Round 42 FTY, Back in the Saddle with an 82

My 42nd round of the year was played at Shawnee GC.  I couldn't get around without getting a couple of double bogey's, but I did manage to keep my score respectable.  I shot a 40 - 42 = 82.  A much better round than the 91 I shot last Tuesday.  I had one hole I double bogeyed and really never hit a bad shot.  I hit a very good drive, over clubbed my second shot over the green, flopped a nice ball on a the green, but it wouldn't stop rolling until it was 50 feet away. Left my putt short, about 4 feet, then made a nice putt that hit something and kept it just off the right side of the hole.  I normally don't say much about putts, but the last putt was just the way I wanted to hit it and it hit something, maybe a piece of crabgrass, andjust missed the right side of the hole.  I really hated the double bogey, but I was pleased with the way I hit the ball on that hole.

I walked the 18 holes today.  It was a beautiful day.  Nice breeze, cool in the shade, blue sky.  A really nice day to be on the golf course.  I played with "Bad" George again today, but I didn't let that bother me like I did last Tuesday.  I made up my mind that I wouldn't let him ruin my game. We have a 'Good' George and a 'Bad' George.  If you wanna know what 'Bad' George lookes like just look up "Curmudgeon" in the dictionary and you'll see a picture of him.

Once again the Zombie's were on Parade!

I went to the Zombie Parade tonight.  Mary Lynn didn't want to go this year so I called J. R. and we went together.  I think there were more Zombie's this year. Of course, I think it grows bigger every year.

Looks like Ol' McDonald took a pitch fork to the mid-section.

The Hamburglar showed up.  I'm not sure what kinda meat was in the hamburger.

I'm not sure if this guy was made up or just got finished cleaning his chimney.

This Zombie was a little taller than most.  It's amazing how many of them march and how much time they must spend on making themselves up.







My favorite was the 'Bikini Zombie'.  I wasn't quick enough to get a picture of her, but I liked her outfit.

Scramble at Cherokee GC

I played in a Scramble at Cherokee GC today. I'll play 2 or 3 Scrambles there a year with pretty much the same guys.  At least, it's always the same 3 of us and the 4th person changes from tournament to tournament.  Cherokee is an easy scramble course.   Any team that plays half way decent should be 8 to 10 under.  However, we always play terrible and struggle to finish under par at all.  Usually we limp in around 2 or 3 under, with a bogey or two.  Well, we didn't win or anything today, but we managed to play much better.  We finished 8 under and tied for 2nd with 2 other teams. First place was 11 under.  Of course, we lost 2nd place in a scorecard playoff.   We were pleased simply because we finished where we should be, 8 under par.  We could even play better, we know, but, as we've shown, we can finish much worse.  It was a nice day, I played fairly well, and I'm satisified with my performance. 

More Golf at Iroquois GC on a Thursday

The putts just wouldn't drop today. I didn't play that bad, but I just didn't make any putts.  Early on, I had a lot of birdie putts, then some very makeable par putts.  I just couldn't convert.  Still, I shot a 41 - 39 = 80.  Not a bad score, but a few of those putts fall and we're looking at a very good score.
The thing is, they weren't bad putts.  Just a little off.  Several were on line but inches short, mostly on the longer putts.  And, when I miss the greens in regulation and have to chip, I'm chipping very well, but can't convert the 4 or 5 footer that I've left myself.
I'm still at a 6 handicap.  It didn't drop after my 76 last week.  So my 80 today netted me a 74.  Our 3 man team today averaged net 71, so I kinda pulled them down a little with my 74.  I know I've earned my 6 handicap, but I can't shoot scores that will net me down low enough to help my team.  Oh well, as the weather starts cooling off I'm sure my scores will start going up. Then when I happen to shoot a low score my handicap will net me a winning score.

LATE NOTE:  Well, we won team low score today!  Our net 71 average was the lowest of the 4 teams today, and J. R. won low man with an 81 net 67.  He's on my team.
J. R. won $12 for low man and we got $8 each for low team.

The Round of Golf at Shawnee GC today was a Train Wreck!

I'd like to say something good about my round today...but,...oh, wait.  I walked the 18 holes today and got some good exercise!  That's about the only thing I can think of that was good about this round #40 for the year.  I shot a 45 - 46 = 91.  I hit 2 balls out of bounds, my tee shots on 16 and 17.  That led to a triple bogey and double bogey.  My play wasn't very sharp today, but the worst thing was my putting.  I think I 3 putted about 10 greens today.  I hit 4 of the 5 par 3's, and 3 putted 3 of them for a bogey 4.  The only par 3 I didn't hit was #8, a long hole that I always hit a driver, and today I was just off the front of the green, and got down in 3 from there for my bogey.
I just wasn't in the game mentally today.  As Yogi Berra might say, "The game is 80 percent talent and the other half mental."

The Eagle Has Landed!

Today at Iroquois I shot my 2nd Even par 9 holes in my life.  The same nine I shot even par 2 weeks ago. Thanks to an eagle on #10.  I eagled #10 and birdied #11 to be 3 under on the back nine! My eagle was a pitching wedge holed out from about 80 yards. Never started a nine like that before! I ended up shooting a 41 - 35 = 76.  I also found out my handicap on Thursdays dropped another stroke to a 6.  So, with that 6 handicap I only net down to a 70, which I'm sure won't be good enough to win low man for the day.  Usually it'll take around mid 60's to be low man.
The lowest round I've shot in my life was a 75 at Maywood GC in Bardstown.  That was about 15 years ago when our Florida Golf Trip was cut short because of rain and we finished up our tournament back up here in Kentucky.  But, the 76 today equals the closest I've ever come to shooting my age, only 11 strokes off!

Round 39 for the year.

Tuesday's at Shawnee GC

I played Shawnee GC today as usual for a Tuesday.  The weather was nice so I walked the 18 holes.  After this hot weather and riding fairly often, I'm not really in very good walking shape.  The back nine really gets tough. But, I drag myself around. I shot a 40 - 42 = 82 today.  That's two 82's in a row at Shawnee.

I played decent today.  I thought my chipping wasn't very sharp, but my putting was pretty good. The last six holes I seemed to lose my drives to the right off the tee.  It may have been because I was tired. It did cause me some trouble but I made some pretty good recovery shots.  I think I hit my 3-wood better today than I've hit it for a long time. I'd like to see that stay around awhile.  All in all, I'm satisfied with my round.  Several double bogeys I'd like to have gotten rid of.  I did make one birdie, and that was from a great recovery shot. I hit one in the trees  to the right on #3, had to hit a driver off the deck, keeping it low, through a small opening.  Managed to roll it up on the green about 15 feet behind the hole and make the putt.  Very nice birdie!

This was round 38 for the year