Overdo Update...

Disclaimer...

This post might be out of order - note the date 5/22 (I noticed I forgot to publish it while I was cleaning out old drafts). I wrote this before the bronchitis/hernia thing, but this was really the primer of my minor health problems. Seems I have not played golf with an injury free body in a few months.

Roller Skating is NOT like riding a Bike...

So, we took the kids to the skating rink... yada yada yada and I took a spill. I came down mostly on my left arm. I jammed my left wrist and pulled something in my left chest. I felt a little pain, but not too bad. That evening I went down to Green Caye for a little golf. I met up with Martin and we decided to do our usual routine (25 cent holes and greenies). A few practice swings confirmed that I had some pain but I figured it was a temporary thing and I would power through the night. Well, 27 holes later I was down $3.25.

I decided to lay off golf to give the injury some to heal. I would make a few swings in the back yard to measure the progress. About the time I was considering playing golf again, my new roller blades arrived. I was planning on golfing in the next day or two so I had to carefully weigh the risk of taking the new blades for a spin. The blades won out and as you could have guessed, I was a little off on the risk assessment. Yep, I wiped out and jammed up my left wrist again. I also reagrevated the left chest pull.

Plan B...

Another week of rest and I decided to play some golf. I went down to Bayou on May 4th because I needed to get out on a regulation course. I was turned away as soon as I entered the clubhouse because a tournament was about to start. Time for plan B... I recalled seeing another course in this area and hit the road to find it. After about 40 minutes of searching, I finally found Lakeview Country Club in La Marque, TX.

I was told that La Marque was basically a cheap goat pasture course that was windy and wide open with lots of water. The description was fairly accurate. The wind was howling 20-30 which made for some awesome downwind drives (I'd list the distances, but I'm afraid no one would believe me). One of my goals was to continue to work on hitting a draw with the driver and this course would be a great place to do it. All in all, I had a great day and shot 92 on this 5940 yard course. The course is rated 69.4/113 and I feel it's a little easier than that based on Pasadena's rating of 69.7/113. I feel Pasadena is under rated but what do I know, remember I'm New2Golf :)

Here are the stats from the round:


Fairways hit... 9
GIRs........... 5 (1 just missed, 2 sand)
Birdies........ 1
Pars........... 5 (1 up and down on 12)
Putts......... 34
Bogeys......... 7
Doubles........ 2
Triples........ 2
Balls lost .... 4 (3 water)


Next, I played The Battleground on the 9th. My goal was to shoot 89. I stunk the place up pretty bad. I was hooking my drives and didn't figure it out till the 18th where I hammered one almost to the water (about 280 yards) into a 10-15 mph quartering headwind. Then I hit an easy gap wedge across the water (but short of the green) and made the up-and-down. I carded an ugly 112 (111 with ESC) on this round.

Here are the stats from the round:


Fairways hit... 4
GIRs........... 1
Birdies........ 0
Pars........... 2 (both up and downs)
Putts......... 38
Bogeys......... 5
Doubles........ 4
Triples........ 1
Bad holes...... 6 (all snowmen)
Balls lost .... 6 (6 water)


I managed to get out to Pasadena for a round and I joined a pair of senoirs who were also walkers. They warned me that they were slow, would not follow the course as it's laid out, and would likely have to let others play through. I usually don't let this stuff bother me and I was able to make the most out af a slow and painful round. I just decided to play a practice round. These guys turned out to be quite fun to play with. They hunted balls, cracked jokes about each other, and sat down to rest a few times while I putted and chipped to my hearts content. My driving was long and straight. My irons were on fire, and my putting turned on by the time I walked off the course.

As I have been doing since I got my new wedges, I used my 60* around the greens with very limited success. I had been toying with the idea that I should learn the 'bump and run" for some time and after a few frustrating chips with the 60*, I decided to give it a go. At the beginning of the round, I started hitting two chips with the 60* and one with the PW. I was so impressed with the results, that by the end of the round, I was chipping two with the PW and one with the 60*. I walked off the course with a new shot in my bag. I tried all sorts of different shots. I hit a punch shot under a tree and into the face of an elevated green that popped up and came to rest three feet from the pin.

I came away from that round having learned the value of a "practice round". Obvoiusly, I wouldn't mess around like that on a course if it were busy, but this was a weekday round and I had a great time out on the course. Really... my writing skills cannot convey how great I felt after that round.

I would not golf again until the 22nd (last Sunday). I spent most of my day catching up on yard work and by about 2:30 I decided I needed to get out and golf. I made it up to San Jac and played two loops of the whites (65.2/98) and everything just seemed to come together.

I shot a new personal record of 83!!!

Here are the stats from the round:


Fairways hit... 9
GIRs........... 1
Birdies........ 1
Pars........... 8 (New record!!!)
Putts......... 34
Bogeys......... 6
Doubles........ 3
Triples........ 0
Bad holes...... 0
Balls lost .... 1 (tree)


I started with a par and then took a double. Then I managed to string three pars together. A chip with the PW on a par 3, a monster drive that hit the fairway (cutting the corner big time!!) on a severe dogleg left, and solid play on the 518 yard 5th were the keys to that string of pars. Just as I was feeling great, I blew it on the 6th with a three-putt double. Then I birdied the 7th after nearly driving the 284 yard green into the wind. A par and a bogey later and I'm 4 over at the turn. I'm freaking out at how well I'm playing. Then I mention that I just started a year ago and my game falls apart... well somewhat. I lost seven strokes on the back with three pars and a double after I could not find my ball after hitting into a tree on the 8th. 40 and 43 and I felt so good playing that I was just a little dissappointed that I did not break 80 or get a little closer.

I have to give a lot of credit to the bump and run shot with the PW. I rolled the ball onto the green with great directional control. My putting seemed hot, but the stats don't reflect it.

Looking over those three rounds I have a good idea of what I can put together when Dad gets here. I've pretty much decided on Tour18 for our round.