A New Wishon 919 THI Driver and Thanksgiving

Written on 11-8-18.

     After some searching and sampling, I finally chose to buy a “new to me” driver.  It’s the Wishon 919 THI, and it has the stiff shaft and 11 degrees of loft.  I am very happy with my choice, and it only cost me $80.00.  Don asked for $75.00, but I got an ATM withdrawal for $80.00, so that’s what I gave him. On some holes, I have already had the longest drives I’ve ever had due to it being better suited to my swing.  

     Before I get to the latest birdie (with the help of that new driver), Danielle and I ended up seeing Bohemian Rhapsody yesterday instead of my watching it alone after going to that new Durango Joe’s five days ago.  It was a thoroughly entertaining and well-acted movie, and I highly recommend it.  Rami Malek was the best part; he was amazing with his performance and likeness of Freddy Mercury.  I grew up with Queen and Freddy Mercury songs, so it was great to reminisce, too.  In many ways, it was like going to a live concert, and I enjoyed seeing the origins of many of their most popular songs, too, including Bohemian Rhapsody, of course.

On to golf…

     I played with C.J. a few days ago, and we ended up playing match play on the front nine.  We agreed that he should get a pop on every hole, and that was because he was only playing with one club, his 7-iron.  I won the first hole, because I...

Wahweap Airstream, New Durango Joe's on 20th, and Driver Shopping

Written on 10-24-18.

     I have a break here at Twin Lakes in the afternoon, so I am going to take a few minutes to catch up some more on that latest Hillcrest round.  Bruce did so well on the front nine that he alone got us to three down by hole #9.  My par, the only one on #4, got us back to just one down, but his pars on #5 and #8 regained that stronger three-up lead for their team.

     On the back, my par on #10 got us back to two down, but C.J. earned the only birdie of the entire round on the par three #12 to put us back to three down once again, and that’s how it remained until we ran out of holes on hole #16.  Before his birdie, I nearly earned a par on #12 to get us back to just one down, but instead, I ended up on the receiving end of yet another putt that lipped out due to too much speed.  I had the strongest finish in our group on the final two holes with two pars, but it didn’t matter.  The final scores were: Pat-88, Eric-105, C.J.-100, and Bruce-83.  I was happy to see that Bruce had only beaten me by five strokes; that strong finish helped.  Stinker Bruce proved that you can take a break from golf and come back just as sharp as ever.  

Written on 10-27-18.

     Well, this is just plain fantastic!  I am sitting in a very expensive Airstream at Wahweap near Glen Canyon Dam and Page, Arizona.  This was Amanda’s idea.  She was googling Airstreams, and she stumbled upon this campground where anyone can stay in an Airstream right next to Lake Powell.  We are celebrating our anniversary earlier this year, and it will be our 28th on November 24th.  It was a surprise trip for me.  I had no idea where we were going until we drove into the national park itself.  

     As we drove in, A and B allowed Eric and I to guess what we would be staying in, and after many incorrect guesses, we discovered it would be two huge Airstreams, one per couple.  We did some research and found out that these would probably cost over 100 grand if we chose to buy one.  We agreed we would not want to spend that much money on a trailer.  We are looking at...

Even After Nine Holes!

Written on 10-18-18.

     Hello, old friend.  I have some fun news!  I played Civitan today, and I got two birdies…and I shot even par for the last nine holes I played.  Yes, even par!  I’ll record those birdies later, and I’ll do a hole by hole breakdown for the even-par round, too.  The birdies came on holes #8 and #4.

     I’m also writing really briefly here before falling asleep to report that Eric, C.J., Bruce and I are playing at Hillcrest tomorrow.  It’s going to be a blast!  Okay, off to sleep now.

Until next time…

10-20-18

     It’s 3:51 on a Saturday afternoon.  Belinda and Amanda are driving home after going to Albuquerque to do some dress shopping for Becca’s wedding.  I heard they had success.  Hooray!

Written on 10-21-18.

     I had to stop writing yesterday, because I remembered I had a BWP meeting in Farmington at 4:30.  Now, it’s 8:22 on a Sunday night, and my family and I just wrapped up an early chat on WhatsApp due to Guy getting up early for an MRI on his neck tomorrow.  Belinda is taking dinner to Jess.  She just got back from visiting her cousin, Beth, out in New York, so I am sure she will be super thankful to have dinner brought to her.  Kodak/Kody and I are just hanging out at home together.

