Memorial Day golf

Technically, Memorial Day Sunday. I played with the other Tyler and my friends Chris and Sarah (Sarah is the only golfer I've seen who runs between shots). We played at Washington National, which is where the UW golf team plays. It's really an amazing course, and I have spent that four hours since getting home trying to figure out why it wasn't packed to the gills. We arrived at 2:30 and were told we could hop on whenever we wanted. There were three or four girls on the range who played for UW (tall, blonde, and with swings to die for... I was smitten), but otherwise the place was empty. Anyways, the course is a gem, and it's where I'll take people when they come and visit me. I returned to form this week... consistently driving it in the fairway, pretty close to the green, and then butchering the hole from there.

The round in numbers:

• Score: 87 (5 4 5 7 4 5 5 4 3 = 42; 7 3 4 6 6 5 3 7 4 = 45; 6 pars, 1 birdie, 3 doubles, 1 triple)
• Fairways: 10/14 (I hit the fairway on the wrong hole once, and drove the green once, and missed the fairway by 3 inches once)
• Greens: 7/18
• Putts: 34 (two three putts, 3 misses inside 5 feet)
• We played the blue tees, which are 6400ish yards, slope 136. I'm afraid we'll play the blacks (6780 yards, slope 139) next time we go back.
  

Highlights:

• Shot of the day: Kind of a half-stinger 5 iron from 175 on #2; it flew low and under the wind with a little draw and landed 8 feet right of the pin.
• Worst non-putt of the day: Lazy sand wedge for my 3rd shot from 95 yards on #4 (a 600+ yard par-5) that came up well short and landed in a cavernous bunker; I proceeded to make 7.
• Most disappointing non-putt shot of the day (#1): 3rd shot on #14, which is a(nother) 600+ yard par-5. I had 167 to the pin and was too lazy to go back and get a 7-iron. I killed an 8-iron (Tyler H described it as "towering"), but it went about 154 yards, which was about how far I can hit a high, soft 8. It also was well short of the green. The 7 would have been perfect.
• Most disappointing non-putt shot of the day (#2): 2nd shot on #17, which is a short par-5. I had 215 to the front with a tailwind; I smoked my hybrid, and while I pushed it, I felt like I made good contact. Apparently not, as it found a big pond which I had no business hitting into. Drop + bad pitch + indifferent putting = 7.

Anyways, my handicap is now at 11.6, which is a personal best. I remain optimistic about my game and my quest to break 80.