Well, today I played my last round of golf with my aging irons. This week, after weeks (more like months and years) of shopping, I finally purchased a new set of irons! They haven't arrived yet, but they should arrive sometime next week. Next round, I hope to shave a few strokes from my game (as most new clubs promise). My current irons were a gift for my high school graduation over 10 years ago (okay, barely over 10 years ago). They were a few years old at the time, so my decade plus technology will be history next time out!
Anyways, back to today's round, I met up with a former intern (Josh) I worked with over the summer of 2008. I'm not sure exactly why we didn't play back then, but I'd imagine it had something to do with traveling and making arrangements for the wedding last year. I remember the summer of '08 was full of trips planning the where, when, and such... So, it has been around 2 years since we last worked together, so there definitely has been some built-up "smack talk" going on. For some reason, I just enjoy it, whether I'm the underdog or the favorite, it makes for fun times out on the course. (I think of my smack talking "racquetball" blogs in recent years, they did me no favors as I was destroyed often by Mr. Aaron!)
We opted for a mediocre course, Glenbrook Golf Course, a public course on the southeast side of Houston. I had played here once previously, it was a round in which JR cleaned up...we left far too much money on the table for him that day! Anyways, it's a challenging course. There are a number of holes in which you have to hit over the bayou, a Houston thing. It's the only city in which I've played over them...
Overall, I was actually happy with the play of the course. The tee boxes, fairways, and greens were generally in good (and playable) condition. There was a hole that was a little beat up, right off of I-45, that was definitely a distraction! The view was far from my last round in Hawaii...passing cars and fumes were considerably different than palm trees and coconuts!
The front nine we actually tied, with the two of us sitting on 53's (on par 37). I was quite disappointed, especially considering my last round. I shot a 9, 8, and 7 on three holes. Talk about putting myself in a hole (no pun intended)! Geez, I took 6 drops! That is something that hasn't happened in quite some time!
The back nine I was more on top of my game, more relaxed, and put together some great strokes. With 5 pars, I closed the day with a strong 39...which was quite the turnaround from the front. On the last hole, a par 5, had I turned my feet a little, I likely would have been on the green in two. I was satisfied with the par, though.
My biggest mistake from the day came on the front nine...on the second hole I sliced the living daylights out of a ball. The slice was reminiscent of my beginning days of golf...well, the ball was still up on a later hole that I was playing. I didn't realize it and hit it...badly at that. After 3 shots, I found the original ball from that hole...I drove it just short of the green. Talk about bad luck. A lost couple of strokes for sure...and a lesson for next time!
I would recommend Glenbrook for the challenge and the price. On one of the, if not the, hottest days of the year (97 degrees), it was still an enjoyable day on the course. More so because I won the two year old rivalry by 7 strokes, with my 92. Next up...not sure, but I'm hoping I'm back in the 80s!
No comments:
Post a Comment