....... on the golf course..

Finally!  I'm able to get a full swing and went out on Ladies Night to play 18 holes.  Here is the "island" hole.  It was beautiful, green and the water was so still..... but, the mosquitoes! YIKES !

This display is right beside the tee box on the 16th hole.... it's from last year.... didn't get to take a photo yesterday...

Me hurt today.  ow.... but,...a good hurt really, because it is just muscles being used.  Even my butt hurts from sprinting around dragging and pushing the cart full of "tools".  Those night time ladies like to have plenty of time to hang out in the clubhouse with a cold one and some grub.  That's a good thing.  Especially this time of year. OMG!!  the mosquitoes!  It was 'orrible!

If you got off the fairway they were so bad it was a rush to get the ball out of the long grass...so usually my ball striking was not the best.  But..also..I haven't been able to hit a ball for 5 weeks...so that has a lot to do with it. I hardly got to practice before I did myself in and then...just been waiting it out for the ribs to heal.

I do feel them a bit more today....but, Ibuprofen and in about 20 minutes...I will be better.  I hope.

Today ..no whacking golf balls.  Two days in a row right now is enough.  I'll do some more tomorrow.

I have other chores to get through today... like ordering a new throttle cable for my motorcycle.  Somehow a split appeared during the winter.... how it got there I have no idea. This bike is in pristine condition..is stored inside all the time...and there is nothing that can touch it in that spot. Look...pristine. So it seems weird to me.

I love this bike..but, I need to get it on the market...I'm selling it.  It would be foolish to ride when I know I have full blown osteoporosis.  If I get knocked off ... well, it would be more than just a few ribs that would be broken, and ohhh...man....that would not be a good thing.  So... best sell it.  Before I jump on and ride it and change my mind.

I'll be safer on the golf course, or in the kitchen..or making bears or something....
...

or ....we could go back to Portugal and  do some fishing.....

See more amazing history and architecture ...

Eat more of that amazing food!  Look at the size of those skewers!  Swords.  That's more like it.... with waaaay more meat skewered than we could eat.... oohhhh but it was tasty....

wow....what a weekend....

Perfect weather.... sun and fun. Played in the garden for hours... still tidying up winter's debris. Enjoying the first flowers.









On a fun note:... neighbours had a tee time for Sunday ... high noon. Time to do battle with our closest city course.... the toughest and longest and in reality a benchmark course. Dusted off and polished up our weapons. Froze some water in a bottle. Packed some snacks..

If you can play well on this course....nothing will intimidate you. Length from the "champion" or black tees.... 6576 yards. So, even if you don't tee off from that distance, you still must walk past each of those tee boxes...and hence walk the whole length of the course. It is several miles by the end of the day. It is up and down hill and dale as well...so pulling or pushing or holding back our carts as we needed to... my feet were getting sore by the end of it. And..it was HOT. . we all got sunburned.

