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.

50th Golf Course

Since I've started playing golf, I've been keeping track of all the different courses played.  I've played few courses many times that were near my home or work.  Last week, I played my 50th different course.  It took me 13 years but I finally did it.

The 50th golf course played is called Renditions.  Renditions features replicas of holes from major championship venues giving the average golfer a grand slam like experience.

First three holes are replicas of U.S. Open or PGA Championship courses.  The next two holes come from The Open Championship and then it's the three holes from the Amen Corner at The Masters.

I played with my buddy who was in the area for work.  On the front nine, I didn't shoot well.  But, we were enjoying the warm November day riding around and having beers.

My favorite hole was #13 which is a replica of the TPC Sawgrass #17 also known as the Island Green.  I ended up parring the hole!  It made my day.  I've watched pros play the real hole many times and hit it in the water.  For a moment, it felt like I was in Florida playing the Players Championship on a Sunday.  Here are a few photos from that afternoon. 

Amen Corner #11

Amen Corner #12

Island Green

Tee box on hole 13

Safely on the green!

50 down and 50 to go!

NASCAR Sunday

As I mentioned in the previous post, last Saturday I went to the second to last Major League Baseball regular season game.  As a sports fan, I've been to many sporting events including NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, PGA Tour, MLS, NCAA sports, international soccer, and international basketball.

The two professional sports that I had not seen in person were NASCAR and tennis.  That list got halved after last Sunday.  My coworker had some extra, decently priced, NASCAR tickets for the race at the Dover International Speedway.

I don't follow auto racing regularly but I do watch it from time to time on TV.  I did manage to get two friends to tag along for the two hour car ride and check out the race.

First thing we noticed when the race started was the noise.  It is very loud!  We expected this and brought earplugs.  Many of the fans there were wearing noise-reducing race scanner headphones that allow them to listen to the communication on the track between drivers and their teams.

As my friend pointed out, "It's the loudest sport with the quietest fans."  The cars make a lot of noise but the fans sit silently watching the action and listening to their headphones unless something interesting happens.

All the drivers were men except the #10 car that was driven by Danica Patrick. One of the interesting events happened when Jamie McMurry's car blew an engine.  Watching the pit stops and restarts was fun.   Overall, it was a fun experience but I don't think I'll be going to another race anytime soon.

I leave you with few photos from NASCAR Sunday.

Let's Go Racing Boys (and Danica)!

#1 Blows an Engine

Pit Stop

Heading Home Across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge

October Baseball

The title of this post might be a little bit misleading.  When you hear the words October baseball, you probably think of playoff baseball.  But since the MLB playoffs haven't started, I think the title is appropriate.

Late last week, I got on the computer and out of curiosity pulled up the Washington Nationals regular season schedule.  They had one weekend series left at home and it was against the Miami Marlins.  We couldn't make it to the Friday game.  I was attending another sporting event on Sunday.  Saturday, October 1 at 4 PM, would be our only chance.

I found cheap tickets ($17 each) online with good seats but was wondering why were they so cheap.  A little bit of research revealed that rain was a likely possibility during the game.  I was a little bit more optimistic when I read that the chance of rain by 4 PM was only 50%.  Being a poker player, I made the hero call and hoped the weatherman was bluffing.

Worst case scenario: If it was raining 30 minutes before the game, we wouldn't go and take a loss on the tickets.

Best case scenario: The rain would stop by 2 PM.  The rest of the day would be overcast but with no rain.  And the Nats would win while hitting a home run or two.

Lucky for us, the best case scenario happened!  Nats won 2-1 and Trea Turner hit a home run in the bottom of the fifth inning.  Our seats were in section 101 right above the Marlins bullpen. 

Here are some photos from the game.  One is a screenshot from an MLB.com video of the home run.

Overcast but Pleasant

Home Run Nats!

Great Spot to Watch Relief Pitchers Warm-Up

Labour Day Weekend

You might think Gee, doesn't this Ace guy know how to spell Labor Day properly!  The answer resides with our neighbor to the north.  I got a chance to spend a fun three-day weekend with my lady in Canada.  We flew to Buffalo, rented a car, and then drove to Niagara Falls and Toronto.  Here is a photo summary: