Thornapple in my side

I was up before 530am but made a conscious choice to get more sleep. I ended up getting out of bed at 545am. I was anxious to see the results of last night’s rain on the lawn and flowers. Other than overcast skies and a few puddles on the deck, one could hardly tell that it had rained. The streets and walks were already dry. But that’s often the case with summer storms. The residual effects don’t last long. As usual, I choked down a vitamin and began exercising. I left the house with Ykraps at 6:05am. As we walked by the Trooper and onto the sidewalk I remembered that I’d need to stow my golf clubs if I were going to golf after work. The lawn no longer had that “I’m thirsty” look about it. At least the rain had taken care of that more immediate need. But truthfully, we could use a few rainy days strung together to help resuscitate most struggling lawns. After checking my beds, pots, and baskets I was happily convinced that there was no need to water. Everything was soaked nicely. Weatherbug, if it can be trusted, indicates that we received 1/4-1/2” of rain on the westside of town. I read the daily OM and then spent a good ten minutes in meditation before getting a start on food prep. And since there was no need to water, I found myself with lots of spare time. I decided to shower and leave for work earlier than I have the last month or so. The mood today was cheerful. Everything seemed to be going swell. I received a golf email from Bob around lunch time asking my intentions. I responded after my run that I expected to play and would meet him at Thornapple Country Club around 530pm. Unlike other weeks, we made plans to hit a west Columbus course rather than drive all the way to Groveport. Thornapple informed Bob that we could get off just after 6pm. And since it’s so close, I wouldn’t have to leave work early and drive for 35 minutes. Wahoo! I worked through the day looking forward to an evening of golf. The only potential obstacle was the heavy storms predicted for our area for late afternoon/evening. But a check of the radar showed nothing but skies all the way back through Indiana. Along my way to Thornapple after work, I casually tried rolling down my front windows to allow airflow at least until the AC cooled down. In doing I discovered my latest problem. MY passenger window is either off track or broke. I’ll have to dismantle the door to inspect further this weekend. Damn it! It’s always something. I arrived at Thornapple right at 530pm. I put our names on the after 6pm list. We were to be 2nd inline. Bob didn’t arrive for another fifteen minutes. I spent the time putting and then walking about the clubhouse. We tee’d off just after 6pm on the treacherous back nine. Hole number ten is a 550 yard par 5 that looks a long way off. I hit an admittedly crappy drive but stil lout there about 180 yards. Blocked by a pine tree, I had little choice other than slapping it out onto the fairway to give myself a nice third shot. I hit a real nice 3-wood that left me still about 180 out. My fourth shot, a four iron, landed just shy of the green in the thick rough. Sadly, I hit a poor chip shot and left myself still in the fringe just off the green. From there I three putted and ended up with an eight. Fro mthis you can see how a break here or there can impact your score dramatically. If my fourth shot would have traveled 3 yards further I would have been putting for par and at worst, a bogey. That’s golf. After that, I played fairly well, playing bogey golf through hole #16. Hole #17 is a 81 yard par three. Oops! I hit my tee shot into the creek off the tee, but then recovered nicely by placing my drop within 14’. I scored a five (a double bogey). I finished hole #18 with a bogey 5. Bob beat me by 4 strokes. We discussed this coming weekend’s plans before parting ways. Hopefully we’ll meet by the firkin on Friday, and possibly Alum Creek one evening next week. I headed home. It was 830pm. It took just ten minutes to get there. Mindy already had the kids in bed and dinner on the stove. She asked that I tuck in the children. I did. We ate our dinner then headed to bed. It was almost 10pm.