| Finally! So anyhow, it's been pretty good to be golfing again. I had forgotten what a pleasure it can be to hit a good shot, even with the rare occasion such an event is for me. But, with it all considered, how a year ago my right shoulder would have been too stiff and unyielding to even swing a club, to where I am now with the shoulder recovering, to be able to walk out amongst the fairways, the rough, the trees, the sands.
I golfed on Saturday, a day when the region was seeing anywhere from a few inches of rain to up around 10 inches in places. My feet and the rest of me got to dry out again, and go back out to golf again yesterday, Sunday, a day which would see the longest postseason game in baseball history, when a 43 year old Rocket would be called to pitch relief, a day when the Cowboys would beat up on my beloved Eagles.
Sunday, a day which found me shooting 48 through the first 8 holes at Delcastle. Hole 9, a par 3, with the tees playing up because the back tee boxes were recovering from the puddles of Saturday. I looked at the scorecard and said to the person playing with me, "150 yards from here."
He teed first, and chewed up more turf than ball, his ball landing in the soft area about 20 yards short of the green.
I decided to hit an 8 iron, if it had been a level hole I would have gone with the 7, but it's a good drop from the tee boxes to the 9th green. The pin was on the left side of the green, but the hacker I am, I reminded myself, "Center of the green is a good shot." So I aligned myself to go for the center.
I swung, and it was one of those hits without any feel to it, it was so purely struck. It arched up high enough that I felt some vague unease it could start the rain clouds up. So do I now scream at you and tell you that it curled down with a bit of draw towards the hole? Do I yell at you that it thumped into the green with enough spin to send it veering towards the cup?
No. I simply tell you that it went straight towards the target, that center of the green. It thumped down, pin-high, about 15 feet right of the hole.
"Good shot," my partner said.
"I liked it, it resembled a real golf shot."
We walked down. He hacked about and finally got his ball to around 6 feet of the cup. In the meantime, I had marked my ball, and looked at the putt I was facing. A little bit downhill, but pretty straight, maybe I play the line a bit outside to the right.
And that putt rolled in with perfect speed, dropping in the hole on a what was maybe its last couple turns. Finally, a birdie again, after how many years I don't know. But it's been a long time. And that felt good. |