Player's Club

With a fairly early tee-time planned, I was up by 645am. Downstairs, I started coffee then completed sit-ups but then decided to skip push-ups in order to give my shoulders and arms a much needed two-day break. Frankie didn’t act as if she was interested in getting out of her pen until I was mid-way through a cup of coffee. I took her out around 715am. She was pokey and spent a considerable amount of time laying casually in the early morning sunshine. Anxious to begin my run, I coaxed her back inside around 730am. We planned on leaving the house for golf at 9am, so, to that end, I left for my run around 745am. I wore a long sleeved running shirt to combat the morning chill. It was only 56 degrees under clear blue skies, but was expected to reach into the mid 80’s by mid afternoon. I ran three miles and was back home by 815am. Without much fanfare, I headed up for shower. Mindy got up as I prepped for golf. I made a sausage and cheese sandwich for breakfast using up the patties leftover from last Sunday’s family breakfast. Mindy asked what time she might expect me home. Around 3 or 4pm, I figured. She planned to grocery shop without the kids. Kenny pulled up in the driveway just as I was opening the garage to gather my gear. We arrived at Foxfire by 925am. Our tee-time wasn’t until 953am. I picked up our green fees - $43 each. We putted on the practice greens while waiting on the Bob’s. As expected, the greens were much faster than what we’re accustomed to playing. Both Bob’s were there and ready by 945am. We teed off just before 10am. I went first, and like I often, I hit one straight down the middle just outside the 150’s. The others had mixed results. My second shot landed in the right fringe just off the three-tiered green but pin high (same tier as the pin) and only 12’ out. I felt good about that. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get my putter to behave as planned. Don’t you know, I ended up rolling my putt down that second tier leaving myself a daunting 2nd putt. I ended up 3 putting for a bogey. Hole #4 ate my lunch. After chunking my ball all the way down the fairway, I topped that with some poor greenside play. We all played that hole poorly. In fact, so poorly that we let the twosome just behind us, play through. The weather and course was gorgeous. Sadly, I couldn’t match my play to the course or conditions. I didn’t whine about it though. What hurt me most was poor wedge play and then so-so putting – both aspects that had been treating me well of late. Through the afternoon, I spent an ordinate amount of time in green side bunkers. I struggled there too. I’ll bet I was in 8 greenside bunkers. I roared about it once or twice. Surprisingly, I played the three long, tight holes through the woods (14-16) pretty well, not once losing a ball out-of-bounds. We finished around 240pm. All totaled, I shot a miserable 106. We talked for a while before heading home. Kenny, Bob and Bob made plans to play Longaberger or Granville next Friday. As much as I would like to, I can’t due to a medical appointment. I arrived home just after 3pm to a house full of kids and Woody, Frankie's brother. Mindy had just finished baking chocolate chip cookies. I quickly scarfed down two. Mindy wasn’t home long. She bolted for the grocery as well as a couple other stops. Said she’d be gone at least two hours. The kids were in and out and ate constantly. It was a little more than I was prepared to deal with, especially when I needed a nap. I eventually gave up on that idea and headed outside to water flowers. Mindy finally got home from the grocery while I was outback. The kids constant eating continued even after Mindy was back. She gave me an earful for harping on her about it. Speaking of food, we had no firm dinner plans after discussing grilling or going out. I wasn’t that hungry and my stomach was burning and felt bloated. I definitely didn’t want to go out for dinner, but encouraged Mindy to take the kids and go. They ended up staying home alongside me. At some point, I’m guessing near 6pm, I discovered that the Brown’s preseason game was on TV. I pulled trump on the Big Screen dismissing Bella’s kiddie shows that had been running all afternoon. She wasn’t too happy about it but understood. After all, she could catch those shows from her room. Mindy had to lecture Jacob about bullying again. This time about his friend and Friday's overnight guest, Noah. We watched the Browns game together. They lost. The game ended just before 8pm, and just a few minutes before the nationally televised game between the Cowboys & Texans came on. While watching football, I drank three IPA’s from my Barley growler. I stayed up later than the others. The Texans put a smack down on the Cowboys.