Back on the course

Well, after months of not playing, I finally made it out to the course again. The last time I played was in the SFDB Classic with Rick (from SFDB), Steve Owen (formerly of Owenized), and the king of one-liners, Nonee Moose. So, it only seemed fitting that I play with this motley crew on my return to the course. With the exception of Nonee, who had matters to attend to at the Hall of Justice, we were all confirmed for a 10:10am tee time.

That was the plan anyways...

I show up at the course around 930am and find Rick sitting on the sidewalk. He hops in and asks if I got his email, which I didnt because I didnt check. He's hungover and says he cant play but came to give us the discount pass. Nice gesture, eh? I, of course, had to make sure I gave him a hard time for just about every second that I could. He didnt look too bad. In fact, I snapped a pic of Rick with my trusty new iPhone that Ive posted to the right of this paragraph. I mean, he was a little blue but he had 3-way leak protection!

So, Steve-O arrived and we hit a few balls before heading out to play. I had duffed just about every ball I hit at the range so I was expecting it to be a very long day. Little did we know that Rick's absence would be a blessing in disguise... The starter told us that we were to be paired up with another twosome ahead, Mr. Kimora. We drove up to the 1st tee and made our introductions. Yuke and Taku work for Casio and moved here from Tokyo 2 years ago. Their English was really good but it was their Japanese spirit that made the round so awesome. After we all hit crappy drives, I decide to hit another and smoked it. From the moment of contact, Taku and Yuke let out a, "AAWWWWWWWW!", followed by some laughter. It was like it was the best shot theyd ever seen in their lives and, I gotta tell ya, it made me feel like the best damn golfer on the planet. It was hilarious.

The Japanese guys werent too bad, either. They probably shot about 120 each but they were quick and pretty much laughed no matter what happened. Good shot - laughter. Bad shot - laughter. Another thing I thought was hilarious was Steve-O talking to these guys and using different American figures of speech, etc. I dont think they understood any of them but he kept using them and it was pretty amusing. Taku hit one in the woods and Steve-O says, "well, you gotta play the whole course", followed by silence. LOL

The best part of the day was on the 15th whole when I received the highest honor from Taku after hitting a BOMB off the tee. "That shot was beddy beautiful", he said. "It went row to high. Good shot." It was awesome. I ended up shooting a 91 and edged out Steve-O by a few strokes. It was an inconsistent day for both of us considering I had a 45 on the front with 4 pars, 4 doubles, and 1 bogey. Steve-O made 3 birdies on the day which not only got him compliments, but rounds of applause from our new Japanese friends.

All in all it was a good round, weather was perfect, and the Japanese guys made the round a ton of fun. Now I rest before heading to see Cirque du Soliel tonite downtown. First time going so Im looking forward to it!