A Peek Into June This Past Summer

Written on 6-30-24.

      Here I am at the end of June, and I am a bit anxious.  It’s because I know that when July is over, Belinda will begin to act differently.  It’s at that time when she begins to gear up for another school year, so I/we will enjoy July as much as I/we can.  I prefer June Belinda to September Belinda, but I love them both, of course.

We are talking about visiting Mom and Dad soon after July 4th.  Dad’s recent bloodwork revealed that his kidney function went down to a record low: 16%.  I’m no doctor, but I know that’s bad.  He can’t tell a difference, though.  He feels the same, so that’s a good thing.  Either way, it will be great to go visit while we have the time this summer.  Hurry, August is coming!

On to golf…

I have been putting this off, but today is the day.  I am going to write about the Pagosa Springs trip…finally.  

Eric proposed to go play an extra nine holes on Friday, the bad weather day.  Grant said why not go play 18 holes, and who was I to argue with either of them?  We ended up playing...

all 27 holes in two days.  We played Meadows and most of Ponderosa on the first day before the rainstorms came.  Then we played Pinon/Ponderosa on Saturday.  It was glorious, and it was expensive.  How much?  We paid $99.00 for the round on Friday, because we didn’t book it online.  Lunch cost $26.00 for me.  The next day it cost $88.00 for the round, because that was with the reservation I had made prior.  The lunch that day was a bit less, because we got sandwiches to go.  Grant sprung for beers on the last day, and that probably cost around $20.00, so yes, it was a couple of expensive outings.  It was, however, sooooo worth it.  Summer golf on a mountain course with buddies?  Hard to think of anything cooler than that.  Except for maybe winning those rounds.  Here’s how I did.

We chose to play the 1, 2, 3 Points Game both days.  It was simpler.  I mentioned playing the “King of Pagosa” game on the second day since we had three players, but it sounded too complicated when I tried to explain it to Grant, so we just stuck with what we did the day before.  It really is an excellent game to help us all improve the important aspects of our games.

I won’t go hole by hole, but I will go nine hole by nine hole.  I won the first nine holes with a score of 21.  Grant got second place with 11 points and Eric managed eight points for third.  I started hot with a green in regulation and a win on the first hole, and I kept it going with a long drive in the fairway on the next hole, a par five.  I got big points by hitting the green and earning a par on the “over the water” par three #6, too.  That was a smooth swing with my 5-iron/utility club.  

Eric played really well during the second nine on the Ponderosa course.  He had 17 points when the rain came crashing in on hole #7.  I could only garner five points, and Grant earned six, so I conceded that match to Eric.  

On the second hole of that round, Grant hit it close.  He had a wonderful opportunity to make a birdie, but Eric ended up winning with a birdie of his own.  He made a long putt from just off the back of the green to steal those points away from us.  Grant got four points for hitting the green closest to the hole, though.  I played this short par three horribly on both days.

A gully-washer came gushing down on the seventh hole, like I wrote above.  We pulled our carts under some trees to wait it out (I used my umbrella to help us stay dry, but it only did so much), and the round was over at that point.

While we waited, we watched in awe as the water formed a small creek that flowed right by us along to the cart path.  Lighting and thunder happened simultaneously in one terrifying moment, and we felt relieved to be alive afterwards.  It was super close, and I was reminded of Troy Youngren’s son whose friend died on a golf course due to a lightning strike.  We received a message on the Eric’s cart screen to come in; the course was closing for the rest of the day.  

As we drove by the green on hole #8, we saw it was covered with an inch or two of water.  We wondered if we would even be allowed to play the next day.  As we neared the pro shop, I didn’t know where to drive.  The path was covered with water in places, but I could easily get stuck in the large puddles on the grass, too.  I fish-tailed a bit in both places.  Flooring it helped.

I didn’t pay attention at the beginning of the round when Tommy, the starter, explained that we should stay off the paths whenever I could.  I was supposed to drive on the grass next to the cart paths all of the time.  In some places, I could’t help it, but I was a real rule breaker when we started.  Grant expected a ranger to come over and chew me out or tell us that we could never play here again, but it never happened.

I had my best performance on the third nine holes.  Eric started with a bang getting four points on the first hole.  Grant earned one point for the fairway on #1, too.  I bounced back with three of my own on the next hole.  That’s when the points started pushing.  Nobody got points on the little par three, #3.  Grant and I were just on the fringe, and then we tied with bogeys there.

On the next hole, Eric won the long drive for three points.  He hit a boomer!  I earned three points for the fairway and the G.I.R.  Grant hit the green, also, for two points of his own.  Grant and I tied with bogeys again, though.  We both three-putted again!  Argh.

The next hole is one of the holes that goes along the highway.  It’s the short downhill par four.  I say short, because the elevated tee shot makes it shorter.  I got a birdie here with my driver last time.  This time, I chose my 3-wood.  I still had honors, so I had the anxiety of going first.  Honestly, it didn’t look too promising.  I pulled it left, and my competitors thought I had swung one out of bounds and off the course.  Grant said it was probably in the back of a truck on the way to Durango.  I hit a provisional, and that one made the fairway.  

Eric and Grant both hit beauties.  Grant was long and on the fairway, and Eric’s ball landed just fifteen yards shorter than his.  It looked grim for me.  This hole was worth nine points for the win, and they were in primo positions.

I was in my own cart, so I drove down, parked, and headed for the highway to hope to find my golf ball.  I thought if I could find it, I would still have a chance.  Lo and behold, I did find it in the tall grasses near the white stakes, but clearly still inbounds!  Phew!

Even better, I could take a swing at it.  The grass was sparse enough, so I took my new 5-iron and swung through it.  My ball took off low and headed towards the green.  I was about 165 yards away, and my ball stopped short and right on the line between the fairway and the taller grass.  Satisfied, I drove on to figure out my next predicament.  

I knew my pitch would bounce and roll to the left of the pin.  It was cut close to the front on the right side, and this green slopes to the left.  I pulled that pitch, though, so my ball rolled past the flagstick and stopped on the fringe towards the back of the green.

Now, I had a long putt to get it close enough to make a bogey.  Maybe I could tie someone and push the points again, I thought.  Thankfully, Eric and Grant were struggling, also.  They had missed the green after those super drives.  

My putt was from forty feet.  It was uphill, and it curved from left to right.  I took my best guess and gave it to the universe.  The universe responded with a resounding YES.  It plunked in for an unlikely par.  Thank you, universe.  I earned nine points and took the lead.

I won twelve more points on the closing two holes.  I offered a long drive bonus on the final hole to help them out, and then I got it.  Sorry, guys.  The final scores were Pat: 27, Eric: 11, and Grant: 4.

The final nine holes had the best competition.  We all scored well.  Grant started really hot.  By hole #3, he had already accumulated 15 points!  After earning only two points for hitting the fairways, I decided I had better get going.  I set a goal to catch Grant.

I had my best stretch of holes when we played #4 through #7.  I earned four pars in a row, and I was able to catch Grant during that time.  By the time we got to hole #18, Grant and I had 18 points, and Eric had crawled back into the hunt to get 15 points.  That was the end, or so we thought.

For those four pars, I checked the scorecard and the first par came on the #1 handicap hole, the long par four near the airport.  I was able to pitch my third shot onto the green and make a fifteen-footer.  Actually, all of us got up and down from off the green with our pitches; they just did it for higher scores.