Alright, you'll have to bear with me on this one, it could turn out to be of epic proportions.
Today turned out to be a great day weather wise. About 26*C around these parts which is stellar for Oct 5. I get up this morning and take care of some business and some odd jobs that need doing.
Then, I get the call.
"Hey, we need a 4th. Can you make it in 25 minutes?"
HELL YA I CAN MAKE IT!
I ran to the window, as the weather outside had escaped me. ZERO wind. And this is an anomoly around these parts. I changed into some half decent garb and headed out, only realizing as the garage door was closing that I had had nothing to eat for some time and needed to grab something. 20 minutes! Cripes!
I headed out towards the course with intentions of picking up a quality lunch from the supermarket. Friggin construction! It would have taken too much time to get to the store. Arby's it is. I figure i've eaten enough Red Lobster to kill a grown horse, a little Arby's cat ain't gonna do me no harm.
Inhaling my "lunch", i headed out to the course. What a beautiful day. What dreams are made of. We get to the course......deserted. No one there. Perfect! The world was our oyster.
I started out nicely with a birdie. Pushed my drive a bit, but not bad for not warming up much. Hit a tight little 8 iron to 6 feet, nothing but cup. I pretty much played the front up and down, only one bogey to bring up. But, the 4 birdies on the front made up for that nicely. The game was getting there. I didn't want to bring up yesterday, so i did my best to entertain the guys i was playing with, keeping it far from memory. I didn't want to jinx it.
The back nine started off well. I had a beer after 9, as i was pretty thirsty, and figured i deserved it. But i only had one. Had to drive home, mind you. Parred 10, 11 and 12. On the tee of 13, i started doing "sunlight math". And, as luck would have it, even my math couldn't add up enough sunlight to equal 18 holes. Cripes!
13 was a par 3. Stuck a nice little 7 iron from 157 to about 4 feet. Jarred. Time was ticking, we needed to hustle.
14 was a par 4, into the setting sun, which made me worry more. I hit a drive just into the right rough, 165 to the hole. Set one on the dance floor and two putted for par. Nice, things are shaping up.
Or so i thought. The others had been playing decent golf until 15. Then the wheels fell off. One took a 9 on the following par 5, the other an 8. It was true stick handling on the green, which was tough, i'll admit. I happened to hit a few good ones on that hole, and ended up lipping out an eagle. Tap in bird. I'm -5 to here.
16 is a par 4, about 440 straight away. The sun was just beneath the horizon by this point. It wasn't looking good. But I was determined to finish this bastard off. I started getting head crazy, and hooked my drive off the tee. In ok shape, but it brought me back to reality. After hitting a great recovery 5 iron to the green (best shot all day, honestly) i hit a lag putt (*****'d out, more like it!) to about 2 feet and sunk that for a par. I ran as i plucked the ball from the hole.
17 is a dainty little par 3. It's about 160 from the marker to middle of the green. The pin was in the back. I figured it was playing about 163, no wind. My brain said 8, but my body said 7. Just get it on the green. Just get it on the green. Aim for the middle, two putt and run. I let one of the other guys hit first, nice tight shot with a 6 iron to about 20 feet. The ball stuck like crazy. I kept thinking, "8 iron?" I was so indecisive, i let the next guy shoot. Trap. Now it was getting dark.
I stepped to the tee with the same HX blue i had been using all round. I had 7 in my hand. I turned to get the 8 but said "F it" out loud. I made my decision. Tee'd up, took my practice swing, checked the target. I could barely see the flag. I took a breath.
Couldn't do it. Grabbed the 8. Frick! The guys were laughing at me. Bastards!
I swung the 8, it felt cold as i hadn't had it in my hands as long as the 7. I stepped up to the ball and delivered a great swing. The ball started out to the right, drew in about 4 yards landed on the green about 18 inches from the cup and dropped.
I started laughing. The guys starting yelling like crazy, but I just stood there and shook my head. After about 50 high fives and another tee off, we went to the green. I fixed my ballmark first, then checked the hole. Yep, it was in there. My second ace. Been close so many times this summer, but this one went down. I'm still feeling that coldness on the 8 iron as i type this.
So, i'm sitting on the 18th tee box, almost too dark to even see the clubhouse. But I have to get this round in. I decided NOT to hit driver, which was a good choice. I hit 5 iron! Smoked it out about 180ish in good shape for an "approach shot", which was basically aim towards where the green was and hope it turns out. I was about 220 away, and there was no way i could hit an iron that far as it was cooling off and the ball doesn't carry as well around that time. I grabbed the 7 wood, as it it super trusty. I took a little off and hit a perfect shot. I'll call it that cuz i never even saw it off the face. I just hoped i could find it.
I walked the fairway in darkness with my partners, as they sorta played up the course, and eventually gave up. I got to about 180-190ish from my approach and couldn't find my ball. Oh no!
We had a mad search, and finally my friend found it about 10 yards from where i was standing. Ya, it was that dark. I grabbed my 56* wedge and punched one on. Even if i bogeyed out, who cares! I figured i was within 20 feet, and in good shape to 2 putt. We all dragged our sorry asses around the green and had a look. The ball sat 8 inches from the cup, no lie. Unbelievable.
This was the most insane day of gold i have ever had. I contemplated quitting on the way home. I don't think it could get better than this for me.
Golf Season 2004, I bid you farewell.
Here's the ball. It's going into the collection. I gave my other ace ball to my girlfriend at the time. I'm sure she cherishes it. :sobbash:
Cheers guys, sorry this was so long!
