Long Weekend

When I said I’d have a new post by Wednesday, I meant my time. Right now it’s 10:38 at night so I have about an hour and a half to knock this down.

What a long holiday weekend this was. I took the extra day off to play my first round of golf on the course with my buddy and his buddy. Before that, I bought a new bed because my Mom wanted one. Her Christmas gift came in early which I get to benefit too. Bought some other stuff too but we’ll get to that later.

So we were at a place called Monterey Pines, south of San Jose. It was an hour away, which I found out after I got there. Needless to say, I was late. By the time I got there, they were all waiting for me to start the round. My plea to warm up on the range was for naught. That’s like getting up from bed in the morning and driving straight to work; no bath, no coffee. So on my first few holes, I’d have to warm up. Not good.

Small anecdote here. We were playing with a guy named H. I mention to him after we were introduced that I only knew two people in the world called H and he was one of them. He mentions that he knows three people called H. Huh? Isn’t one enough? Can I just start calling myself R? I thought the one name fad was ridiculous but this was worse.

I’ll actually spare you the hole-by-hole diary, as I promised since I forgot to bring my ole’ notebook and a pen. But don’t worry, nothing worth writing home about save for a few shots. I did make 2 pars which was a personal highlight. There was a few times where I felt rushed because everybody would just stand on the ball and hit. I can’t do that and just rushed everything. Even whiffed on a few. Other times, I actually get a real good hit on a ball, leading to this exchange

Buddy: Nice shot.

Me: Thanks

B: Sometimes, you have your moments of brilliance.

M: Yeah, other times I just don’t know what the hell I’m doing.

That pretty summed up my day. For the interested, I scored a 118 on a par 72 course. Not bad, I guess. Could be better. But it was my first experience so I digress. Here’s my score. Notice the one's in red (Sometimes we just have to pat ourselves in the back)

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Blue Tees Yards	352	151	356	193	364	338	490	326	399	2969
Par	4	3	4	3	4	4	5	4	4	35
Me	8	4	10	6	7	5	9	5	7	61
Hole	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Blue tee Yards	433	138	156	461	374	252	140	168	538	2660
Par	4	3	3	5	4	4	3	3	5	34
Me	5	6	8	5	8	4	5	6	10	57
										118

(Note: At this point, I actually crashed and slept and did not get the chance to finish. I just cannot make a deadline to save my life.)

After the game, while we were eating lunch, my buddy mentions a place near the course that sells clubs at real good prices. So I decided to check it out on the way home. It was early and I had no intention of crossing the mountains yet. Once there, I found the clubs that I initially wanted for an OK price for second hand clubs. But for a hundred bucks more, I found the second clubs I wanted. These were new though and had no nicks and scratches, unlike the other ones. After an hour, I had just spent over 500 for a bag, some covers and a full set of new irons. If anybody ever tells you how golf is a great game but a ridiculously expensive hobby, just nod. Trust Me. Anyway I went waaaaaay over budget (my “budget” was 100-200 for a full set) but I did have a great big ole’ smile that was hard to knock off. (Note: It’s been two days since I bought it and I couldn’t be happier. Just thought I’d throw that in there.) Like any child, you can’t help but play with new toys right away. Ignoring my aching legs (walking) and back (hitting), I went to the range to hit a couple/show off to my friends (bad habits are hard to break). All in all, I now pronounce the day after Memorial Day as Golf Day.

So, between the clubs and the bed, I just spent a ton of money this weekend. So much for moving to NY.