Kings Island on a Saturday

Toyota's Company Picnic was today at Kings Island, so Mary Lynn and I decided to go up and ride a few rides.  Here, I know you can't see her, but Mary Lynn is riding the" Diamondback' Roller Coaster.  She rode it the first time by herself because I wasn't feeling well after riding the "Shake, Rattle, and Roll" ride.  I did ride this with her before we left.  It's a great ride and I recommend pulling up the YouTube video of the ride and watching it.
We decided not to ride the "Beast" Roller Coaster.  We figured the "Diamondback" was better, and the "Beast" was just gonna be too 'Jerky'.  We rode the "Racer" first, then the "Monster", "Shake, Rattle, and Roll", and "Diamondback".  I rode the log ride, but Mary Lynn watched......she didn't want to take a chance on getting wet.  So, she took this great picture of me at the bottom of the hill.  That's me waving my hat in the back of the log.  By the way, that was the exact point that I pulled out Beth's 'Pigtails' , over 25 years ago,which still has her 'traumatized' to this day.

Round 38 FTY, and now to go in a holding pattern

I played my 38th round of the year today.  We played Iroquois GC.  Just like Tuesday, I had a bad front nine but a good back nine.  I shot a 46 - 37 = 83.  I had two birdies on the back nine and was even par going to 18, but had a bogey.
One unusual thing happened during this round.  On hole number 3, which is a par 3, I hit my tee shot over the green and into the creek behind the green.  The other 3 players hit the green with their tee shots.  So, I had to take a drop out of the creek.  I then chipped it in!  For a nice par.  The other 3 guys all 3 putted for bogey.  So, after hitting it into the creek and the other three hitting the green, the only par made was me!
Well, I didn't tell the guys I play golf with that I'm heading in for surgery.  I let Gene McDonald know I wouldn't be playing next week, but that's all I said.  A couple of them think I'm just going on vacation for a week.  I'll let them know after I'm out of the hospital  that it'll be awhile before I can play again.  Meanwhile, I'll be stuck on round 38 for awhile!

Walking 18 holes at Shawnee

 

I played Shawnee GC today.  I walked the whole 18 holes.  That's the first time I've done that for a pretty good while.  I've walked 9 and ridden 9 a few times, but it's been a while since I've walked the whole 18.  And......it'll be the last time for a pretty good while.  I'm playing again Thursday.  But this will be at Iroquois GC, and it's supposed to be upper 80's.  So, with the hilly terrain and the warmer temps, I'm planning on riding the whole 18 then.
I didn't play very good today.  Hit decent shots, but my putting was terrible.  One of those days when you're standing over a putt and 'have no idea'.  "Just hope I can get it close".  I ended up with a pretty good back nine, but it could have been very good if I could have putted.  I shot a 44 - 39 = 83.  Not a bad score, but could have been so much better with a little putting.  Oh well, this was round 37 for the year, and with one more round we'll have to putt the game on 'pause' for awhile.

Looking forward to new parts

Soon I'll go in to the hospital to get a few new parts.  I got a new hip on the right side about 7 years ago.  The surgery has changed  a little, but the parts still look the same.  They remove the old ball at the top of the femur, ream out the socket joint, and replace the whole system with a new ball, with a spike driven down into the femur.  This is just info for those of you who have never seen how a hip is replaced.
So, Monday I'll have my left hip replaced. They say the recovery time will be about 6 weeks.  During that time, no golf.  So my 'golf'' blog will have to have very little golf entries after next week. 
I got a call from Jillian last night and she asked me to be a driver on her class field trip to the Zoo.. I had to decline, and I hated it.  Not only spend the day with Jilly, but at the Zoo!  It's almost worth cancelling my surgery!  Oh well, anytime you're laid up for period, it gets to be inconvenient.  I'll also miss a couple of Cross Country meets.  I hope just one, but we'll see.
I'll keep you posted on my recovery, as there will be no golf reports! 
I'm sure I'll be able to RUN FASTER, and JUMP HIGHER.  I'm pretty sure that's what the Doctor promised.

The Annual BubbaLou Golf Scramble!

