foozle vt foo-zled; foo-zling (1892): to manage or play awkwardly; a bungling golf stroke

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Me and Old Man Par

I wouldn't normally write, blow for blow, about my exploits on the golf course on any given day...but today was something special. I shot even par over the 22 holes I played today, being 2-over after 18 and then birdieing 3 holes in a row to get to one-under. I had to play one more hole to make our game come out even, and of course I bogeyed it, but oh well. Even par!
So here we go: I started on 16 and three-putted from the front of the green for bogey. I made par on 17 after a nice chip shot to two feet. Then I birdied the 18th (for the first time) after making a nice uphill 12-footer to get it back to even. Ho hum 2-putt pars on 1 and 2 followed, with another nice chip leading to yet another par at 3. I hit the middle of the green on 4 and made an easy par, and then managed to get down from the front fringe on 5 for (you guessed it) another par. 6 yielded a bogey, and a lucky one at that as I chipped well past the hole and was lucky to make the comebacker for a 4. #7 was another two-putt par. Then on 8 I hit a terrible drive in the trees to the left, then hit a 3-wood to 100 yards out. A wedge to five feet and a nice right to left putt later and I had yet another par. On 9 I hit a hybrid to about 20 feet and rolled the putt in for birdie to bring me back to even after 12 holes. I made par again from the front fringe on 10, then hooked my tee shot up the hill and in the trees on 11, and was lucky to make bogey. I popped up my drive on 12, hit my second behind a tree and then punched a 9-iron to the back of the green. My first putt was lame and I missed the comebacker for 2 bogeys in a row (!). 13 I got the train back on track after bombing a drive over the trees, leaving me 80 yards for my second. I managed not to shank that wedge and just missed my downhill 20-footer for birdie. On 14 I hit the middle of the green and coaxed my first putt up to tap-in range. Then, on my final hole of the 18, I hit a nice drive on 15, followed by a smother-hooked four-iron into the trees to the left of the green. I pitched it nicely over the bunker and snuggled in a nice downhill 10-footer for par and a score of 74. And then it got interesting...I hit hybrid to 15 feet on 16 and drained the putt for birdie. Then I hit my second pin-high to the right of the 17th green, and of course chipped it in for birdie! On 18 I hooked my drive badly and was left with too much to get near the green in two. So I hit 3-wood to about 60 yards, then pitched it 10 feet above the hole and made another nice putt for birdie, my second one on 18 today. On the last hole (the first), I popped up my drive a bit and was left with a 5-iron into the green. I pulled it a bit left, then hit a timid chip to about 15 feet. And I missed that putt, leaving me with and even par score for 22 holes. Ta-da! If anyone besides me is still reading this I'll be shocked :).

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