2023: Leaving Room for Surprises

In abk World, Mondays during the day are holy. I don’t schedule anything, I don’t commit to anything, and quite honestly, I often don’t do anything. With the amount of interests that I have and the somewhat rigorous schedule that I keep, Mondays from 9-4 are MINE.

So when I got a text from one of our members on Monday morning to play golf around noon, my initial thought was no, not on my Mondays. Not to mention I hadn’t played serious golf in almost five weeks due to a back injury, and this match would be with three excellent players.

But it was a picture perfect day, and it was as good of a day as any to get back into the groove. So with very little expectation of myself, I reluctantly texted back yes.

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In matches like this, there is usually some semblance of two man match play, switching partners every six holes, and a skins game. But on this day, for whatever reason, we played a four ball, the professionals versus the (very good) amateurs for all 18 holes. My partner, a man who has been a professional for as long as I have been alive, was also celebrating a milestone birthday. It had all the makings of an electric day, I just didn’t know it yet.

Since my partner wasted no time getting the party started, I’m not going to waste anymore of your time. He birdied the first hole and nearly birdied the second. I then birdied three AND four. We both narrowly missed on five, he birdied six, we both narrowly missed on seven, he birdied eight, and we both narrowly missed on nine for a resounding five under par on the front nine that was six inches away from being nine under par.

Hole ten was kind of ho hum, but then he birdied eleven, I birdied twelve, and he eagled thirteen. I literally left it overhanging the lip for birdie on fourteen, misread a short one on fifteen, watched my partner birdie sixteen, then let out a massive fist pump when both of us birdied seventeen. Hole eighteen was very anticlimactic as the match was long over, leaving us all just laughing and joking about what a fun day that had been. My partner and I smirked and fist bumped back in the cart, knowing the performance was good, but not realizing yet just how good it really was.

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Sixty one. We shot 61 on the day. Eleven under par on the four ball. Bananas! Ten birdies, one eagle, and only one duplicate birdie. That, my friends, was one of the most fun days I have had out on the course in a long time. The sun was shining, the birdies were flowing, and my back felt like my back again.

And to think I almost stayed home and did nothing.

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Have a great week.-Benj

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