I took a few golf days off as Barb and I journeyed to Santa Monica. Oh, there was some pitching and putting practice on Saturday. Jay and I went out to one of the LA county courses. It's one we had played before.
On the 18th hole there is a plaque that records Arnold Palmer taking a 12 on the 18th hole during the 1953 LA Open. He sliced three onto the driving range and then hooked three over the boundary fence. Jay and I both parred the hole, I might mention.
I told the story to Jimmy at the local course. Jimmy is an Irishman who has lived all over the world. When he finally ended up the US he landed in the LA area.
Jimmy is 90 this year and has managed to shoot his age a number of times. He didn't start golf at an early age. He learned hurley as a child. This sport is a lot like shinty. And if you've not traveled enough to come across either of those sports, it's field hockey for men and found in Ireland and Scotland. Jimmy has a long swing and gets the club well above his head. He has not lost the ability to swing it around and hits a nice long ball considering his age.
As I was saying, I told the story about the plaque to Jimmy. And he was there! He saw Arnie play all those shots. He was in sales at the time and would take customers to the golf tournaments. He played a lot of golf in the LA area.
He and his pals would also journey out and play other courses in California. He recalls playing Torrey Pines in San Diego. It seems the weekend greens fees were $2.50 back in the day.
Jimmy is fun to play with. He has some interesting stories of bygone times. In his early adulthood he would leave home to some other country, find some work, do that for a time, then return home. Then repeat. He worked in accounting and sales and some manual labor too. He finally ended up California, got married, had 5 children. He raised them right and one of the daughters comes out and plays golf with him during the summer.
But, back to the topic of the post.
I was playing at Wente yesterday and I was eager to put some of the ball striking changes that have occurred to use. Wente is a tough course for me. It's probably 5 stokes harder than my usual course. It's longer and the greens are bent grass. Bent grass rolls nicely, but it gets in the way of gravity. To my eye, balls break up hill. Then there is the speed. In one direction the greens will be lightening fast. In others, deathly slow. I can't see it. But Phil, known as Mr. Two Putt, knows these like he planted the grass. It is very difficult for me to score there. I've broken 80 twice, but it was a lot of work.
Yesterday I tested the new swing thoughts. One the first hole I managed to hit a driver onto the fairway! Well, this is nice. Note that there is a canyon just to the right and a vineyard to the left. I hit an iron in from 150, which is about 30 yards closer than I usually am. I'm short, but decide that smooth bump and run to a close pin seems like a good shot selection. This comes off quite well and actually goes in the hole. Hmm, birdie to start. I can get used to this.
The second hole is a bit strange. It's short, but you need to hit a left to right shot to avoid a huge Sycamore tree near the tee and then bend it right to avoid the rough and another bushy tree out about 175 yards. There is a small shoot that avoids disaster here. If you are left there is chunky bark under the bushy tree and the tree hangs so low that there is no path to hit the ball up in the air.
It was a magic day and I hit the hybrid down the left with a nice fade that takes it out into the middle of the fairway. It feels good to be a golfer that seems to know what he is doing.
The green is trapped in front and there are more Sycamore trees that, octopus like, wave thick white arms to block the high approaches to the green. The pin is tucked way to the right and the trees are blocking any kind of direct path in.
But it's a day of "can do." It's still cold and I decide to fade a short iron in. This comes off as well. But it's a shallow green and hard to hold. I'm in the back, but I've found the corner of the green where the pin is. A par for this hole with two putts.
I won't bore you, dear readers, with a hole by hole recitation of the rest of the round. But I'll mention that ball striking with a couple of exceptions, goes like a wondrous dream. Need to move it right to left and hit it 190 yards? No problem. How about a 4 iron with a slight fade to get close to the pin on the long par 5? Ok! A smooth 7 iron on a par 3 goes right over the pin -- a deviation of a fraction of a degree.
Now, there was a black cloud to all of this. I was caught up a bit in three putt city. The approach shots I hit to 10 feet were all two putts and longer putts frequently turned to three putts as I couldn't get the speeds right.
But I came off the course feeling very good. The long game has jelled into trustworthy friend that is always willing to help.
When I was playing a lot of bridge, I longed for the day when I didn't make stupid errors and could concentrate on playing the game. Golf is kind of the same thing. If the mistakes are small, then you are playing a different game. Shot placement and strategy are the important parameters, not "I'll hit this and hope it works out."
I feel I'm on the edge of a new game. It's quite different from the old one. Challenges are similar, but different. I'm afraid that that it might be more a putting game. A portion of the game that held lessor interest than the other parts. Well, I must adapt and change my thinking, I think. I think there be rewards there.
O brave new world,
That has such challenges in't. -- apologies to old Willie!
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