Pre-round practice: Range balls
18 Holes
Today is not only my birthday but the 1 year anniversary of my lowest 18 hole score of 87. Last year, I took the day off work and played 18 holes by myself at Ponkapoag GC. It was one of the most gratifying experiences walking off the 18th green, looking at my scorecard, noticing that I shot the lowest round thus far. To this day, it remains my lowest. Anyways, this year, my birthday is on the same day as Mother's day. I was hoping that the course would be clear and I could once a again get out early and try to post another low round. To my amazement, the front nine seemed backed up. I teed off solo but eventually caught up to a friendly twosome on the 3rd hole. I joined both Dan and his buddy (both in their 40s?). Immediately, I could see that Dan was an experienced player. He flushed all his shots (including a 3-iron!) and was solid with the putter. Pars were commonplace and birdies were no surprise for these guys. Now, I forgot to mention that in the last week, I've been dealing with a nagging left groin strain. I told myself it wasn't a great idea playing on this day b/c it was only aggravating it. I was erratic with my drives and iron shots. Never felt comfortable over the ball and began to over compensate for the discomfort on my left side. Bad combination. To my amazement and the others, I converted an unlikely birdie from a tough pitch shot out of the rough. It was nice to get some validation for myself. Later in the round, it got the point I think on the 15th hole, when I thought to call it quits b/c of the groin. Instead, like a stubborn idiot, I kept going and ended up playing beautifully, salvaging a decent score of 87. I tied my career best on this one year anniversary. After the round, I knew I had to take some time off to heal the injury.
Score: 87
Today is not only my birthday but the 1 year anniversary of my lowest 18 hole score of 87. Last year, I took the day off work and played 18 holes by myself at Ponkapoag GC. It was one of the most gratifying experiences walking off the 18th green, looking at my scorecard, noticing that I shot the lowest round thus far. To this day, it remains my lowest. Anyways, this year, my birthday is on the same day as Mother's day. I was hoping that the course would be clear and I could once a again get out early and try to post another low round. To my amazement, the front nine seemed backed up. I teed off solo but eventually caught up to a friendly twosome on the 3rd hole. I joined both Dan and his buddy (both in their 40s?). Immediately, I could see that Dan was an experienced player. He flushed all his shots (including a 3-iron!) and was solid with the putter. Pars were commonplace and birdies were no surprise for these guys. Now, I forgot to mention that in the last week, I've been dealing with a nagging left groin strain. I told myself it wasn't a great idea playing on this day b/c it was only aggravating it. I was erratic with my drives and iron shots. Never felt comfortable over the ball and began to over compensate for the discomfort on my left side. Bad combination. To my amazement and the others, I converted an unlikely birdie from a tough pitch shot out of the rough. It was nice to get some validation for myself. Later in the round, it got the point I think on the 15th hole, when I thought to call it quits b/c of the groin. Instead, like a stubborn idiot, I kept going and ended up playing beautifully, salvaging a decent score of 87. I tied my career best on this one year anniversary. After the round, I knew I had to take some time off to heal the injury.
Score: 87
