18 + 18 = 91

It was a very golfy day. I hadn’t played golf for 2 straight weeks because it has been hot as Hades around here. Seri was away in Korea and Bea was out with back pain, so I hadn’t seen either of them for almost a month. Yesterday, the three of us met for coffee and catch-up chitchat, and today we got down to business. We teed off at 8:46am, with Debbie Harry completing our foursome. It was just like old times, except earlier in the morning. The sun was out and the humidity was high, so our energy was not the greatest. It was like the first day of school after a long, hot summer.

I wore the new visor hat that Seri had brought me from Korea. We were like two little golfers on the prairie.

The scene of this happy reunion was Pine Ridge, where I’d played a few times since shooting 90 at Fox Hollow. I have never managed to break 100 at Pine Ridge, since it’s a longer course with a higher slope rating. Today was no different, and I shot 106. After 18 holes, Bea said she was feeling warmed up, and asked if I wanted to play another 18. I was just getting warmed up, too, so I said yes, even though it meant I had to make some calls and cancel some things, including telling my hubby that I couldn’t make it to the grocery store today because my putter was en fuego.

But who cared about making dinner when my adrenaline was already pumping and my eyes had grown big, and I had that feeling you get after coming off a roller coaster ride and you want to go again, right away, before you lose your nerve. I was tired and achy, but it was nothing a big juicy hot dog and an ice-cold diet cola wouldn’t fix.

So, after Seri and Debbie Harry returned to their cars and drove away, Bea and me teed off again. And in the end, I was glad I did, because I shot a 91. On the front nine, I managed to keep it all under control and shot an encouraging 48. It looked good for breaking 100, but on the back nine, I never did worse than a double-bogey and actually birdied a par 5 and a par 3. I think it may have been my first birdie on a par 5, but I know for a fact that’s the first time I ever birdied twice in a round.

“You see?” said Bea, “it’s easy when you play all day.”
Yes, it seems easy when you play all day. The hard part is getting a whole day to play.