Saturday was another fantastic Native-American summer day (gotta love the political correctness). I celebrated by golfing of course. I drove on over to the North Park Golf Course again. On the front I shot a 54, but on the back I shot a 47, with a birdie and a par. It takes me a while to remember good form if I don't warm up first. Once I remembered though, it was a lot more fun. I was about three feet away from the green in two on the par-5 ninth hole. Of course, I then tried a tough chip and ended up with a six.
I've started putting drive in the fairway. It's amazing how much easier that makes the game. Go figure.
Total Spent:
Money = $122
Time = 22.5 hours
Handicap = 43
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
Progress is being made...
and not just in health care reform. Ooh, see what I did there? Bet you didn't see that coming. So, after scraping about an inch of ice off my windshield Friday morning, Saturday bloomed into a sunny, 65 degree day. Perfect for golfing. I decided to take my hard-earned dollars back to the Bob O'Connor course in Schenley Park. I shot a 101. I know, pretty good right? That's 4 strokes better than last time. Also encouraging is that my good shots are getting better, and my bad shots are getting better and fewer. I had 2 pars and 6 bogeys, which is pretty good. Really what I need to work on now is getting rid of the blow-up holes. I had a 5-putt 7 on a par-3 because I lost focus. I should have been wearing a red shirt.
I had a really nice recovery on 2 when I hit a flop shot over some hedges and then hit a a pitch from about 30 yards to within 8 feet, and sank the putt for a bogey. I'm so close to putting it together and watching my scores plunge. Focus. Focus. Focus.
Total Spent:
Money = $104
Time = 18.5 hours
Handicap = 43
I had a really nice recovery on 2 when I hit a flop shot over some hedges and then hit a a pitch from about 30 yards to within 8 feet, and sank the putt for a bogey. I'm so close to putting it together and watching my scores plunge. Focus. Focus. Focus.
Total Spent:
Money = $104
Time = 18.5 hours
Handicap = 43
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Big Break Episode 3
I'm starting to get a better feel for Andrew Giuliani. He's definitely the spoiled smug chubby kid that is always hanging around and can't shut his mouth. The only problem is that he's actually pretty good at this golf thing. Which means he's probably going to be around for a while.
So this episode kicks off with an extended $5,000 challenge made of three parts. There's the classic glass-breaking challenge, a beat-the-pro (J.B. Holmes) challenge, and a putting challenge. The only really surprising aspect was that six out of ten guys hit the glass on their first try.
So Kevin, KMax, and Sean got sent to the elimination challenge, which was a fun risk/reward event. KMax goes for the green and ends up in the lake, which sets the tone for the rest of the challenge. During the course of the elimination, Angry-Guy-Blake and Andrew Giuliani get into a little 'discussion' about the merits of laying up. The 'discussion' is fun to watch, but even more so is watching Vince, who is sitting between them, suddenly become intent on ensuring that his shirt is perfectly tucked in. I can't wait for this week. It might be better than a hockey game. I put the odds on a physical altercation at 50-50.
So this episode kicks off with an extended $5,000 challenge made of three parts. There's the classic glass-breaking challenge, a beat-the-pro (J.B. Holmes) challenge, and a putting challenge. The only really surprising aspect was that six out of ten guys hit the glass on their first try.
So Kevin, KMax, and Sean got sent to the elimination challenge, which was a fun risk/reward event. KMax goes for the green and ends up in the lake, which sets the tone for the rest of the challenge. During the course of the elimination, Angry-Guy-Blake and Andrew Giuliani get into a little 'discussion' about the merits of laying up. The 'discussion' is fun to watch, but even more so is watching Vince, who is sitting between them, suddenly become intent on ensuring that his shirt is perfectly tucked in. I can't wait for this week. It might be better than a hockey game. I put the odds on a physical altercation at 50-50.
Hello...
Well, unfortunately I've been nursing an abdominal strain that I picked up while moving two weeks ago, so I haven't been able to take advantage of the relatively good weather. See how old I'm getting? Who gets hurt moving? On the positive side of things, however, I just got a full-time job. I'm going to be teaching science at a charter school. This means two firsts for my marriage. First first, is that this is the first time that my wife and I both have full time jobs in the U.S. together. (There was that whole Morocco thing last year.) Second first, I am now making more money than my wife. I can wear the pants again, which is especially good with those cold winter breezes in the near future. And finally, this means more money for golf, which is pretty much the point right now.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Big Break Episode 2
Here we go again! Episode 2 of the Disney season of Big Break opens at Champions stadium, spring-training home of the Atlanta Braves. Simple concept for the first immunity challenge, home run derby. Each homer is a point, you get 2 outs. The catch is that they have to use restricted flight balls. (Obviously, even I could hit a pitching wedge out of a baseball stadium with a regular ball.) The show was stolen by Tony, one of the brothers, who got in a groove and knocked 22 out of the stadium. He could have had more, but got egged into aiming at left field instead of right, and missed one. The only person to come close was Vincent, with 19. I don't think anybody else broke 10.
Did anybody else notice the caption that said Tony's brother Gipper averaged 360 yards per drive on the Nationwide Tour last year? I realize that this guy is crazy-long, but this average is a bit misleading, as it is calculated over two rounds, and only four holes. You can see all of Gipper's stats here. But hey, I'd love to crank one 360, let alone average that. Later during the the elimination challenge Vincent comments that Gipper hit a gap wedge from 145 yards, in the rough, in the rain. Ridiculous.
