39/36

Golfing and Other Peoples of the World,
39/36 - yes that's my new number for the week, month, year till I better it. What does it mean you ask??

Last weekend I had the fortune of playing golf with my buddies. We call ourselves FOREsome. Check us out at mygolfrecord.com. We are quite an eclectic bunch of desis with a love for this game. Anyways, getting to the point, we played at the San Jose Municipal Golf Course (first time) where I had a normal front 9 and scored a 46 on a par 36.

Then began the back 9 saga. I had 6 pars and 3 bogeys for a total of 39 on a par 36. Its my best ever 9 hole score and the best in the group as of now. It seems my group is getting better by the week as every week someone form our group breaks another group record. BTW - did I tell ya that I was playing with a borrowed putter? I had left mine at home. On this day I was just PUNJab Da. The PUTTER was MIA.

But this is my moment of glory so let me hog the limelight. For those who with boring lives and nothing better to do, read on.

The back 9 started with no fanfare. Made a solid par. The next hole was another shot down the fairway and a regulation par (it’s not usually regulation for me to make consecutive pars). By now I was dreading a quadruple bogey or something worse as my luck of pars would soon ebb away. But the magic moment continued and I made yet another par.

A thing about my swing. I have a natural slice...fade if you want to be nice. Well, on one of the holes on the back 9 I had a great tee shot with my trusted 3 Wood. I had 169 yards left to a front pin which is a normal 6 iron for me. The greens were hard and it had been difficult to check the ball so I decided to hit a fade to check the ball quickly. In my fledgling golfing career I have never hit a controlled fade but this time I pulled it off. It landed flag high and checked immediately. I couldn't believe it. I was staring at a rare 8 feet, left to right break, birdie opportunity. Damn it felt good.

As my golfing buddy would say, "Lo and behold" I missed my birdie out but made a regulation par.

It’s been the best 9 holes of my life thus far. I can’t wait to play my next round. And I know you can’t wait to read my sorry report for the next round. Till then, keep it in the short grass.