Day 205: Golf, At Last

Day 1 without playing golf

The weather was cool with a threat of rain, but the conditions were agreeable to me. After 204 days without golf action I wasn’t about to complain.

My partner, Walter, and I had teamed up last year in the Young Life Tournament at Blacksburg CC and fared pretty well. I had no expectations this year.

Like me, Walter, a former collegiate golfer at East Carolina, hadn’t played since last fall. If you haven’t played in a long time and decide to tee it up in a tournament, at least make sure it’s a scramble.

Surprisingly, my swing was pretty reliable early on. I hit some golf shots, including a two-iron that covered the flag on a 200-yard par three, although we didn’t hole the 10-footer for birdie.

In the middle of the round I got wild with the driver. I had a serious case of the “rights.” I was blocking the ball big time and couldn’t get it corrected. My irons were not particularly stellar either. Meanwhile, we were on a par parade.

I got my swing back, and starting on 13 we caught fire. (At least for a couple of hackers who don’t play much.) Walter knocked a wedge to two feet on the par five. Birdie.

On 14, I drove it down the middle and then knocked a five iron to 10 feet. I drained it for another birdie. On 15, a par three, I hit a four iron to 9 feet. Walter holed it — birdie. On 16, my drive and 9 iron put us 12 feet away. That’s right, another birdie. Four in a row.

Hey, this game is fun. I should play more.

We were four under going into the final hole, a par five. Another birdie was conceivable but two poor drives doomed us. We ended up with a six-foot left-to-right breaker for par. We both missed and carded a 69.

It was a lucky break. The cutoff for the second flight was 69, so we tied for first, good for four free golf passes to Hanging Rock CC in Salem. I also won closest to the pin on 15, picking up a couple of gift certificates.

It won’t be a long layoff. I play in another tournament on Saturday. I go 204 days without golf and will now play twice in one week. Go figure.

The Armchair Golfer