The Beginning of the Nine Holes That I Won...Finally!

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...

A Win and a Great Loss

Written on 11-3-24.

     It’s a Daylight Savings Sunday, so we “fell back” one hour last night.  I remember these Sundays feeling very long, so I am getting some writing in.  The Broncos are getting killed despite their decent record with their impressive rookie quarterback, Bo Nix.  The Ravens are ahead by over 20 points, so I switched off my radio and turned on a YouTube match on Grant Horvat’s channel instead.  He gathered seven junior golfers from the ages 9-15 for a friendly competition.  It’s so much more fun than listening to the Broncos lose.  These kids can play.

I spoke with Camille on Friday about the whole “work situation.”  We are still waiting on the PED for the go-ahead.  I plan on applying for some other jobs tomorrow since it’s getting so late (later than ever), but I am really hoping for another year of work with the CORE.  We shall see.

On to golf…

Well, great news!  I beat Herman (not his real name).  Finally.  He did give me strokes, but I didn’t falter.  Would I have rather beaten him straight up?  Of course, but we agreed on the strokes before we started, and he had destroyed me the day before like the Ravens ruined the Broncos today (final score was 41-10).  Here’s how it all happened…

We played three times with a guy named Richard.  Herman had played with him before.  He rides in a cart every time.  He also said he has a daughter who works at Pinon Hills for extra cash.  She and his granddaughter live with him, and her main job is at the hospital.  He picks up his granddaughter from school at 2:30 often. 

The first time we played, I had not swung a club since King’s Deer, a two-week layoff.  During those two weeks, I went to Lake Powell after my trip to Colorado Springs, and I had recovered from a sinus infection.  It was rough.  Not a memorable round.

The second time, I invited Patrick Smith.  He had called me due to Garylee passing away.  That’s right.  Garylee passed away, and I was so glad I was able to see him one last time for a few hours before he was flown to California for a second transplant due to the first heart failing.  Garylee got a successful heart and liver transplant, but unfortunately he caught pneumonia.  Patrick wanted to know if I knew when his funeral would be for the Knights of Columbus.   They have asked me to be a pall bearer on Tuesday, so I could tell Patrick all about it.  I am sad for my dear friends, the Zunigas.

The Rest of the Round at King's Deer

Also written on 10-27-24.

     We made it to hole #17, and we knew this would be Paul’s final hole.  He had a meeting he said he couldn’t miss, which was a bummer.  I would have loved to play all 18 with him, and I know Guy and Carter would agree.  

After Carter and I won hole #14 we were on our way to victory, and if not, I was certain we won the match after hole 17.  If it turns out we didn’t (I lost track of our match a bit), we won by default when he had to leave (wink, wink).

The par three #17 has two tiers.  The upper tier is on the right and the lower is on the left.  An ideal tee shot could hit the top part and roll down the hole down below.  Either that, or a direct shot to the lower tier, but that runs the risk of falling off into a junk area.  

I played it...

My Mom Passes Away the Day After Thanksgiving

12-25-24    

        First, Merry Christmas!  It's so great to read this after Mom's passing.  I am glad and relieved to see that we had this time together now.  She passed on the day after Thanksgiving, and I need to write about it in here.  Today is Christmas, and we came back from her funeral this past weekend.  Sigh.

Written on 10-27-24.

     I am on our bed again on a Sunday afternoon.  B is futzing around while I am relaxing.  She likes to get a few things done on Sundays.  She scrubbed her paddle board, and I just saw her bring some conditioner into our new bathroom.  Now, she is scrubbing Kody’s muddy paws in the new shower for the first time.  He got into some muddy water, but he usually doesn’t do that.

I prefer to take it easy on Sundays, thus the...

Best 18-Hole Score of the Season!

Written on 10-23-24.

     I played my best round of the season, and I broke a silent goal of mine: breaking 85.  Finally!  It felt so good, and I was glad Herman (not his real name) could see it.  He got me by one stroke on the front and two strokes on the back for his 79.  This would have been another great opportunity for me to beat Herman (another silent goal), but darned if he didn’t play better than I did on that day.  I was proud of my effort, though.  I don’t know if I ever scare him, or if he even notices, but I will continue to do my best when I play against him.  To his credit, he has switched from “giving himself putts” to holing out when he plays against me (most of the time), because he knows it doesn’t give a true account of what his scores are.  Or, he knows I don’t agree with it.  Either way.

I got two birdies, like I said above, and those helped lower my score, of course.

Pinon Hills Golf Course-Hole #5-Birdie #8 of 2024  

I had a par, a double, a bogey, and another par when I came to this hole.  I will use my Arccos app to help me recount this hole, because it happened a while ago.

I used my 5-iron/hybrid club to launch my ball 176 yards, barely missing the fairway on the right side.  The pin was on the front, and I chose my pitching wedge for my approach.  It was only 108 yards, but the rough helped me decide to club up one club.  It didn’t help.  My ball landed short, barely clearing the canyon.  Thankfully, it didn’t roll back into it.  I used my gap wedge for the pitch, and that worked out beautifully.  I used a body swing chipping style, and my ball landed on the green and rolled and rolled.  I didn’t think it would make it, but then it rolled some more and dropped into the hole.  Hooray!

Pinon Hills Golf Course-Hole #12-Birdie #9 of 2024  

The flagstick was on the front left side of the green, and I used my 2-hybrid this time.  It was 184 yards, but there was a breeze.  My ball came out high, and I couldn’t see it land.  I thought it might be in the bunker.  When I got up to the green, I saw my ball had landed just past the bunker and onto the green.  After it had settled, it was only seven feet away from the hole.  It was a very straight putt, and I put it right on the line.  Bravo!

I see that Herman got a par and a birdie on holes 16 and 17.  I got a bogey and a double on those same holes, and there are those three strokes.  I did manage a bogey to his double bogey on the last hole.  I was so happy with this round.  I made seven pars and two birdies.  It felt gratifying.  

Until next time…