Hello Birdie

My sub-90 streak didn't hold up. Maybe it was the torrential rains that turned all the local courses into green sponges, but I just couldn't get it done. Shot 95 over the weekend and 93 today. I actually thought I had shot a 92, but the Defectress corrected me. In the league she used to belong to, players were required to keep the score of their playing partner. I guess it's a habit she can't break, so she kept my score without telling me till the end, when we compared scores. Which was fine. I actually didn't mind at all, since during the round I knew I had written a score wrong somewhere. She shot a 93 too, coincidentally.

It was a slowish round, through no fault of our own, so neither the Defectress nor I could really get our games going. There was plenty of time for chitchat, and I even snapped some pictures of a cute gaggle of goslings.

Right after seeing that bunch of baby birds, I shot a birdie on the par 3 we'd been waiting to tee off on. I think it's been 2 years since I shot a birdie. In the past, I wasn't a stranger to birdies, though I'd say we are really mere acquaintances, like I'm always happy to see them, but I don't expect them to come around with regularity.

In case you're wondering, the term "birdie" came about in 1899 when some guys were playing golf in New Jersey and one of them said "That was a bird of a shot," in response to someone's ball ending up so close to the cup that it would take only one shot under par to go in. Back then, "bird" was slang for anything excellent, and "birdie" became known as any hole-out with a shot under par. And of course, other terms fitting the bird theme followed, such as eagle and albatross.

I'm glad the term "birdie" was invented so long ago. Can you imagine if it was based on some of the slang words for "excellent" today? Then we'd be saying things like "Dang, missed my dopie by an inch!" or "What an awesome awesomie!" or "I've got a 10-foot sickie putt." I guess "sweetie" wouldn't be so bad, because then eagles and albatrosses could be marshmallows and caramels, or other words that fit the candy theme. Just wouldn't want the "sickie" theme, because golfers might say things like "I've got a great chance to puke" and you really wouldn't be sure whether that news was good or bad.