Welł, I've played what should be my last round of April golf.
Thank G-d!
Vak and I were a twosome. No one wanted to play at 9:15 after listening to the weather report. The driving range was cold and windy at 8:30am. I had a NY Giants winter knit cap over my USGA cap, 4 or 5 layers of tops (I lost count).
I was thinking that this was a mistake.
Of course, there was some guy a few stalls over in shorts and short sleeves. Go figure....
Got to the first tee, and they pushed us up a spot. I guess other golfers made the "smart" decision.
We joined up with a guy and his son-in-law.
One of the great things about golf, is meeting people. Yes, normally I have my regular foursome. But going out to meet new golf friends is one of the best things about the game.
Saul and his son-in-law Jon, were nice guys. Turned out we all had our roots in Brooklyn - always a plus.
Another coincidence is that Saul went to law school with my friend Ken (you tend to talk a lot over a 5 hour round).
We actually talked so much that, at one point, Vak had to shush us (more on that later).
With the wind blowing in, the first hole was going to be a longer par 5 than normal. My drive went roughly 200 yards. I hit a nice hybrid that the wind pushed off the fairway. With 115 to the green, I went up to an 8 iron. Too much club - I rolled off the back. A chip and a putt, and I was in for par.
Seemed like a nice start to the day.
I took off the wool cap!
2nd hole (par 3) looked like a par, until the ball did a 180 around the cup - one of about 4 for the day.
I was playing ok till the 4th hole. They had a temporary green, as the regular green was 75% burned out.
My 3rd shot (I usually lay up on this par 4) went 20 yards over the temp flag. This is where I wish I had a laser rangefinder, rather than my GPS.
Double bogey.
Around the 8th hole, I took off my outer layer.
The wind started to drop, and the temps rose. I made some stupid mistakes, but didn't chide myself over them. The point is to enjoy the round, good or bad.
Vak on the other hand, was taking the round personally. His back nine was pretty hard on him. He would have quit golf completely, but he has an upcoming trip Myrtle. Walking up the 17th fairway with Saul - Vak was lining up his shot and gave us a shush.
Trust me, silence wasn't going to help....
By the 18th hole, it turned into a beautiful day. We had a light breeze in our face and it had to be 60 degrees. The hole is a long par 4. Only about 420 yards, but it's always into the wind and mostly up-hill.
I bombed my drive. For me, this means it's over 225 yards.
On this hole, that's not so good for me. At around 225 there is gully, so I'm now lieing on an upslope with 200 yards to the stick.
Now, I know well that I can't hit my 4 wood on an upslope (one of the many flaws in my game) - but it was just so damn tantalizing!
Normally I'd just lay up to 60 yards and pitch with hopes of a one putt.
So, I pushed the 4 wood way right to around 100 yards. My gap wedge came up a bit short.
A chip and a putt and I finished with an all to common bogey.
Vak (who would have sold his clubs on the 17th hole for $1), hit a great 5 wood from the rough and was on in 2.
He parred the hole, and once again looked forward to his trip to Myrtle.
I finished with a 91 (45/46). 4 lip outs, 3-4 miss hits. Another 2-3 weeks of practice and I hope to be "right there".
Unfortunately, no golf this week. Swamped with things to do, and a weekend of 2 weddings.
So, the clubs are in the garage for 2 weeks.
A side note on meeting new golf biddies. I downloaded a cool app on my iPhone called Golfmatchapp. (There's a Google Play version too). It's a pretty cool app, a that lets you link up with other golfers and share experiences, make a foursome, etc. A nice way to meet new golf friends.
I recommend it.
May 9th will probably be my next round. By then, the temps should be up, and the wind speed down.
Hopefully.
Another quick side note - my wife and I passed through The Bronx today and I pointed out the new Trump Ferry Point. Looked like an oasis. I've already discussed with some buddies that we will get over and play there - soon.
Until then,
Keep it in the short hairs
15th hole at Eisenhower Red
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