Somehow I had a couple days of vacation left over that I had to use before I lost them. I'd tried to take the last 3 Friday's off, but it wasn't working out. I was frustrated when I wasn't able to take the whole day off yesterday either. I did however get to leave a couple hours early so I could get out and play some golf. Ever since I played a couple weeks ago I've had the bug. Plus I needed to break in my new shoes. The weather was perfect yesterday so I took advantage of it. I freaking love golf. I love that I can go out there and forget everything and just focus on my next shot. I always look back fondly on the days when I played competitive golf in high school. I wish I had the time to play more now, but I always appreciate the chances I do get to be out on the course.
For only having played a couple times this year I've been hitting the ball extremely solid. I didn't start out that great on the front 9. My putting was horrible, but my irons were decent. I always enjoy playing more when I am walking so I made the decision to walk 18 holes. I was playing a pretty hilly course and by the 10th hole my back and legs were killing me. For some reason that is when I started playing great. I had been moving along pretty quickly all day then I ran into the slowest group of old men I have even seen on the 13th hole. Two groups stacked up behind me right away.
The highlight of my day came on the 15th hole. It was a 520 yard par 5. By the the time the old guys were out of my range there were 4 people sitting on the tee watching me hit. There is always added pressure when you have complete strangers watching you. I hit my best drive of the day; put it on the right side of the fairway about 215 yards from the green. I got some compliments from the gallery. By the time I got to my ball the old guys weren't even on the green yet. I waved the guys behind to go ahead and hit their drives. When the old guys cleared the green the group behind was sitting in the fairway watching me again. I took out my 4 iron hoping to get it somewhere close to the green so I could chip on and hopefully get a birdie. It was an elevated green so I wasn't sure I could even get a 4 iron all the way there. I hit it perfectly with a slight draw. It landed on the left side of the green and took the slope back to the right and finished 8 feet from the hole. I capped off my eagle by making my putt, and I had witnesses there to see the whole thing.
On the back 9 I had that eagle and 2 birdies, but only managed an 85 for the day. It was so nice to be out on the golf course again, especially walking. I was totally exhausted by the time I finished, but it was worth it. That is the most exercise I have had for weeks. If I'm lucky I will get out a couple more times to play before it gets too cold.
