A Walk in the Park

I was supposed to play golf on Saturday with Fred Flintstone and Bamm-Bamm. Bamm-Bamm is home for the holiday break and he is talking his usual smack. Due to frost on the greens in the morning all tee times were delayed and we did not have time to play. Instead, we hit the driving range, chipping green, putting green and bunkers at the Phoenix Country Club practice facility and talked a lot of smack. Fred is a really good short game player, although his putting stroke is not quite as steady as it used to be. As you would expect, Bamm-Bamm has the touch of an 800-pound gorilla! Fred tried to work with me on my bunker play, but ultimately got disgusted and gave up. It was pretty dismal! But I was hitting my irons well and chipping really well. On the putting green, Fred Flintstone always has some game that I have never played. For some reason Fred always wins these games! Go figure! Bamm-Bamm is returning to school this week so we are going to try to play in the afternoon before he leaves. Since we are "even for life" it is like taking candy from a baby.

Fred and I played hooky on Monday afternoon and played golf at the Phoenix Country Club. Bamm-Bamm helped his girlfriend get ready to return to college. It was a beautiful low-70s afternoon and we decided to walk and enjoy the mid-January weather in Phoenix. When God invented golf, he intended that man (and woman) walk the golf course. We did not get started until about 2:30 so we were really hustling to try to finish before sunset at 5:30. There was an older gentlemen and his wife on the first tee when we arrived. The woman was playing pink golf balls (the kiss of death!) and whiffed on her first shot. We decided to walk to the second tee to begin the round. We played from the tips, which are 6,764 yards with a course rating of 72.4 and a slope rating of 129. The course has a lot of well-placed trees, including some that block your shot to the green from the fairway (see Bad Course Design Rule)! I started off well just missing a birdie on the par-3 second hole and I hit the ball solidly all round, but I had a few mishaps and errant shots and some bad luck! Fred cruised around the course making pars and bogeys and shooting his usual low 80s score. Since I did not have a scorecard and my Golf Logix GPS died at the turn (I forgot my Energizer XP2000 Power Pack), I lost track of my score (which gives you some indication of how high it was!). We finished the 18th hole just as the sun was setting and could have gone back and finished the first hole, but in the spirit of laissez faire, we decided to call it a day.