Kinzua

This weekend Scott and I played in a couples' golf tournament at Kinzua Hills Golf Club. Where's that? Well... it's here. About as close to the middle of nowhere you can get in Oregon. And yes, there is a golf course there. It has six holes so you play it three times around.

Saturday
We left Bend early and arrived at the golf course at about 10am. Our group wasn't due to start until 1-ish, but by arriving a few hours early we had the opportunity to settle into our accommodations (set up a tent), rent a golf cart (no pink ones available), and start drinking. Exhibit A:
It was a warm day, so we were plenty thirsty. Our friend whipped up a batch of very refreshing mojitos. By the time we tee'd off it was (surprise, surprise) about 75 degrees outside.
We played scramble format, and things went OK. We started off with a birdie, and things went up and (mostly) down from there. I could tell the golf lessons I took last month helped tremendously. But I still have a lot to work on - consistency being first and foremost. Scott won both the men's KP (closest drive to the pin) and the men's long drive contest. That should tell you something about Scott's golf game.

After dinner it was time to socialize. And at Kinzua that means...KaraokeDancing and, well, much more.

Sunday
After a great night's sleep, we awoke refreshed and ready for the morning round. Ha! More like after going to bed much later than we should have, we spent the night tossing and turning on our under-inflated air mattress, freezing our a**es off during a 40 degree night. When I got up I had exactly two things on my mind and neither of them were golf. Coffee and Advil. Good to go. The format was Scotch which means that Scott & I shared a ball, and alternated who hit it. So whoever didn't putt the ball in, made the next drive. Confusing? Yes. Wish I had rested better the night before? Definitely.

Let's just say, there were highs and lows. My lowest was a stunning 4 inch drive off the 11th tee. On that particular hole we got an 8 (aka "the snowman"). Scott's lowest was at the 5th hole (yeup, same one since the course is only 6 holes). His first shot went waaaay off to the left. Who knows where it went, but it was definitely out of bounds. Then his second attempt (now stroke #3) went into the rough about 20 yards away from the tee box. On that hole we got... a perfect ten. Yikes.

But the good was really good. Good enough that we could just sit and laugh about the lows. On the first tee I was driving yet again (since we started on #6, this was our 14th hole). I am getting better with my driver, but things are pretty inconsistent (thus, the 4 inch drive). I smacked the ball about 200 yards, right at the pin. Wow! At that hole the tee box is up a hill from the cart path, and the guys had waited for us down below so I had to shout "that was JEN'S drive!" just so they (and everyone else) knew. We drove down and Scott took his shot, which landed about 10 yards from the green. I stepped up with my wedge (which had been working pretty well for me on BOTH days), and hit the ball. It bounced up to the green and rolled... right into the hole. I think everyone in Kinzua (and maybe even some folks in Fossil) heard my "Woo hoo!!!" It felt really REALLY good to write down that birdie!

In the end... we weren't first but we also weren't last. It definitely felt good to be a contributor to our team score, instead of Scott having to play it well and play it safe in order to make up for my golfing deficiencies.

And it was a BLAST. We are definitely going to make it back to Kinzua for the tournament next year, if not sooner. If you like golf too, maybe we will see you there some time. And if you go... tell them Spike sent you.