Flippin' the birdie

Saturday I played my first round of golf for this year. I’d been itching for a while, but just hadn’t made it out.

I got up nice and early and headed over to Cascade Golf Center in Orem. I’ve only been there once before and decided it was my best choice for the day. Living on the west side of State Street in Orem, I tend to forget the canyon winds that howl out of Provo Canyon. I paid for my bucket of range balls and ducked into the wind and headed to the driving range. The pro shop assured me the wind would die down around nine o’clock or so. I tested out my new-to-me driver that I got for Christmas, (Cleveland HiBore. Mines the one that came out a coupleof years ago, but you can see the new one here) and was really impressed. Even with the gnarly wind I was still getting out past 200 yards. The artificial green launch pads and concrete stalls aren’t my favorite, but not unbearable.

Next I headed to the putting green while I waited for the wind to burn out a little more. With my superior chipping skills, I planted a ball across the green and right under a pine tree. Apparently that tree houses a nest full of new blackbirds. A very protective parent kept swooping and diving at me, and breaking my concentration, while I tried to putt from one hole to the other. That crazy bird even clipped my shoulders a couple of times. That was enough for me since I wasn’t fast enough to club the bird out of the air with my putter. The guy in the pro shop laughed when I asked him if they always have killer birds on the practice green. He had been watching the whole thing and said it almost clipped the back of my neck a couple of times as well.

So I grabbed a tee time and got partnered with a couple of guys about my age and off we went to play nine holes. I always worry about getting paired with the jerks or the scratch golfers, but Zach and Troy were nice enough guys and we had a good time. The pro shop was right as well when he told me that one you get up the first hole, the wind doesn’t factor in much either. Plus, it was starting to die down.

I felt like it was a pretty good first round. Nothing spectacular, but nothing too ugly either. Three putts were my enemy along with that fairway bunker on 4. My best showing for the day was a par on the par 3 fifth hole. I was able to nail the green and two putt. It was not a round to brag about, but anything that isn’t a total embarrassment is good enough for me. Hopefully I can get out and try it again soon.