Autumnal Equinox & Golf

Goodbye Summer 2008. It's been great!

My good fortune meant good fortune for Mindy too, at least with respect to her get-up time. Because I was off work, she could afford an extra fifteen minutes of precious sleep. I discovered that being on the other end of having the bathroom lights come on while sleeping isn’t fun. I ended up popping out of bed and heading downstairs at 6:30am. 

I needed to be exercised and have my run completed prior to Jacob’s bus stop time of 8:30am. This was to be the final 8:30am bus stop. Beginning tomorrow, we’re back to first pick-up at 8:04am just like we hoped. I exercised and walked Ykraps all before 7am. Soon after Mindy & Bella left I headed out for my run. Jacob would be up in his room watching TV. I told him that I would be back by 8:00am. 

I chose to run only three miles to save some energy for a full day of golf.  It was a nice easy run. I was back home right about 8:00am. I decided not to shower until after Jacob was on the bus for school. We left for the bus stop at 8:20am. Crissy dropped Jake at our house so that I could get him on the bus. Kenny had to be somewhere early.  I spotted Pat Shultz in his garage just as the bus pulled up. I ventured over to chat after the boys boarded the bus. I hadn’t seen Pat since the USC game. We chatted for five minutes or so. He had to dash off to work and I had to head home for a much needed shower before golf. 

I had been watering the newly seeded lawn areas all morning long. I left it run a while longer while I readied for golf. I was showered and ready by 9:10am. I made myself a sandwich, turned off the sprinkler pump, and headed out the door in the BM’er at 9:20am. My Yahoo map directions said to get off I-670 at RT62 and take that all the way through Gahanna and eventually up through New Albany. But having taken that route to New Albany before, I knew it would be a mistake. Instead, I took 670 to I-270 N, and then to Rt 161 east. I then picked up RT 62 off of 161. That proved to be incredibly quick. I was at New Albany Links in just 22 minutes. Wow! 

The starter greeted me at my car with a golf cart. I appreciated the gesture. I took my time putting and surveying the grounds. I was early. Tom and Bob Imber arrived within minutes of one another.  Bob Bolyard arrived last but still with time to spare. The proshop dude mistakenly charged me for all four green fees and had to do a credit. I need to check my banking statement to ensure his accuracy.  Yikes!

The starter made sure we knew how treacherous the greens were and also gave us a few tips for successful play. If we only knew! 

We tee’d off at 10:50am. It was a lovely morning and still just a tad chilly, but the afternoon promised to warm close to 80 degrees. None of us started out real well. And the greens were just as advertised – tough! In fact, I don’t know that I’ve ever played greens quite as stiff as these. There was no give whatsoever. I think that Bob Imber described them best – tight as a snare drum. Not only were they stiff, but they were undulating, too. Even a high arching approach shot hitting on the front of the green would frequently roll off and into one of many sand traps guarding the greens. I’d bet I found myself in a trap on half the holes. Frustrating. I did manage a birdie on the par 5 number four hole, though. But after that my game went south. I don’t want to make any excuses, but I knew I was in trouble when I forgot to take ibuprofen before leaving home. My legs and forearms were stiff after all the shoveling and wheel barrowing the two prior afternoons.  Regardless, except for a few frustrating moments, we had one heck of a good time. My buddy Tom nailed a house with an errant drive that made an awfully noisy thud when it struck. That was funny. On another occasion, I was looking for other's lost balls on a heather covered hill when Bob Imber’s errant shot out of the same stuff struck me squarely in the right shoulder. I had no time to react – none! Lucky for me, it had no power after his club got twisted up in the tall grass. Still frightened me, though. Everyone got a laugh at my expense. 

I had more eights than I care to mention. We all had more than our fair share of bad holes. The course humbled me. Tom & Bob B. both had to be elsewhere after we finished. It was 3:40pm on the nose (a 5 hour round). Bob Imber asked if I cared to get in another nine. Sounded good to me.  The gentleman in the pro shop only charged us for the cart. Cool. Nine more! 

We played the front nine a second relatively fast - probably in about 1.75 hours. Once again, the course proved tougher than the game either of us had in our bags, although Bob did better than me. However, I narrowly missed another birdie on hole #4. We finished around 5:30pm. I called Mindy about halfway through the front nine. She wished me well and only asked that I stop and pick-up a prescription for her on my way home. I agreed. The drive is almost all highway. I found myself at the Hilliard CVS by 6pm, and finally home by 6:20pm. Mindy wasn’t feeling well. She heated a family sized Stouffers Lasagna for dinner. She also made crescent rolls and side salads. Everything was delicious. After dinner I headed out to water the seeded area of the lawn. With all the dry sunshine, I’m finding the area needing watered twice each day. 

The kids were in bed by 8pm. Mindy and I sat down to watch Monday Night Football. We didn’t realize that the start time wasn’t until 8:30pm. We watched most of the first half from bed. The TV was off by halftime. We were both tuckered.