My Golf Game - anything but Japanese poetry - Haiku/Hack-ewh

I was up near 715am and as I expected, David & Anita were already up. David was at the kitchen table playing around on his iPad and Anita was off on her morning walk. David had already brewed fresh coffee, too. I enjoyed a cup of coffee, chatted a bit with David then headed off on my own run. I ran shirtless since it was so warm and sticky. Logged three miles. Happened upon Anita doing her loops too.

By the time I was back from my run it was 830am. David & I had an 1120 tee time, and I know that doesn't sound early but we planned on leaving somewhere close to 10am. The plan was for Tom C. to meet at my house and ride with us. Tom Wright planned to meet us there. Tom C. sent a text near 930am sharing that he would have to meet us there since he was on-call for the weekend. Made sense. Enjoyed an egg sandwich and then went for a shower.

David offered that we take the Lexus SUV leaving the girls with the Pilot. They discussed lots of options for their day but committed to none. Left the house near 10am and arrived around 1030am. David wanted to hit a bucket of balls, which is something I rarely do before a round of golf. I covered our fees, a birthday gift of sorts.

Probably a good thing we hit balls. My swing was a disaster initially, but after about a dozen shots it seemed to come back. I was careful not to hit too many. After 20 minutes on the range, we headed to the putting green. Tommy & Tom arrived within 5 minutes of one another. Started informed us that no one had gone off hole #1 Player's Club since 1030am. Cool! But right about 1105am a individual walker launched in front of us. Didn't bother me. Figured he'd quickly separate from us - a foursome.

The starter let us tee off early. Somewhat out of character, I topped my first tee shot. David offered that I hit another but I declined. Declared a rule, if topping off the tee, we were free to hit another ball - no stroke play. After all, none of us had been out beyond nine holes all year. Was on in three and two putted.

Played the first seven holes well, paring 3,4. 6, & 7. I was sitting at 29 after seven holes. Not bad at all. After that, however, I am afraid I completely lost any game I might've had in me. I had a 10 on #8 and then 8 on #9. It went from bad to worse. I still didn't let it get to me much. Chalked it up to no action for the better part of two years with the exception of two rounds last year and nine holes in SC this summer. It got so bad that I simply picked up on hole #16. Screw it. As bad as I was playing, Tommy was even worse, though in his defense, this might've maybe his tenth time golfing ever. I stopped recording scores on the back nine. David was striking the ball well, his old self coming back. Used the rest of the round to practice.

We finished up 18 holes 5 hours later. We kept track of the Buckeye score throughout most of the afternoon. They apparently started on fire but cooled after that. 23-0 after 1 quarter. Won 40-20 over a much less opponent. Bidded farewell to the Tom's from the parking lot. I drove us home. And while I had low expectations from a scoring perspective, I was more than a little disappointed in my swing. Lost my ability to drive well. Didn't hit one solid drive all day.

Mindy & Anita were home kicking back. Said they spent the afternoon in German Village, including a stop at the ever popular Book Loft. Not long after we arrived home, David & Anita headed off to see his half sister, Kendra, who lives in Hilliard near Davidson HS. We had loosely discussed the possibility of us going along, but I felt like we might be out of place. Besides, David hasn't seen Kendra but one other time and that was 20 years prior.

While they were away, I relaxed and even tried to nap. The plan was to hook-up again about an hour later and then head to dinner - Sushi to be exact. They were actually gone for closer to 90 minutes. We didn't mind. We were off walking Eiknarf when they returned. The Sushi venue changed more than once. Originally David suggest one way up off Sawmill and 161. We opted instead for Haikou in the short north. Figured that way we'd be near other things to do too.

Our sunny, hot steamy day quietly turned a bit stormy. Thunderstorms were suddenly forming all around us. But even after arriving at Haikou not a drop of rain had fallen. It wasn't long, however, before all that changed and the sky broke loose. And unfortunately for us, we opted for patio seating. Good thing they had a canopy across the top. During appetizers, David complained of getting wet, as his seat was on the patios edge and far more prone to any residual rain fall. We tried moving inward a but that still didn't stop him from getting wet. We ended up moving out table about 4 or 5' inward. That did the trick.

As for the sushi, I went with fried rice with beef. The thought of eating raw fish does nothing for me. The others seemed to enjoy their gooey treats. Hey, they looked pretty - like a piece of art. For me, that's where it ended.
David insisted on getting the tab since sushi was his idea. And since being a gracious receiver is just as important as being a good giver we simply thanked him for the kind gesture.

When we left Haikou, I had designs on walking the strip and possibly stopping in one of the many pubs for a really good beer. The others, however, especially Mindy and Anita, weren't too keen on the idea. They were tired from their German Village tour earlier in the day. I was a little tired and didn't push my own agenda. We simply returned to our car and headed back home. It was near 830pm when we got home.

I poured a Jack & Cokes to cut through the day's food. Watched a little college football, too. David and I talked a big game. We were gonna party like rock stars. But after another hour or so we gave up on that idea and instead headed to bed.