I WON a Golf Match!

I had started to play better golf the last few weeks. I'm still whiffing on way too many balls, but I also realized that I needed to focus more on the mental game. To shed the identity of that golfer who whiffs way too much and to assume the identity of the golfer confidently making good shots.  Yes I noticed I am learning how to use my irons. But while I claim to be playing better, it has not exactly translated into match wins. Oh I win a hole here and there. In fact, I average winning or tying for the win on 3 holes a match. But usually it takes 6 holes to win and I hadn't won 6 holes in many months. Definitely not since way before March before the golf courses closed. Which is why it made it IMMENSELY SATISFYING for me to win today's match. OK, I tied for the win by taking 6 holes. But I will add that I had the 6 holes after 8 holes before I blew the last hole letting Chris tie. I tied for Hole 1 and 2. And then had the best tee shot i could have on Hole 3. But I 4-putted from there to give away the hole. Still, I tied for the win on Hole 4 and after 5 holes, it was 3-3-3-1, with me being one of the three. I won Hole 6 outright with a 7 somehow and tied again for the win on Hole 7. And then I won Hole 8 outright with a par giving me 6 holes. That hole was my best played hole. Hit an iron off the tee to the right fringe, chipped it 8 feet from the hole, and sank the par putt. Eezy-peezy par. If only it was like that all the time LOL LOL. Somehow I lost focus on the last hole. Abd even on that hole, I hit a nice iron from 150 yards out that was headed right to the green, but hit something that bumped it into the sand trap. That was where I blew up on the hole. But I sustained my focus long enough through all the holes, even with an unexpected negative energy from a conversation that turned political with Trump's coronavirus response. I felt myself being combative in the conversation in fact and I had to divert the focus from that conversation and talk about something else and actually go back to the friendly, goofy conversations we always have. And I did manage to recover from that and get the next 3 holes! See what happens when I hold my focus and not allow myself to get speeded up by my own thoughts? And so today I went home feeling very VERY good. I finally won a match!

The rest of the day I pretty much just wanted to savor golf this morning and the end of the weekend and actually the end of August which means 2 things: my birthday is coming up AND summer is quickly coming to a close. The summer of COVID smh. I was okay not doing a thing. After all, no need to do any more exercising, especially after golf. I made myself a nice turkey salad for lunch and just watched TV the rest of the afternoon. Lakers already moved on to the 2nd round of the NBA playoffs. Beautiful day out but I waited until the end of the day to go back out again. I decided to treat myself to salmon kabobs and rice and lentil soup at Crimson like I had many a time on a Sunday after golf. I hadn't eaten there since early March. Imagine that... almost 6 months ago. This is sort of my birthday treat to myself although picking up my food brought up a not-so-pleasant memory of me walking there on my birthday one year on a Saturday because Lisa was being Lisa at her office. I was ready to eat alone. On my birthday. Nice wife I had huh? I can only smile and laugh about it now HA HA. Made eating it alone in the peace and quiet of my apartment very much the preferred option. I savored the nice day this turned out to be and the return to Crimson Mediterranean. And I just chilled the rest of the evening. Pretty good last weekend of August. And I needed the rest. after all, next week is the true first day of regular lessons for Johnnie. Should be interesting.