• Return Hell
• Part 8 - Return
• Part 7 - Snorkeling
• Part 6 - La Gran Piedra
• Part 5 - Day Trip
• Part 4 - On again, off again
• Part 3 - Injury
• Part 2 - A Day in Paradise
• More under Adventures in the Caribbean...

• Despot
• Pat on the Back
• Detroit
• The Stupidness pool
• Photography
• Interestingness rant...AGAIN!
• Pizza
• Remembering
• More under General...

• First Tournament
• First Round
• New Driver
• November
• In The Zone
• Broken Driver
• Closing Stag
• Slump
• More under Golf...

Closing Stag

Closing Stag?TOURNAMENT?nerve time?how will I do? Will I completely embarrass myself or will I acquit myself & play a decent round? The angst started days before. Not a good sign.

We were originally slated to start in the morning, but were shifted to the afternoon at the last minute. This turned out to be a good thing as the morning was cold. I went to the course early & as I?ve been having trouble with sand lately, I dumped my entire shag bag of balls in the practice bunker & proceeded to figure out what the hell I?ve been doing wrong lately. I managed to acquire a new perspective on sand and am now able to get out without much trouble (which proved handy later on in the day!) ? swing, full follow through. That seems to work well, for me anyway. I hit another shag bag of balls with the driver which has been a bit of a source of irritation the past couple of weeks or so too. Man, I was spraying them all over the place. I must say though, that there was about a 3 club wind blowing, which would keep up for most of the afternoon, although the last few holes it dropped to a 1 club, but maybe I was getting used to it. OK, time to go & pay my fees, skins, draw tickets yada yada?then hit the putting green for a few putts to get some speed sensors in my brain. I must say that the greens were really nice this round. As nice as I've seen them all year. They putted true & I had a low putt count, well under 30 so that part of my game was on track. Off to the tee, we started on #3, 2nd group. Great, the hardest hole on the course against a 3 club wind. Perfect. Oh well, relax into the game & Que serra? serra?

Well, no problem, bogie, but against that wind that?s a good score for a long par 4. The next hole though?.I smash a drive right down the middle.? It goes straight as an arrow, stopping 40 yards off the green. Nice. This is going to be good. Well, I ?peek? on my next shot & pull it. There?s a bunker there but I?m going to miss it left, no problem. But wait! What?s this? A RAKE, a fucking RAKE?OUTSIDE the bunker (what was it doing OUTSIDE the bunker?!) that my ball comes down right on & careens into the bunker. Not just into the bunker, but also into a spot where I have to stand, well, balance really, with one foot out, one foot in & try & make a shot. Phhhht! Well, skull city, right over the green off the back by 5 or 10 yards. A 4 iron punch shot through the trees which block my view of the pin, right through the green & back into the bunker. Yes, the SAME bunker I was just in. Hahahahaha, perfect! Well, OK, at least I can now stand in it & make a shot I practiced just recently. I?m out, up and in for a sweet 7, triple bogie, on the second hole of play. Kee-rist?4 over after 2 holes! Man what a drag. Oh well, suck it up & play on.

I played my game for 16 of the 18 holes (I had a double bogie on 17 after I pulled my drive into some trees?2 shots later I?m back on the fairway after my ball greeted some of them rather abruptly) so I?m not too upset. 2 bad holes, 16 holes of what I normally shoot. 6 mis hits though. I could have easily shot in the 70s. Not fantastic, an 83, adjusted 82, middle of the pack, but not horrible either. ?I hit 3 bunkers , 4 if you count the same one I was in twice on the 4th hole, & had some pretty good outs thanks to my sand practice before the round. I wasn?t overly pleased with the round, but not overly pissed off either. No birdies, but there ya go. Maybe next time I play I?ll get 3 of them. You never know. It was a fun round played with friends so no complaints (other than the 4th hole & that stupid rake!!!)

When I was finally called to the prize table (there were 6 flights, I was in the second, about ? way down), I managed to get a $120 pair of golf shoes, which surprised me. I figured I'd get a hat & a sleeve of balls or something like that. Adidas. They feel a bit tight, but apparently I can exchange them. That?s nice, as my current shoes, (Footjoy softjoys, ?I?d recommend these to ANYONE!!? It?s like wearing slippers), are pretty well worn out.

Not a bad closer. The Men?s scramble is tomorrow. I?m sure I?ll have something to say about that. :-)

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Filed under Golf, Sep 24, 2005
 

NEXT ENTRY: Broken Driver - Added on Sep 27/2005