9 Holes with Doug

I got to test out the swing today against Doug. He was nice enough to wait and play with me after work, so we bet a soda for the 9 holes. My goal for the round was 40 this time, since after my last goal of 39 it ended up being 50. Well, this was a much better 9 holes. I had a par attempt on every hole today along with 4 looks at birdie. Too bad the putter was misbehaving.

Here's how the little match went down....
After three holes I was up two.
After six holes I was still up two.
After 7 holes I was up one.
Heading into the 9th hole I was up one, Doug's tee shot went right and my tee shot came up short. Doug had a tough chip and my shot wasn't too hard. He hit his shot and nearly made it... I mean, it was in the hole for a split second and rattled out and went about 4 feet by the hole. My second shot ended up about 5 feet from the hole, leaving me a tricky right to left breaker. If I made my putt I would win our little bet, if not, Doug would have a chance to tie. So I forgot about all the close putts I had today that almost dropped and just thought about making this one. I stepped up to take my practice swings, then put the putter behind the ball and take one last look at the hole. Smack.....rolling....rolling.....breaking.....rolling.....breaking.....rattle, rattle, rattle. Yes! I made the putt, it caught just enough of the left edge and fell in.

It was good to test for my swing today and I look forward to many more battles with Doug down the road. I'm really starting to trust the swing. I even pulled out the driver on the 4th hole which I always hit a 3 wood on. Doug had to do a double take because he was so surprised.

On a side note, Doug really noticed a difference in how I was hitting my irons today. I'm happy to see my practicing is paying off.