Yesterday turned out nicer than they had prognosticated, still a little chilly, definitely a little windy, but no rain. I decided at the last minute that I would take advantage of the day and play some golf. Not being nice enough for Lil Blu, I threw my golf clubs into my pick-em-up truck and headed off to the course. I ended up playing by myself which was okay. I don’t always enjoy my own company, but most of time I find it reasonably acceptable which is more than most folks find my society.
Being early in the golfing season, having done a fair amount of yard work Tuesday, I was a little rusty and more than a little stiff. I struggled a bit on the front side, but my game started to come around towards the end of that nine. I arrived at the twelfth hole after going bogey, bogey, par, par on the last four holes. That is good for me. The twelfth hole is a 142 yard par 3, with a green about 30 yards deep and not very wide, playing from an elevated tee. Normally I hit either an 8 iron or 7 iron here depending on pin position and other factors. Today the pin was in the middle, towards the back, which is normally the 7 iron. However, it was straight into a wind that was blowing 10 or 15 miles per hour. The best way to play such a shot is to take one to two more clubs than normal, put the ball back in your stance, and hit the shot with very soft hands. This hopefully keeps the ball low and allows it to cut through the wind.
I did all that with my 6 iron, except I mishit the shot horribly. I struck the golf ball right in the forehead, that is to say I absolutely thinned the shot. It left the tee box, never getting more than 5 feet in the air, and hit the fairway about 50 yards out from the tee. At that point it began to run like the proverbial scalded dog. It continued rolling right on to the green and took dead aim at the flagpole. From my vantage point on the elevated tee it looked like it missed the flagpole about the distance of my male specific anatomy. That meant it was very, very, VERY close to the hole. I’m not sure, though, that it would have gone in if it had hit the flagpole as it was rolling fast enough to go about 10 feet past.
In all the years I have been golfing I have never made a hole in one, an ace in golfing parlance. I’ve been close. I’ve seen a few aces from other folks, but I have never had one go in. I’m not sure I would have claimed this ace as it was an absolutely horrendous golf shot. But then again there are no pictures on a scorecard.
It did remind me a bit of a round of golf from the last century when I first started playing the game. I was on a very short par 3 and ducked hooked my iron so badly that I hit a tree 30 yards to the left of the green. The ball ricocheted off the tree and ended up two inches from the hole after actually striking that flagpole. I did make that putt. Thank you very much.
It also reminds me of a story I read in a golf magazine… probably from the last century again. An older gentleman made a hole in one, the first ace of his life after many decades of playing. After picking the ball out of the hole, he walked to the next tee where he promptly had a heart attack, passing away, hopefully a happy golfer, if not a happy camper.
And yeah I did make my par yesterday on that scalded dog of a golf shot.
And so it goes.
As always, one of the most entertaining, enjoyable reads of my day! (Thankfully a great departure from the awful news!)
It’s quite the gift you have and I am so glad that you share it with “us”!
Many thanks!!
I have never made one but like you I have been close. I still have a little playing time to go.