The second immunity challenge was an up-and-down from from the bunker match-play event. The players got to choose their opponent for a little mind game aspect. Nothing terribly exciting resulted.
The elimination challenge didn't see too many great shots, as the goal was to hit into a 30-yard circle on the green from three different locations, but it had a ton of bad shots. Angry-guy-Blake and Susan-Lucci-is-my-mommy-Andreas battled to see who could fall apart the worst, with Andreas coming away the winner (read loser). So Andreas goes home, and we are left with the possibility of Angry-guy-Blake committing felony assault with a lob wedge.
Did anybody else notice the caption that said Tony's brother Gipper averaged 360 yards per drive on the Nationwide Tour last year? I realize that this guy is crazy-long, but this average is a bit misleading, as it is calculated over two rounds, and only four holes. You can see all of Gipper's stats here. But hey, I'd love to crank one 360, let alone average that. Later during the the elimination challenge Vincent comments that Gipper hit a gap wedge from 145 yards, in the rough, in the rain. Ridiculous.
The second immunity challenge was an up-and-down from from the bunker match-play event. The players got to choose their opponent for a little mind game aspect. Nothing terribly exciting resulted.
The elimination challenge didn't see too many great shots, as the goal was to hit into a 30-yard circle on the green from three different locations, but it had a ton of bad shots. Angry-guy-Blake and Susan-Lucci-is-my-mommy-Andreas battled to see who could fall apart the worst, with Andreas coming away the winner (read loser). So Andreas goes home, and we are left with the possibility of Angry-guy-Blake committing felony assault with a lob wedge.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Come on!
Last Thursday I went and dropped another $6 at the range. Good news: they had heated tee boxes. Bad news: I spent too much time on the driver and not enough time on my irons. Today I played another nine holes at North Park Golf Course. Surprisingly I hit the driver well...except for the first drive which I popped up to the right. However, I couldn't hit an iron shot to save my life. I had some good chances after good drives, but didn't manage to hit one green in regulation. ARRRGGGHHH!!! I felt like saying bad words. The worst approach was after I hit my best drive ever. 240 yards, laser-straight, dead center of the fairway. I followed that beauty up with a toed slice that almost decapitated some ladies on the next tee. I did have two approaches with a sand wedge that came up just short, and of course landed in bunkers both times.
On another note, the course was jam-packed at noon on a Wednesday. Doesn't anybody work anymore? I know, I've heard about that whole 'recession' thing going around, but really, if you're unemployed, can you afford to be golfing? I can, I have a sugar-mama, so I can spend my substitute money on golfing. What's everybody else's excuse? Go to work people!
Total spent:
Money = $94
Time = 14.5 hours
Handicap = 43
On another note, the course was jam-packed at noon on a Wednesday. Doesn't anybody work anymore? I know, I've heard about that whole 'recession' thing going around, but really, if you're unemployed, can you afford to be golfing? I can, I have a sugar-mama, so I can spend my substitute money on golfing. What's everybody else's excuse? Go to work people!
Total spent:
Money = $94
Time = 14.5 hours
Handicap = 43
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Big Break
As much as I have a distaste for reality TV, I am excited for this season of Big Break on the Golf Channel. It's about golf after all, and they're all essentially trying to do the same thing as me. They are just a smidge further along the path than I am. You have the essential cast of characters, the annoying "I love me" guy (K-Max); the angry guy (Blake); several associated-with-famous-people guys (Andrew, Andreas, Mike); the nice guy (J.R.) and a pair of brothers and an Olympic gold medalist to spice things up.
The thing that amazes me is how unimpressive the first show was. The first challenge was to pick one of three lies; fairway, rough, and bunker; and be the closest to the pin. Even from the fairway lie, nobody was closer than seven feet. The second challenge was to pick a distance between 100 and 200 yards and hit the green. That's it. And three of them missed! Come on, you have to be a scratch golfer to be on the show and you can't hit the green from the fairway at a distance that you chose? I think that's the thing about golf that is so hard to grasp. You don't have to dazzle to play good golf, you just have to be consistent. Be in the fairway, on or close to the green in regulation, and you should par most holes. It seems so easy! I guess it's the nerves.
For now I'm rooting for J.R. for no other reason than he's the nice guy. We'll see how that goes next week. I'm also looking forward to the crazy challenges that the producers concoct.
The thing that amazes me is how unimpressive the first show was. The first challenge was to pick one of three lies; fairway, rough, and bunker; and be the closest to the pin. Even from the fairway lie, nobody was closer than seven feet. The second challenge was to pick a distance between 100 and 200 yards and hit the green. That's it. And three of them missed! Come on, you have to be a scratch golfer to be on the show and you can't hit the green from the fairway at a distance that you chose? I think that's the thing about golf that is so hard to grasp. You don't have to dazzle to play good golf, you just have to be consistent. Be in the fairway, on or close to the green in regulation, and you should par most holes. It seems so easy! I guess it's the nerves.
For now I'm rooting for J.R. for no other reason than he's the nice guy. We'll see how that goes next week. I'm also looking forward to the crazy challenges that the producers concoct.
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