Bad Front Nine, Good Back Nine

It was a hot one today, so I rode the whole 18.  I'm not going to try to walk when the heat index gets above 90.  I might try walking the front nine at Shawnee GC, when it's early enough that it hasn't gotten that hot yet.  But today we played at Iroquois GC, and I won't attempt it there.
I didn't have a very good front nine, double bogied three holes, two of them were par 5's.  It's hard to keep your score down with a couple of 7's on the card.  I played much better on the back nine.  Plus, I really putted well the whole 18.  It could have been a much higher score if I hadn't saved a few holes with nice putting.
I shot a 45 - 39 = 84.  I mentioned in an earlier blog that my handicap at Iroquois is now a 7.  So my 84 netted me down to a 77.  I takes a score in the 60's to win low man, and an average team score of around 70 to win low team.  Needless to say, my 77 didn't help my team.  Luckily, I guess, the whole team played pretty bad today, so not winning wasn't just my fault.
This was round 23 for the year.

People watching at Willow Park on a Sunday Night

It was another fine Sunday night in Willow Park.  They finally opened the newly sodded area near the new dance floor, so we were able to sit in our normal place.   'The Tarnations' played, which I will not place in my favorite Sunday night bands, but the music was OK.
It's fun watching all the dancers and watching the little kids dance.  Some of them really have some moves.  Little kids are so 'uninhibited', and have fun moving to the music as the music moves them.
We also like to watch the people.

This guy in the shorts was one of Mary Lynn's favorites.  We both wondered just exactly what look he was after when he got dressed to come out and dance in public.  What you can't see is the red bandanna handkerchief he had hanging on his right side tucked into his waistband.

And, there was this guy.  You think this was a new pair of shorts?   I zoomed in on the tag on the bottom of the shorts and they said "Walking Shorts, W34.







The weather was nice.  Not too hot and a gentle cool breeze all night. Next Sunday night will be the "Stray Cat Blues Band".  They're not one of my favorites either, but they play pretty good music and decent dance music.  Hope the weather's good!

Playing Shawnee GC on the Weekend

I played Shawnee GC today with Mark and Matt Wagner.  I don't like playing a City Course on weekends because it costs me twice as much as it does during the week.  I get the Senior rate on weekdays of $7.75 Green Fee.  Weekends, there is no Senior Rate and the Green Fee is $14.75. 
It was pretty hot today, so I was just able to walk the front nine and had to rent a cart on the back nine for another $8.00.  I know this is not a lot of money, but if I expect to play a couple of times a week I need to keep my expenses down as much as I can.
I don't know what happened to my drives.  I just lost it a couple of weeks ago.  I was hitting the ball so well off the tee.  Now, I don't know where they're going, and the ball doesn't go very far.  Maybe I'll get it back.  I didn't play well today but still managed to shoot a 41 - 40 = 81.  I guess that's pretty good.  But I know it should have been 5-6 strokes better.  I think Mark and I tied, but I believe Matt shot an 80 to beat us by one stroke.
I'm not sure how to handle the heat this summer.  I know I'm now one of those people who are supposed to heed the Heat Advisories.  So, I think I'm going to have to really curtail my golfing during the hottest part of the summer.  And, when I do play, I'm going to have to ride a cart and not even try walking.  So, I'll probably have to quit playing on Tuesdays for awhile and just play on Thursday at Iroquois.  I don't know, I'm still trying to decide what to do.
This was round 22 for the year.

Funny faces, smiling faces

We celebrated Kim's Birthday last night at Uncle Maddio's Pizza.  I got some nice pictures, but I'll just show you one of the nice ones.

This is a nice picture of Kim blowing out the candles on the brownies Mark made.  Of course, this was after the traditional 'Happy Birthday' song.









Then........ everybody seemed to start making funny faces for the camera!

Some of us take to this really well!

Sometimes it's hereditary!

Mr. and Mrs. Goofy........

And hands down, the winner is............










Yes, we had a lot of fun.  And, again, Happy Birthday Kim!  We love you!

The Problem with Playing Good Golf

Anyone who plays golf knows the problem with playing good golf.  It never keeps up.  The same with playing bad, you know eventually it will change.  So, my good golfing changed today.  After several rounds breaking 80, today I shot a 43 - 42 = 85.  Not a terrible score, but not what I've been scoring. 
I hit a lot of really good shots today.  The problem was, I hit way too many 'terrible' shots.  I topped a tee shot, hit a couple way left.  Got myself into trouble.  But, on several holes that I got into trouble, I was able to make a really good shot to bogey the hole.
I can't say I'm upset about playing bad.  My handicap has really dropped and if I expect to win any money now, I'll need to get that handicap up a little.  It's now 9 at Shawnee and 7 at Iroquois.  I mean, '7' handicap?  That means I'd have to shoot a 76 in order to net below 70, which it takes to win low man on Thursdays.  Usually, it takes around a net 66 to win low man.  That means I'd have to shoot a 73.  Which would only be 2 strokes lower than I've ever shot in my life.  Not likely. 
So, while I have this low handicap, I can't complain about shooting high scores.  It can only help in the long run.  Now don't get the wrong idea.  I'm not one who would shoot high scores just to raise my handicap.  I try to play well.  It's just that when I don't play well, I take consolation in the fact that at least it'll raise my handicap!

