

I continue to read and enjoy Bob Rotella’s book Golf is Not a Game of Perfect. His books are the best of all the golf books I have read so far.  His books help me maintain my focus and re-invigorate my desire.  

Last summer, I was able to get my handicap down to 16.3.  I plan on getting it down to 10 before the end of this summer. Last summer, I played in my first two “individual” tournaments.  I placed third in my first tournament, and well… learned a lot in the second.  This summer, I plan on playing in at least three.  Last summer/year, I earned thirty birdies and my first eagle.  This summer, I want forty and my first “ace” would be nice, too.  Last summer, I played my best nine holes ever, shooting a 37, just two over par.  This summer, I want my first even with par round or better.

Only one thing will keep me from my goals…me!  If it is to be, it is up to me.  I am going to practice every morning.  I am going to work out every morning early, and then head to the course.  My biggest focus will be on the short game.

Here’s my dream; here’s what excites me. 

14th Excerpt From My Original Golf Diary-Part 2

        This post was from just over 20 years ago when we got a new pro at Hidden Valley. Now, Hidden Valley is closed down.  I have heard rumors it might open again, but they are just rumors.

Written on 3-10-03.

        I got to play yesterday with the new head pro at Hidden Valley.  His name is Gerry, but I am not sure if that is how you really spell his name.  His brother works at the Aztec Car Care and Tire Center for Eric.  His brother’s name is Kerry, so I am assuming it is spelled the same way because there are a couple of other brothers with names that rhyme in their family (it's actually Gary).  He is very nice, and I hope he does a good job with/at Hidden Valley.  

        I played hot and cold for eighteen holes.  A nice bonus is that we got to play for free because I am volunteering to help with the high school golf team sometimes.  The weather was very warm for March, in the sixties.  The bad holes were either double pars or double bogeys, but the good holes were pars or just plain bogeys.  I got five pars and four bogeys.  I scored 100. The course is not in great shape.  Gerry said he was going to go around with spray paint and markers the next day to mark the greens and all of the ground under repair.

My two best pars came on #16 and #17.  On the par three 16th, I hit a smooth 9-iron just the way I had pictured it.  It went high and it flew right over the tree and landed just beyond the hole.  I missed the birdie putt by rolling it over the edge on the right side.  It then broke for one foot right behind the hole, so when I looked up I thought it had gone right over the hole.  Gerry said it was a great swing on my tee shot.

On #17, I hit a great tee shot with my 4-iron to about 126 yards out.  I had a bad lie, and it was uphill, so I used my 9-iron.  I hit this shot to the left of the green, which was really a safe miss.  It’s hard to get up and down from the right side with the traps there.  I chipped on, but left myself with a big breaking downhill putt.  I picked out the right spot, though, and it rolled in from about fifteen feet for two pars in a row.  I was scoring better than the new pro on some of these holes!  On #13, I got one of my other pars, and on the next par five, the toilet bowl, I hit a great drive with my 3-wood.  Once again, I got a very nice compliment from Gerry.  He said it was a great stroke!  He said the club stayed down and there was no way I was going to hit it anywhere but straight and long.  I really needed to hear that after screwing up so badly on some of the other holes.  Spring is coming and I can’t wait until summer.  I am going to practice longer and harder than I ever have so far.

I am also looking very forward to spring break with Guy.  I am flying out on Saturday to go spend three days with him.  We are planning on playing golf every day.  Hope the weather cooperates.  

Until next time… 

A Brief Summary of How Life is in Our Family

Written on 4-16-23.

        Belinda and I are sitting out on our deck on a lovely Sunday spring afternoon.  Where to begin?  Dad is in rehab in Colorado Springs.  Phew.  It was a chore to get him in there, and it might not have happened.  Joe advised that within the medical field, things usually happen in the last minute, and he was right.  

Mom is living at Legend, and we are so happy she is in there.  Except Mom.  She is miserable, because she is missing Dad and their home for 53 years.  Bev arranged to have a doctor prescribe some “happy” drugs, and her mood appeared to be better when we would FaceTime.  She cries less, and she smiles more.  She recognized that she had asked me something once, so that was weird.  We are so used to hearing her getting stuck in a dementia loop.  We just need to keep praying that Dad will get out of rehab and move in with her, because we know that will help the entire situation.

