Chuck and I played in a golf tournament this past Saturday. Getting up before the sun comes up is nothing new for me on a Saturday, but doing so to do something other than running is a rarity. Emerald Falls in Broken Arrow was the venue, and you'd never know we are in a drought.
Well watered, well manicured was this championship caliber course. We were in for a long day, but a beautiful one nonetheless.
We hit a few balls before our round. I usually don't like to pound out a buncha balls and wear myself out before the round. I hit six--two seven irons, two sand wedges, and two drives. All were very crisp and clean shots. Maybe I was gonna have a good round? Unlikely, since I play only 2-3 times a year. Years ago when I played 2-3 times a week, breaking 90 would be a sure thing. Chuck--the lefty, hit shot after good shot. I tried to get focused after my six shots. (No, that is NOT me on the right.)
This course was tough. Several of the tee shots were blind shots--meaning you could not see where your landing area was, and that element of doubt played very negatively in my driving. Plus, missing the fairway meant your ball was lost in knee-deep rough. The tournament format is often a scramble, where the team uses the best shot between the 2 or 4 players. This tourney was a 2-man best ball, where each player played out the hole, and the best score between the players was the team score. I expected us to use Chuck's score on most if not all the holes.
I ended up not having an A-game. I played alright, considering my infrequent rounds, and hit a few good drives, hit a few good fairway shots, hit a few greens, and made a few putts. Chuck was good off the tee, but had a few errant shots as well, but the course gave us few breaks. We drowned a few balls, lost a lot more, and had probably a dozen penalty strokes between us.
But we still had fun. It's funny how golf always throws a be-back shot in near the end of the round--a spectacular shot that is as good as the pros--one that brings you back.
On our last hole (a par 5) I hit a nice straight drive. The ball was on a slight uphill lie, and sitting up nicely. I took a fairway driver and spanked a nice rope with a fade that ended up 30 yards from the green right in the short grass. For those two shots, I was beaming. A chunked and a skulled shot later though and I was brought back down to earth. A possible birdie turned into another bogie to finish my round. We needed that birdie too. Chuck rolled in a par putt and we finished with a nice round score. Let's just say we shot a buck. 
The heat (104°) was a factor late in the round.
I was not focusing on making wise shots, and just chumped it up.
Still, it was fun.
I'll play again next Wednesday on a much easier course.
Well watered, well manicured was this championship caliber course. We were in for a long day, but a beautiful one nonetheless.
We hit a few balls before our round. I usually don't like to pound out a buncha balls and wear myself out before the round. I hit six--two seven irons, two sand wedges, and two drives. All were very crisp and clean shots. Maybe I was gonna have a good round? Unlikely, since I play only 2-3 times a year. Years ago when I played 2-3 times a week, breaking 90 would be a sure thing. Chuck--the lefty, hit shot after good shot. I tried to get focused after my six shots. (No, that is NOT me on the right.)
This course was tough. Several of the tee shots were blind shots--meaning you could not see where your landing area was, and that element of doubt played very negatively in my driving. Plus, missing the fairway meant your ball was lost in knee-deep rough. The tournament format is often a scramble, where the team uses the best shot between the 2 or 4 players. This tourney was a 2-man best ball, where each player played out the hole, and the best score between the players was the team score. I expected us to use Chuck's score on most if not all the holes.
I ended up not having an A-game. I played alright, considering my infrequent rounds, and hit a few good drives, hit a few good fairway shots, hit a few greens, and made a few putts. Chuck was good off the tee, but had a few errant shots as well, but the course gave us few breaks. We drowned a few balls, lost a lot more, and had probably a dozen penalty strokes between us.
But we still had fun. It's funny how golf always throws a be-back shot in near the end of the round--a spectacular shot that is as good as the pros--one that brings you back.
On our last hole (a par 5) I hit a nice straight drive. The ball was on a slight uphill lie, and sitting up nicely. I took a fairway driver and spanked a nice rope with a fade that ended up 30 yards from the green right in the short grass. For those two shots, I was beaming. A chunked and a skulled shot later though and I was brought back down to earth. A possible birdie turned into another bogie to finish my round. We needed that birdie too. Chuck rolled in a par putt and we finished with a nice round score. Let's just say we shot a buck. 
The heat (104°) was a factor late in the round.
I was not focusing on making wise shots, and just chumped it up.
Still, it was fun.
I'll play again next Wednesday on a much easier course.
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