R35
Today turned out to be a great day weather wise. About 26*C around these parts which is stellar for Oct 5. I get up this morning and take care of some business and some odd jobs that need doing.
Then, I get the call.
"Hey, we need a 4th. Can you make it in 25 minutes?"
HELL YA I CAN MAKE IT!
I ran to the window, as the weather outside had escaped me. ZERO wind. And this is an anomoly around these parts. I changed into some half decent garb and headed out, only realizing as the garage door was closing that I had had nothing to eat for some time and needed to grab something. 20 minutes! Cripes!
I headed out towards the course with intentions of picking up a quality lunch from the supermarket. Friggin construction! It would have taken too much time to get to the store. Arby's it is. I figure i've eaten enough Red Lobster to kill a grown horse, a little Arby's cat ain't gonna do me no harm.
Inhaling my "lunch", i headed out to the course. What a beautiful day. What dreams are made of. We get to the course......deserted. No one there. Perfect! The world was our oyster.
I started out nicely with a birdie. Pushed my drive a bit, but not bad for not warming up much. Hit a tight little 8 iron to 6 feet, nothing but cup. I pretty much played the front up and down, only one bogey to bring up. But, the 4 birdies on the front made up for that nicely. The game was getting there. I didn't want to bring up yesterday, so i did my best to entertain the guys i was playing with, keeping it far from memory. I didn't want to jinx it.
The back nine started off well. I had a beer after 9, as i was pretty thirsty, and figured i deserved it. But i only had one. Had to drive home, mind you. Parred 10, 11 and 12. On the tee of 13, i started doing "sunlight math". And, as luck would have it, even my math couldn't add up enough sunlight to equal 18 holes. Cripes!
13 was a par 3. Stuck a nice little 7 iron from 157 to about 4 feet. Jarred. Time was ticking, we needed to hustle.
14 was a par 4, into the setting sun, which made me worry more. I hit a drive just into the right rough, 165 to the hole. Set one on the dance floor and two putted for par. Nice, things are shaping up.
Or so i thought. The others had been playing decent golf until 15. Then the wheels fell off. One took a 9 on the following par 5, the other an 8. It was true stick handling on the green, which was tough, i'll admit. I happened to hit a few good ones on that hole, and ended up lipping out an eagle. Tap in bird. I'm -5 to here.
16 is a par 4, about 440 straight away. The sun was just beneath the horizon by this point. It wasn't looking good. But I was determined to finish this bastard off. I started getting head crazy, and hooked my drive off the tee. In ok shape, but it brought me back to reality. After hitting a great recovery 5 iron to the green (best shot all day, honestly) i hit a lag putt (*****'d out, more like it!) to about 2 feet and sunk that for a par. I ran as i plucked the ball from the hole.
17 is a dainty little par 3. It's about 160 from the marker to middle of the green. The pin was in the back. I figured it was playing about 163, no wind. My brain said 8, but my body said 7. Just get it on the green. Just get it on the green. Aim for the middle, two putt and run. I let one of the other guys hit first, nice tight shot with a 6 iron to about 20 feet. The ball stuck like crazy. I kept thinking, "8 iron?" I was so indecisive, i let the next guy shoot. Trap. Now it was getting dark.
I stepped to the tee with the same HX blue i had been using all round. I had 7 in my hand. I turned to get the 8 but said "F it" out loud. I made my decision. Tee'd up, took my practice swing, checked the target. I could barely see the flag. I took a breath.
Couldn't do it. Grabbed the 8. Frick! The guys were laughing at me. Bastards!
I swung the 8, it felt cold as i hadn't had it in my hands as long as the 7. I stepped up to the ball and delivered a great swing. The ball started out to the right, drew in about 4 yards landed on the green about 18 inches from the cup and dropped.
I started laughing. The guys starting yelling like crazy, but I just stood there and shook my head. After about 50 high fives and another tee off, we went to the green. I fixed my ballmark first, then checked the hole. Yep, it was in there. My second ace. Been close so many times this summer, but this one went down. I'm still feeling that coldness on the 8 iron as i type this.
So, i'm sitting on the 18th tee box, almost too dark to even see the clubhouse. But I have to get this round in. I decided NOT to hit driver, which was a good choice. I hit 5 iron! Smoked it out about 180ish in good shape for an "approach shot", which was basically aim towards where the green was and hope it turns out. I was about 220 away, and there was no way i could hit an iron that far as it was cooling off and the ball doesn't carry as well around that time. I grabbed the 7 wood, as it it super trusty. I took a little off and hit a perfect shot. I'll call it that cuz i never even saw it off the face. I just hoped i could find it.
I walked the fairway in darkness with my partners, as they sorta played up the course, and eventually gave up. I got to about 180-190ish from my approach and couldn't find my ball. Oh no!
We had a mad search, and finally my friend found it about 10 yards from where i was standing. Ya, it was that dark. I grabbed my 56* wedge and punched one on. Even if i bogeyed out, who cares! I figured i was within 20 feet, and in good shape to 2 putt. We all dragged our sorry asses around the green and had a look. The ball sat 8 inches from the cup, no lie. Unbelievable.
This was the most insane day of gold i have ever had. I contemplated quitting on the way home. I don't think it could get better than this for me.
Golf Season 2004, I bid you farewell.
Here's the ball. It's going into the collection. I gave my other ace ball to my girlfriend at the time. I'm sure she cherishes it. :sobbash:
Cheers guys, sorry this was so long!
R35