Word of the day - S-L-O-W
My playing partners today were Vak, Rich, and Alex.
Alex is a friend of Rich's son-in-law - only playing about a year, and has a pretty good game for a beginner. His biggest problem is his clubs. He has a new TaylorMade driver, and an old set of inherited Ping Eye2 irons.
And, he's never taken a lesson.
Ping Eyes were one of the first perimeter weighted irons. Ball gets up fast, and hits solid. However, the heads are small, compared to today's sizes. And, the clubs are not as forgiving as newer clubs.
Once he does her newer irons, he's going to be great.
Anyway, back to my round. I recently got a new activity tracker/heart rate monitor - the Mio Fuse. It gets your heart rate with no chest strap, and tracks your steps, miles walked, and calories expended. I always wanted to see what I burn walking the course.
As I left you last time, my driver we on again/off again, as I get a handle on my new grip. Well, this week, the front nine went very well. My first drive was by far the longest I've had on that hole. I had 200 left to the pin (it's a par 5) but wimped out and layed up with a 7 iron.
To about 40 yards to the green! I could have hit my 4 hybrid and been on!
So, I settled for a par.
My front nine went well, drives were pretty good (not as nice as the first hole), and I finished the front with a 43. That was about right.
I guess my 2 buckets at the range on Friday morning were showing....
Then we teed of on 10. I pushed my drive into the woods. I miss hit a wedge, yada, yada, yada - carded a tripled bogey.
From this point on I was scrambling from my drives.
At some point on the back nine, the golf gods turned up the heat - literally. It got freaking hot and humid. I had gone through my large DD iced coffee, 24 ounces of FRS, and bought a bottle of Powerade at the halfway house.
I guess others started showing the strain, as the round slowed down. By the 17th hole, the timer on my Mio Fuse showed 5 hours! This is usually the MAX for 18 holes on the Red - and we had 2 holes to go.
The 17th was one of my best drives of the back nine - but into a fairway bunker. Once I stepped into the bunker, it felt about 20 degrees warmer than the fairway. Oye!
Two shots later and I wound up just off the green in 3 - and bogeyed the hole.
Coming to 18 I had an 85. 18 is that tough par 4 - I'd have been happy to walk away with a bogey -and a 90 for the round.
Not to be.
At this point, my knees started to ache.
Spell that ACHE!!!
My drive on 18 was off the the right, under a tree.
I had to punch out - and it didn't punch far.
Here's where I started making mental mistakes. I was in deep rough, 200 yards out.
So, instead of hitting a hybrid, or wedge - I pulled a 7 wood.
Keeping a long round short, two shots later I'm 100 yards out laying 4.
The strong right to left wind pushed my wedge into the greenside bunker - with the ball way up the side. This is the kind of shot where you need to dig your feet in deep, and bend your knees a lot to get down to the ball.
Except my knees were not cooperating. The just refused to bend (and hold me up at the same time).
First shot, ball pops up and rolls back to my feet.
Second shot, same.
Knees still won't bend.
After the second shot, I finally had a flat lie.
Third shot - I was out on the green.
Two putts later I carded a 10!!!!
A goddamned 10!!!
A 95 for the round.
A 5 1/2 hour round.
A round this long is WRONG! It should NOT take this long to play 18 holes.
The Mio said I burned 2,000 calories - I couldn't care less. All I wanted to do was get home and lay down.
Now I know I'm 58 years old, but I work out like a fanatic. I spin 3-4 times a week, and exercise every day I'm not playing golf. So - WTF? What are my knees telling me?
In any case, I'm supposed to play Monday at Hempstead Country club - but the weather looks iffy. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Until then,
Keep it in the short hairs
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