A Round of Good Golf

Exactly one year ago, I wrote a post about one of the worst rounds of golf I've had in the past 5 years.  Watching Sergio Garcia win his first major at the Masters made me want to write another golf recap.  A chance for redemption, dare I say.  We'll get back to poker in the next post.

The weather has been decent early this spring and golf was on the menu.  I hadn't played at the Lake Presidential golf club before but as they say, there is a first time for everything.  I couldn't get any of my friends to join me so I booked a tee time for one.

I was paired up with two guys in their 30s.  Few holes into the round, I found out that they were commercial pilots.  One worked for American Airlines and the other one worked for United Airlines.  I've always considered United to be better than American.  Coincidence or not, the United pilot was a much better golfer than his friend.  He was also better than me.

On the first hole, I pulled my drive left.  I managed to save bogey.  I got very lucky to par the 8th hole.  My drive went right and it was three yards from the water.  My second shot got me back in the fairway.  My third shot was barely right off the green but it was enough to send the ball down into the bunker.  I hit a sand wedge from the bunker and somehow ended up on the green.  I one putted and voilà...a par.

One mistake that I made on the front was on the par three 9th hole.  The left side of the green is guarded by two bunkers and  the right side has water running parallel to the green.  My tee shot had the correct distance but the ball hit the downslope right off the green and ended up in the water.

I was happy with my tee shots and the driver.  Thru 15 holes I had hit 8/12 fairways.  The back 9 could have produced a special score under 40.  I three putted on two holes and on 17 I didn't realize how short the hole was.  I hit driver and the tee shot ended up costing me a penalty stroke.

The 18th hole is a par 5 that requires a drive across the water.  The view from the tee box is fantastic.  I hit it across the water and into a fairway bunker on the right side.  My second shot left me with 110 yards to the flag.  I hit a solid pitching wedge and was on the green in three.  No one in our group had made a birdie all day.  The United pilot also was on in three.  We both ended up making our putts for birdies!

It was a very enjoyable day.  I ended up shooting an 83 which is few strokes better than my average.  One year ago, I shot a 110 which was an anomaly.  I redeemed myself by playing up to my potential this time around.