T1B

I hadn't played for about three weeks, a string which I broke at my favorite 9 hole hacker special last night(WAR not getting dark untill 10:00 this time of year). Hadn't played in a while, and my elbow hurt, to boot(sup getting older).

But, it happened. The worst jinx I can have.....not only did I hit the first green in two...but the worst jinx known to Dinskind -- I made the putt.

I swear, every round I've EVER opened with a bird, something has gone horribly wrong. After a perfect layup on the sharply doglegged 2nd, I was confident. Not cocky, but confident. About 90 yards to the hole, downhill...nice solid 55'er should stick it....relax......relax.....and get so damned relaxed, the damn club slipped as I was about to strike it. I HATE that. Slipped about 45 degrees around. Went about 45 degrees right, and went in the drink. So, after opening with a bird, and watching that slip right the hell away, I naturally whiffed my dropped ball.....in the drink on the left side this time.

My nine hole card went like --

1(par 4) - bird 3
2(par 4)- 9...yup, that's NINE
3(easy par 3) - 3
4 (short par 4) - bird 3, after almost driving the green, and almost holing the chip, eneded up with a tap-in
5(fairly easy par 5) - 6
6(par 4) - 5
7(par 3) - 4
8(very short par 5) - 8
9(nasty dogleg par 4) - 4

Damn, if we was using that Callaway handicapping deal, I could have won the US Open. As it is, I'm pretty sure you don't get to toss out the bad holes. 2 freaking birds in 9, and finished even bogey. How the heck does that work? I guess I'll chalk it up to not playing in a couplefew eeks...or a sore elbow...or something. Help me out here. And if your suggestions are truthful, like "it's because you suck" I will fight you....since I sure the hell ain't going to best you with the sticks.

I played a place called Rocky Point down in Maryland this past weekend.

Nice little place. Here's some pics,

http://www.baltimoregolfing.com/rockypoint/holes.html

It plays 6400 yards frrom the whites and slopes at 120. I played the first nine in 57.



I know I'm not the next comming of Eldrick, but a 57 is downright humiliating. I then proceeded to play the back 9 in 42.



Dammed if I know which one of me is going to show up for a round.

Yeah well...I threw up a 45 on what is, with where they had the tees set up up front to heal the teeboxes, probably about a 2500 yard 9'er. Although it's probably the toughest 2500 yard 9'er you'll ever see.

About 3 weeks ago(on my birthday), me and 3 buds played this par 3 in Vancouver, WA, called Lakeview. In 1990, the PGA named it the hardest par 3 in the country. I now see why. Completely unfair, which was intentional. One green has a freaking pond....in the green. Tree growing out of a mound in said pond. Better yet, the green slopes back into the pond. Crazy stuff. I guess over the years, they've toned it down a bit. They even filled in the 15 foot deep greenside bunker a little. If you need stairs to get in and out of a bunker, it's kinda deep. The first hole had the pin in the back, and the back of the green slopes away, and doesn't have a fringe -- it goes from shaved putting surface to a 90 degree dropoff into a steep bunker. A couple of the teeboxes have trees directly in front of them. Would have made for a great novelty course, except when we were there, it was heavily populated with mosquitoes the size of hummingbirds, which are unlike the little dust-speck sized skeeters we have not 30 miles south of there. Crazy place, that Lakeview.