by Bill Cromwell
December 2017
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| Pondering The Best Round of Golf During 2017 |
Ending the golf year is never a good thing, but before
moving on to a new year of great golf, remembering your best round of the year
will certainly ignite enthusiasm for playing more golf during 2018.
This past November on one of those perfect Indian summer
days, the golf course was calling my name. Arriving early enough to warm up on
the range to loosen these old bones after a week or so of non-golfing days —
cold, rainy and seemed like the sun did not exist for weeks. Range time was
encouraging, as I noticed my brief layoff must have alleviated my bad swing
habits, and I’d returned to a proper swing plane. Off to the first tee with a
positive attitude — it was going to be a great round.
Stripped the first tee shot down the middle landing about 110 yards from the green. It’s a short hole.
Nevertheless, I dropped the approach shot three feet from the pin and knocked
down a birdie. Oh ya!
Shot after shot was down the middle off the tee and then on
the green in regulation. Who is this guy? Par after par. Sure there were few
bogeys mixed in, but right back with a birdie and even an eagle mixed in. It
was amazing. My swing was on, and my mind knew it. I was positive this was the
round of the year in the making. I didn’t want to add the score after the front
nine in fear of jinxing the round.
The back nine started with a par 5 hole and wouldn’t you
know it, I bogeyed. Uh oh — did I lose that edge I had on the front nine?
Evidently not, I birdied the par-3 11th. Game on, I was back on track —
fairways and greens with one or two putts and onto the next hole. I even
dropped several 40-foot putts. This was no doubt going to be my best round of
the year.
It all came down to the last hole. A par 4 and all I needed
to do was relax a hit one more fairway off the tee, get on the green in
regulation and two-putt for yet another par. The approach landed 30 feet from
the hole. Okay, not bad, I can two-putt from there. Carefully reading the
break, I figured it’s slight left-to-right, snuggle it up close, maybe to two
feet, and I’d have a tap-in par. No snuggling that day — drained it!
The round of the year, I carded a 69. Best round of putting
all year, I just couldn’t miss. Man, I love those 8-inch cups!
With all the craziness in the world, thank goodness, we have
golf. We all make plenty of really bad shots, but it’s the great ones we
remember.
Merry Christmas! See you next year!
