Our early morning Super Bowl Sunday golf tournament was canceled yesterday due to rain, wind and cold. But just after noon, the sun started to peek out. Even though the winds were still howling, I decided to head over to the course to at least hit some balls and see if anyone was in the clubhouse to watch the Super Bowl. I arrived to an empty parking lot.


Rackham by DaddyNewt at flickr

I went inside and found a couple employees and a handful of patrons in the restaurant, but the golf course was completely empty. One of my friends from the Men's Club was at the bar. I asked if he wanted to go play a few holes, but he wasn't interested in leaving the comfort of the bar for the cold winds outside. I decided I'd carry my bag and play two or three holes, then head back home to watch the game.

With a monster headwind on the par 4 1st, I somehow got on in two with a driver and 4-wood and 2-putted for par. I hit another good drive on the 2nd followed by a 95 yard lob wedge to 15 feet. I then sank the putt for birdie, aiming well outside the hole and letting the wind bring it back! After a ho-hum par on the par 3 3rd, I got into a rhythm and decided to keep playing. I got a few sprinkles on the 4th, but could see blue skies beyond the black clouds moving southeast. With pars on the 4th and 5th, then a bogie on the difficult par 5 6th, I was back to even. The winds were blowing hard from right to left on the 177 yard par 3 8th. I hit a 6-iron over the green and over the backside bunker, leaving a steep downhill pitch out of long fescue. Amazingly, I should have hit 8-iron off the tee! My pitch ran down and across the green and barely stayed on the fringe, keeping it from rolling into lake below. I nearly made the long putt for par, but tapped in for bogie. I got up and down from just off the green on the par 4 9th to finish the front 1-over, and in only 1 hour.

Although I was playing a good round, I was mostly enjoying the pure joy of being out in the weather and having an entire golf course to myself! I also found myself taking note of the birds and my surroundings more than I usually do. Fast moving cumulus, western bluebirds, tule swans, ducks, kestrels, meadowlarks, red-tailed hawks, and even those messy coots added to the experience.

I caught a bad break on my drive into the wind on the par 4 10th, punched back out to the fairway and bogied, then bogied the par 3 11th after watching the wind carry my 180 yard 7-iron 40-50 yards left. I hit a solid drive and 4-wood on the par 5 12th, but came up short with my wedge and failed to get up and down for par. I made a good par on 13, but bogied again on 14. I missed good birdie opportunities on 15 and 16 and stayed 5-over. I 3-putted the huge green on the par 5 17th to go 6-over and salvaged par on 18 to finish with 77.

I felt a little stiff and tired from carrying my bag on the back nine, but finished without any double bogies. Mostly, I just enjoyed the unique opportunity of having a course to myself and finishing in less than 2 1/2 hours. When I arrived at the clubhouse even the restaurant was empty, so I headed home to watch the halftime show and 2nd half of the game. I was treated to one of the best finishes in football I've seen in a long time! Way to go Eli! Then I watched a recording of Tiger's back nine in Dubai and got to witness his long birdie putt on 18 to secure another win. What started off as a nasty day outside turned into a pretty artful day.

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