Danielle just called. She is talking to us on...

13th Excerpt From My Original Golf Diary-Part 2-Rotella's Rules

        I see that I began this entry with I can't believe March is almost here.  Right now, I am in disbelief that we are past the middle of April.  I am writing in my Golf Diary-Part 21 today on our deck, and it feels so great to be writing about...anything again, golf or life.  I need some birdies to force even more writing.  Soon.

Written on 2-27-03.

I can’t believe March is almost here.  I am looking forward to going to see Guy over spring break.  We are going to play golf every day if the weather will let us.  They have had some severe winter storms out East, so I hope they are done by the end of March.  We have even had some snow, but it is more than welcome here.  I don’t care if I can’t play golf.  We need the moisture.  I hope it continues for the entire month of March and then some.  I worry about having another dry summer.  

I have been watching some of the Accenture Match Play Tournament on television and recording some of it.  Ernie Els was defeated.  Darn.  I heard he is 6’3” just like I am.  More proof that if he can do it, so can I.  He is the correct height!  I stayed home with Danielle yesterday.  We went to see Dr. Lavengood because she was complaining about sore throat pain.  She is going to have her tonsils removed in two weeks, so we wanted to make sure she would be okay.  She did not have strep.  Thank goodness.  When we returned home, I found golf on the television, and it was a Wednesday!  I used my free time recording it, and getting all of my tapes organized.  I have recorded two full tapes and more of golf coverage.  I even recorded a little more today after school.  

I have also been working on memorizing Rotella’s Rules when I eat breakfast.  They are very good.  Here is what I have memorized so far…

A person with great dreams can achieve great things.

People by and large become what they think about themselves.

Golfing potential depends primarily on attitude and skill with the wedges and the putter.  Great golfers are simply ordinary people thinking well and performing extraordinary deeds.

Free will is a golfer’s greatest source of strength and power.  Choosing how to think is a crucial decision.

Golfers who realize their potential generally cultivate the three D’s, desire, determination, and discipline, the three P’s, persistence, patience, and practice, and the three C’s, confidence, concentration, and composure. 

        That’s as far as I’ve gotten.  Before summer, I hope to have them all memorized.

12th Excerpt From My Original Golf Diary-Part 2

    Today, our mother gets moved into Legend in Colorado.  What a momentous day!  Our parents have been at 1542 for over 50 years!

Written on 2-23-03.

We just had the Edgertons over for dinner, and Dale and Anna came as well.  Eric and I played Tiger Woods on the GameCube.  He beat me again, but I beat him finally the last time we played over at his house.  I beat him in a skins game pretty badly, and then we tried the par three scenario where you play four different par threes.  I got a 7, which earned me a gold medal.  I got three birdies and a hole-in-one at St. Andrews with a nineteen mile per hour wind!  It felt good to play well enough to beat him even though it was just on the GameCube.  We also played stroke play, and I managed to tie him with a 64.                Tonight, he beat me in match play, though.  I started out three up, and even had back-to-back eagles, one on a par five, and the next on a par four, but he steadily caught up and beat me.

        In the real game of golf, though, I have some good things to write about.  Here is the birdie I earned at Pinon Hills on Presidents’ Day.

Pinon Hills-Hole #13

I hit one of the best draws of my life right off the tee.  A good tee shot goes over the hill on this par five.  I used my 3-wood, and I didn’t take a long time to think about it.  My swing thoughts were to relax my grip and to swing my hands as far away from my head on the forward swing.  It worked!  I was a little over two hundred yards away and the pin was on the front, so I used my 4-iron.  I hit a terrible shot here.  I scuffed it, and it turned out to be a lay-up shot instead of a “going for the green” shot.  From there, I hit a nice 9-iron that went over the flag.  I had a long putt from there that went up over a hill, and then down to the left.  Craig said that it really turned into the hole, but it looked like it got on line and just stayed there rolling into the hole.  It was at least fifty feet away, and we wondered if they keep track of those kinds of stats on the PGA Tour.  That makes birdie #6 this year!  I want forty!

I did have a good plan before I played, and it did really help me focus and play better.  The plan was...