On to golf…

     So, as I had written above, I earned two birdies at Civitan, and I shot a round of even par for my last nine holes.  I went around four times that day, and it was...

Four More Birdies!

Written on 9-28-18.

     I am just writing to make the time go faster until I present at a staff meeting here at Crownpoint Elementary School.  It’s 12:54, and we start at 1:00, so I don’t have much time.

     I saw that the United States is now down 5-3 after the Europeans swept them in the afternoon rounds.  That’s quite a turnaround.  C.J. has picked the Europeans to win, but I chose the Americans.  We still have tomorrow and Sunday to go, but it’s already shaping up to be extremely competitive.  

     When we played on Wednesday, C.J. was not feeling well due to a Shingles booster shot, so he stopped playing after twelve holes.  Don joined us, though, so he and I finished the rest of the round together.  We played, at C.J.’s suggestion, the Reverse Handicap Game, and we decided, in the interest of saving time on the first tee, to just use the handicaps on the scorecard.

     We started on the back nine, and I shot my best back nine score this season, finishing at just two over.  I earned two birdies at the end of that nine to really help lower that score.  

     Okay, people are showing up.  Writing for a few minutes helped.  Off I go.  

Until next time…

Written on 9-30-18.

     Kody and I are sitting outside at “Haven,” our front porch.  It’s a bit breezy.  It’s just not quite cold enough to make me get up and go get a jacket, though.  John and Chopper came up to say hello and visit for a bit, and Chopper didn’t bite, growl, or bark at Kody for the first time since they’d first met.  Hopefully, they will get along from here on out; Chopper is a favorite of ours, for sure.

     I played yesterday all by myself, and it was...

Two Fall Birdies

Written on 9-22-18.

     Belinda, Kody, and I are sitting out on our front porch, “Haven.”  I am about to go barbecue some chicken.  I can hear our neighbor, John, talking on his phone with a friend in the background.  Belinda went on a hike today out past Purgatory and Cascade Village with some of her school friends, and she saw some wonderful colors; it’s that time of year.  I relish this time of year.  C.J. and I got to go play golf in this fantastic weather this morning, and it was wonderful.  The high was in the mid-’70s.  Gorgeous golf weather right now.

     I earned two birdies during today’s round.

Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #4-Birdie #37 of 2018             

     We were playing a version of a points game that was slightly different.  I believe it was 3 points for a G.I.R., 3 points for a par, 5 for a birdie, and 7 for an eagle.  Getting up and in from off the green for a par was worth 2 points, and fairways were worth 1 point.  

     On four par three holes today, I hit my tee shots thin, causing them to fly lower and farther than I wanted.  This was one of those holes.  The white tees were in the middle, and the hole was down on the bottom.  My thinned 9-iron put my ball just off the green and below the hole.  I chose to putt from there, and when my ball was three feet away, I thought it was going to stop, but it just continued its slow march until it dropped in gently, not even tapping the flagstick.

Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #11-Birdie #38 of 2018             

     Our front nine scores were embarrassing.  We did not play well at all, except for my skulled birdie on #4.  That’s why it was so gratifying to turn things around and play up to my potential on the back nine.  

     For this birdie, I drove my ball over the wash where it settled into the bunker on the far left side.  The hole was cut on the far right side and near the middle.  C.J. got up and in from just off the green on the right side for his par.

     My second shot was the most difficult and the most impressive.  It was a long bunker shot, and the lie was not great.  My ball was sitting down on a small track, and that made the contact much more difficult, but I splashed my ball out just like a pro!  It popped up, landed on the green near the hole, and stopped on the far side.  The putt was not an easy one either.  The greens had been aerated, so I was putting through a bunch of tiny holes.  Just before I putted, I could clearly see six inches of break from right to left, so I just put my ball on the line that I saw so clearly in my head.  It worked so well.  My ball curved and dropped right in the hole. 

     When it was all over, the stretch of the first four holes gave me enough points to hold on until the very end of the round.  The final score was Pat: 40 to C.J.: 30.  I shot an 85, and that was with a 37, just +3, on the back nine.  

Until next time…