We played our end of the year "BubbaLou" Golf Scramble today at Shawnee GC.  This is the 3rd Scramble in a row that our team really played well!  We finished 10 under, 5 under on the front and 5 under on the back.  This tournament is a little different on determining winners.  They draw another team to partner with you on the front nine, and another team on the back nine, with your scores added together.  So, our 29 on the front was 'partnered' with a 32, and our total 61 came in second.  We tied the back nine and got back $20 for our efforts.  I believe -10 was about as good as our team could play.  We all contributed, and had a lot of fun.  In a scramble, a team really doesn't want to use me drives because they're never very long.  And long is what you want in a Scramble.  But, I consistently hit nice drives down the middle and took the pressure off our other players so they could hit better drives.  I did help with a few nice shots to the green and made a few putts.  So, all in all, we worked well together as a team. and had about as good a score as we could have expected. 
My time for playing golf is coming rapidly to a close.  Only another week before I'll be taking off for a short stretch.  I'm looking forward to getting back out about mid-November!

First Cross Country Meet of the Year

I got to see Erin and Jillian run today in their first Cross Country Meet of the year.  This was Jillian's first run, EVER!  Their race was a one mile run.  The course of hilly and it was very hot.  Both of them did very well and  I was proud of how hard they worked.  You can see how red Erin's face is  in the picture above.  I was cheering and forgot to get a picture of them running.  So, we'll have to be satisified with the after pictures.   Also, Jillian lost her front tooth last night, as you can see with this pretty smile, so she had even less weight to carry.  GOOD JOB GIRLS!

The finished Design on the Tree on Castlewood

I think he's finished with the tree.  He's cleaned up all the debris around the bottom.  It looks like a Magic Tree to me.  A castle with a secret door at the bottom and a dragon flying past.  I'm not sure what he would call this, but it's pretty neat!

Round 36 for the Year.......and a Bad One

Well, from 77 to 87 in 2 days.  I really played bad today.  Several bad holes each 9 balloon a score way up there.  I shot a 43 - 44 = 87.  Playing bad was bad enough, but I was paired with "Bad George".  Bad George is one person nobody wants to play with.  He bitches, spits, bitches, spits, cusses, bitches, spits, cusses, bitches, spits........well, I could go on.  It's unbelievable.  No matter what kind of shots he hit, he bitches.  I know how he is, so I prepare myself.......but after 11 or 12 holes of nothing but bitching, cussing, spitting, bitching, cussing, spitting......I've pretty much had it.  I really can't say he was the cause of me playing bad, but I know it didn't help.  Playing bad, I can still enjoy a round of golf....but playing bad and listening to bitching, cussing, spitting, bitching cussing spitting......just takes the joy out of a round for me.  How about you?  Oh well, only a couple of more weeks and I'll have a vacation from golf for awhile.  So, I'll try to enjoy golf while I can.

Hmmm.......Good Golf at Weissinger Hills GC

Good Grief!  Charlie Brown!  I played good golf at Weissinger Hills.  I shot a 39 - 38 = 77!  And, yes, I played good!  It seemed that all parts of my game came together today.  Of course, it could have been better, but I have to be pleased with the round and how I played.  I birdied 3 holes....8, 15, and 16.  I played with Greg Lynn and I give him 2 strokes a side....not nearly enough today Greg!  Sorry!And, if you think the course played easy today, ask Greg.  He shot a 93.
The only part of my game that I thought was a little weak today was my driving.  I hit some good drives, but a lot of them just weren't hit well.  They turned out OK, down the middle and out of trouble, but I know I didn't catch them solid.  A few of them were in on the heel and thin....which made my drives low and with a little fade.  But, they were hit good enough that they were out there far enough and in the middle of the fairway.  So, I guess, my 'misses' weren't really bad shots, just not my best.
Also, this was the first time I played Weissinger and they had 'Senior Tees'.  We played the first 6 or 7 holes from the white tees before we noticed that they had Senior, "Silver" Tees, which have been added since I last played there.  J. R. is gonna be thrilled to hear they now have Senior Tees.  Some of the holes there isn't much difference, but a few of the holes they really help.  That's going to make a difference when ever we play the 'Slyder Cup' there.  This was round 35 for the year.