Wow, has it really been over a month since my last post here? I’ve got in a ton of golf over that time and had some great rounds I should have written about. On August 15th I shot under par for 9 holes for the first time in my life with a 1-under 34. The next day I want out and shot 80 for 18 at Bay Valley. I had my first sub-80 round in the bag and blew it on the last two holes. I had shot 38 on the front nine and ended up with a 42 on the back. On the 17th hole I bombed my best drive of the day on a par 5. It was 300+ and left me with an easy 7 iron into the green. I duffed it about 70 yards. Then I duffed a SW and hit a 2nd SW to the back of the green. Took 3 putts from there. I needed a par on the last hole to shoot 41 for a 79 and actually had a 5 foot putt, but missed it. But It was still my best 18 holes ever, so I can’t complain too much.

I took my yearly trip to Boyne near the end of August for 3 days of 36 holes a day and played decent golf there. My 34 ended up being the best round of the year in our golf league so I got a nice little trophy. I also ended up with the lowest handicap in the league with a 2. I can shoot some good golf, but there is no way I’m a 2 handicap. Our league only uses your last 3 scores and the handicap can only go up by 1 each week, but there isn’t a limit on how far it can drop.

I’ve golfed a lot more this summer than I have before. Before the summer is over I’ll have played somewhere around 1000 holes of golf. I still can’t believe it when I think about that number. My back needs the winter off!

It rained for a good 3 or 4 hours in the Saginaw area, so the plans I had to play 9 holes with a few friends were canceled. While sitting at home after dinner I realized the sun came out and it cleared up. Sidewalks and driveways were starting to dry out. So I jumped in my ride and went a block to a 9-hole course called Pleasant View. The name does not fit the course. Only on “special” occasions will I play there.

My main reason for going to play was that I wanted to hit some clubs around the golf course. The course wasn’t very busy and I was playing for myself, so I had a chance to hit extra balls around while waiting. I played 2 main balls during the round and would try out some short wedges or other shots as I had time. I even hit 3 with my driver off the first tee after using a 3-hybrid to tee off for the shots I was counting. When all was said and done I shot a 44-42. The part of the round that really killed my scoring was putting. With all of the rain we had received, golf balls were plugging on the green. If they did manage to hop, it was backwards. Putting on soaked greens is an entirely different story. I took 18 and 19 putts which is 4-5 over my average for 9 holes.

All in all, I was pretty satisfied with my play. When I hit driver I was crushing it down the middle, and then from there my wedge shots were solid. When I had longer 2nd shots into the par 5s I came through. I hit a great 3-hybrid to the front where it hit the bunker rake someone had left in the wrong spot. On another par 5 I hit 3-hybrid to hit the fairway, staying safe, and then blasted a 5 wood right next to the green. Made a nice chip, but missed the birdie putt because of all the water. The greens were the wettest I’ve ever seen, but I’m not worried at all about my putting. I’ll admit I didn’t take much time putting either, so things weren’t being lined up. I wanted to really focus on ball striking because the greens weren’t playing like any other greens I’ll face all summer.

If I can keep the driver and wedges straight, I’ll be all set.

Mom and Dad came by on Sunday for a quick little weekend trip and so that Dad and I could play some golf together. He’s beat me consistently over my golfing “career” and I’m OK with that. I’ve been improving year after year and finally have beaten him a few times this year. We enjoy playing together, but we’re both extremely competitive. We tend to talk a lot of shit too.

So as last week went on and I was trying to get a confirmation that he would come down I finally got the word on Friday. I email Dad telling him I booked an 11:00 tee time. He comes back and says, “Wanna play for the supper bill?”

“You’re on,” I write back.

I got owned! I’ve never seen my Dad play so well. He shot a 39-42 and missed a sub-80 round because he hit in the water on the 18th hole. Part of me was rooting for him, but I can’t lie and say that part of me wasn’t rooting against him. I’m going to hear about the ass-kicking for awhile and I didn’t need him shooting in the 70s to make it that much worse.

So what did I shoot?

Uh…52-50. Probably my worst display all summer long. I couldn’t hit a drive, an iron, or a wedge. Chipping was actually pretty good, but my putting was not up to my standards. It was an awful 18 holes of golf. Sure enough though, I had to birdie 16 to make me want to come back another day.

So not only did golfing cost me $39, but I had to buy dinner for Mom and Dad which ran me another $84 at LoneStar. $123 total. It’s not paying the bill that hurts, it’s my pride!