The guys used the whites at 5779 and we used the forward tees at 5503 yds. Long enough for the first 18 hole game of the season. On Wednesdays, with "my old guys", I only play 9 holes on a much smaller course. To be honest, I was a bit panicked to do 18 ...especially on this particular course, after not swinging a club all last year...and only having been out two times with my Wednesday buddies. I only wanted to have one swing thought in my head as I stepped nervously up to the first tee. Keep my eye on the ball. That way, no matter what I looked like, or swung like.... I would hit the ball for sure. There is nothing quite as embarrassing as "whiffing" (that means missing the ball entirely!!) on the only tee where everybody is standing around watching you ...... not that they really care... and for sure they don't know me...and what difference does it make anyway? ...but...somehow inside... it does. And, besides, they say right on the score card..... "this is an intermediate to advanced skill level course"... and although they also say all golfers are allowed on the course there is also the stipulation that you must keep up the "pace of play"...which is 4 hours, .... 4 1/2 hours maximum on busy days. If you can't keep up the pace you must pick up your ball and walk to the spot where the better players have hit theirs and take your next shot from there. So...I need to be able to get it at least 150 yds. or so on a fairway shot to be able to keep up. Marshals are out there in their little riding carts...kind of like the old west...almost like they are on horse back when you think of it.... forcing us to speed up or "play on" if we fall behind by more than a hole...... But........ first drive of the day..... 150 and straight down the center of the fairway!! Hah! we were off and I was a happy camper! the guys went into some trees...way down there........ and my friend was just to the right of me on the fairyway. (hahahha look at that... fairy way) ....love it. It is the fairway actually. However, it became the "fairy way" after the very first shot. It was magical... a beautiful golf course, ....all to ourselves! The group behind us must have had poor tee shots...and the group in front disappeared from the first tee before we even took our third shots... the pace was wonderful... walk, hit.. etc.. The guys behind never did get near us..... the ones in front were always off the green by our approach. Perfect pace. I only lost one ball to the water.... and managed to score 107.... I was pretty pleased with myself for my first game. I know I can improve on that by several shots... cuz I lost some shots to just silly errors and looking up too soon....... looking forward to the next attempt ...and will be soooo much more relaxed now that I know I can still do what I was able to a few years ago. Around the green I don't lose many shots... as a matter of fact, I took some sand and chipping lessons years ago... and the pro told me that women can do away with a lot of shots around the green by perfecting shots the guys never practice. He was right... women don't need to be able to hit the ball 250 yards... (especially into trees or long grass) .. as long as once we get to within 100 yards of the green we play it smart. And, practice chipping and putting.... it saves soooo many strokes! I like to think I am a pretty good putter... it does take a few games to get a feel for it though...










This pic is from a few years ago... forgot my camera on Sunday.... playing in a foursome with the guys from the smaller company we are now "with". A rather cool October day at a beautiful private course that we managed to get on .. due to a member of the course who used to own the engineering company. Sure wish I had pics of this past weekend.... darn it.


Mr. BumbleVee.... who is notorious for a rather poor attitude on a golf course, (I have decided it is because he is very competitive, but, also embarrasses easily) had a really great day. I mean,it became almost legendary years ago... when working for a large oil company. Yearly golf tournaments had to be played... one year somebody called me to say they had a lottery going for a big weekend golf tournament... did I want to buy some squares. They had a huge pool of money already..almost sold out. It was a guessing game... on which hole would G lose it. At first I was ... uhm.... a bit embarrassed ... both for me and then for him. But... I figured what the hey... I could win some money! the pot was pretty big! As it turned out... he did fine for two whole days... somebody who didn't know him had chosen the third day ... and they won. They even had people in his group and in front and behind watching and they would be the judges as to whether he really lost it or it was just a normal swearing thing as they all do if they miss a critical shot or something. They all agreed...he held it together pretty well 'til the morning of the third day..when he was in contention for a big win and then...as they say in golf.... "the wheels fell off" .. both with his game and his attitude. People have to hide when his wheels really come off.... clubs might even go sailing ... sigh... poor guy. But.. . back to Sunday.... he shot an 89 !! He has never broken 100 on this course. He was quietly very impressed with himself I am sure.. ... now to hold onto that thought. I end up not being able to play with him if he "loses it" more than a couple times in a season ... I then just refuse to go with him to the course until next year. I have to find others to play with... so I am still hoping that as he ages..perhaps he will mellow....but..... not clinging to that hope very desperately. After all ...he is a man. But, I have found other people to golf with so that he doesn't have to force himself to be out there just to make me happy. It is kind of sad really.... because he has infinite patience with others.....how strange. He even taught me all he knew about golf.......til the point where he said he didn't know enough to help me any further and that I should probably take a few lessons from a pro. He has taught many others too... so patient with all of them...even the totally non-athletic ones...but just not for himself.... I so want to be able to golf with him til well into old age....so I guess I do keep hoping.....