Breaking 80 for the 3rd time this year

I played Iroquois today for my 20th round of the year.  As at Shawnee, we moved one of the holes back to make it a par 5.  Those of you familiar with Iroquois GC know hole #12, a long par 4.  So, we moved back to the blue tees and made it a par 5.  This gives us 3 par 5's in a row on the back nine.  I shot a 40 - 39 = 79 today.  My only double bogey was on #18.  I guess you can say I choked!  I'm still not hitting my tee shots as well as I have been.  But they were OK.  The bad part of my game today was my fairway woods.  I just didn't hit them well at all.  The rest of my game was all OK, but I would have to give my fairway woods a failing grade.  I hit a lot of them a little fat, and a lot of them off the toe of the club.  These shots weren't terrible, but they just didn't measure up.  I didn't get into trouble with any of them, but instead of hitting green on par 4's and having a short iron in on par 5's, I had to hit small wedges and long irons.  I did chip and putt pretty well.
My team did win low team today, so I got $9 back.  That's 3 times in a row I've won a little money.  My handicap at both courses is 10, and I think I'm due to have it drop a stroke.  Anyway, I hope that's all it drops!

Playing well overall, but most of the game needs improvement

Taking the whole game into consideration, I played pretty good.  At least, my score was good.  I broke 80 for the 2nd time this year with a 38 - 40 = 78.  We played at Shawnee GC and I managed to tie for low round with a net 68, and got $9 for my efforts.  I also found out I won low front nine last Thursday and got $16 for that.  I'm afraid my handicap is going to drop from the current '10'.
We've decided to play a couple of holes different than we've been playing them.  As you know, we play from the gold 'Senior' tees.  Hole #2 at Shawnee is a long par 4 that most people have a difficult time getting there in 2.  So, we decided to play from the blue tees on that hole and make it a par 5.  We're doing the same thing with hole #12 at Iroquois GC on Thursdays.  I don't know what kind of difference it makes, but I guess people seem to be happier going into a par 5 with an iron than going into a par 4 with a 3 wood.  Anyway, the 2 courses have now had 1 stroke added to their par totals. Shawnee was a par 70 and is now played as a par 71.  Iroquois goes from a par 71 to a par 72.
I didn't hit my tee shots as well today as I've been hitting them.   I hit a few good ones, but most were just OK.  The only part of my game today that I thought was good was my chipping.  Everything else was just so-so. I hit my worst tee shot on #17 and that caused my only double bogey of the day, right when I was thinking that this was going to really be a good round.  Hmmmm......so that's what choking is!  I did par the 18th hole though, with a nice 10 foot breaking putt.
Oh, and today I saw the first snake I've ever seen on Shawnee GC.  I've seen several snakes at Iroquois and some other courses around town, but this was the first one I've seen on Shawnee.  It was on the first green.  Small one, only about 10" long, and we ran him off the green before someone else saw him and killed him.  I don't know them well enough to identify them, but one of the guys said it was a rat snake.  Anyway, where there are small snakes, there are big snakes!
I  believe this was round 19 for the year.  If not, I'll be back to change it.

Weissinger Hills GC for round 18 of the year

I played at Weissinger Hills GC today with Greg Lynn, Bobby and Tommy Flood.  Anytime I play Greg or Bobby we have a $1 bet on each nine and the 18, for $3.  You'd think it was for $500 as bad as each of us want it.
I managed to win $1 from Greg and the whole $3 from Bobby. I think I'll frame that money!
I hit the ball pretty well all day, but my putting let me down.  I missed a lot of short putts, and didn't do very well getting long putts close to the hole.
But, it was a lot of fun.  Bobby and I always talk about getting out to play but it's hard to get a time when we're both available.

Round 17 for the Year

Taking it easy on the course.  That's the way I felt on the front nine.  I did feel good about walking the whole 18 holes.  First time I've done that for awhile.  I let  a couple of holes get away from me on the back nine.  After not playing much in the past couple of weeks I played about the way I thought I'd play. 
I ended up shooting a 37 - 43 = 80.  Not a bad score.  The 37 on the front was pretty good considering I 3-putted 3of the first 4 holes.  Needless to say I didn't putt well today, so the 80 was a pretty decent score.  On the back nine I let a couple of drives get away from me and hit a poor 3-wood on #18.  I made up for the bad shots by making a good shot, so the holes that could have turned into a big number only cost me a Bogey.

The Wilderness Trail

Erin and Jill spent the night Sunday night.  Erin had a piano lesson at Chance School at 11am, and Jill thought it would be a great time to take Grampy for a walk in the woods behind the school.  She knew all about it and knew the way, so she was the leader.  I called her Daniela Boone.

It was a nice little hike.  I would find a place where I could set the camera on a rock or log, set the timer, and get a picture of us.  I think because I used the timer, Jillian was a little more willing to have her picture taken.  Sometimes she just won't pose for a picture.

I managed to get some of the best pictures of me with Jilly.  Of course, over the years there haven't been very many because she just wouldn't pose.

By using the time, I guess that got her in the mood and she even posed by herself for me to get a picture.  Pretty nice picture, if I do say so myself.  I don't think it was the photographer as much as it was the subject.








When we went into the woods I made her promise not to run off and leave me because I wouldn't be able to find my way out again.  Daniela Boone did a great guide job and we arrived back at Chance School safe and sound.