Back to Blogging...Finally

Quite a bit has happened since my last post in 2010.  I haven't been writing, not because I lost interest, but because I couldn't figure out how to get onto my blog.  Very sad.  But I've persevered and now I'm back.  Believe it or not I've even had a few people ask me what had happened.  That was kind of a kick.

I've done quite a bit of dining and driving over the last few years, and I can say that my game has improved...slightly.  I'm primarily still golfing at Buenaventura, and typically shoot in the high 90s or low 100s.  Still golfing with my sweetheart and husband, Stanley, who is my best golfing buddy ever.  And Stan Weiner still plays with us.  He's always good for a grumble or two and can't believe when his putt doesn't make it in the cup.  I've been taking lessons with Jeff Jones at Olivas Links, and he has been extremely helpful in correcting some of my mistakes.  If only I could remember them when I'm actually golfing!

Stan in Eureka

Over the last couple of years, Stan's older son (and my stepson) Mitch has started golfing with a vengeance. It is quite possible that he has not missed one day playing golf of some kind (driving range, 9 holes, practicing at home) since he really started playing in September 2011.  He's even created a small driving and pitching range in his backyard of 3 acres.  It has been great having this in common with him, for both Stan and me.  In fact, for Mitch's 50th birthday, just this past April, he chose to spend a weekend with his dad golfing at Bandon Dunes in Oregon.  Bandon Dunes Golf  I came up to Eureka to stay with Denise, Talia and Eliot for the weekend.  The boys had made plans to go up to Oregon on Friday, play several different golf courses over the weekend and come home Sunday night.  After that first Friday of golf, they abandoned the idea of going to Oregon and decided to stay in Eureka for the night and head out to Mt. Shasta to play there and stay for two days.  Little did we know, they had really decided to forget the whole going-away plan and just play locally in Eureka.  They are just a couple of homebodies!  I wish the NoCal Blocks were closer so we could golf more with Mitch, and just be with them more in general, but that is not to be.

A great thing is that Mitch is getting Talia and Eliot out to play.  Talia went to golf camp last summer and may do it again this year.  Eliot goes to the driving range where he likes to clobber the ball with a teeny golf club - great fun for a three-year-old.

Talia at Golf Summer Camp

Talia, at eight years old, is a great kid.  Loads of fun.  She just loves using my iPhone, taking photos and movies.  In fact, if it weren't for her, I'd probably have very few photos at all. The photo on the left is courtesy of her dad.  The video below was taken by Talia.  (I can't get the video to play while posting.  Maybe it'll work after I publish.)  

I play with pink balls, and when I'm done with them, I bring them to Talia.  It's much more fun to play with pink balls than white...even if you're 59 years old!

All of the boys in our family are playing golf now.  I'm the only girl, besides Talia, who isn't quite ready to hit the links.  I've got to work on Danielle and Denise to try it.  We need more girls out there!!!  

It's time to take more photos and movies of our escapades on, and off, the course.  And I need to post more photos and links to where we've been spending our time after golf.  Now that I can remember how to get on the blog, I'll do it!  I promise!

December 15, 2010 - River Ridge Golf Club, The Vineyard Course, Oxnard, California

Happy Birthday to yooouuuu!  Happy Birthday to yoouuuu!  Happy Birthday dear Stanley!  Happy Birthday to yooouuu!!!  You are 73 years young and a wonderful husband, boyfriend and life partner.  May you have many more healthy and happy years!

I hate golf.   

I'm sure my lousy game has everything to do with the courses I play and nothing to do with the fact that I just generally play like crap, but in looking for yet another deal, we chose to screw up Stan's birthday by playing this miserable course.  River Ridge golf courses be damned!!!  Never, I say NEVER, again!!!  That eliminates three golf courses from our local golf repertoire.  Hang on Buenaventura and Los Olivos . . . I beg of you.

When we were on our walk this morning, Stan seriously thought about postponing the game for better weather.  It was cloudy and cold and threatening rain.  He decided to let SW (Stan Weiner) be the determining factor, and when SW called wanting to know when we'd pick him up, well, the die was cast.  SB made luscious tuna sandwiches which we put in our new little cooler, along with carrots, apples, tortilla chips and the irreplaceable Pepsi.  

I threw on my old golf shoes rather than dirty up my new Nikes, but wore the golf pants that Stan likes on me the best (it was his birthday, after all).  SB and I had on 3 or 4 layers each in anticipation of a cold, windy and possibly rainy day.  SW never seems to be cold.  In fact, I was surprised to see him in long pants today. 

Each and every one of us played absolutely awful!  Just look at our scorecard.  I picked up the ball at least three times, SW picked up twice.  I counted every stroke, SB played double par (he insists that would only add a couple of strokes to his final score - I have to believe him . . . it was his birthday, after all).  I landed in three (!!!) sand traps on ONE HOLE (the 6th).  SB was so frustrated, sad and disgusted that he stopped counting how many times we landed on the fairway and how many putts we made.  I was so frustrated, sad and disgusted that I took very few pictures and videos to document his horrific day.  (To punctuate this even further, one of the videos I took for the blog refused to upload.)  I was most sad, though, that Stan's birthday golf, which he was so looking forward to, was such an abysmal experience.

There came a point, on about the 15th hole (where I had already shot an 11 and a 9, and was well on my way to shooting a 10 on that hole and an 11 on the next), that I could not wait for this game to end.  In fact, on the 18th, I shot my tee shot into the water (so did SW), and we both picked up and waited for SB to finish his last hole (with a fantastic attitude, I might add). 

Final score:  Annette 135 (yikes), Stan B 115, Stan W 106.

When we got home, Danielle, our lovely daughter, called to wish Stan a happy birthday.  She asked how we were, and I told her that we were fine except that we had a horrible golf game.  She said that's what I always say.  I had to laugh, but I sure hope that broken record changes someday soon.  I was hoping to get some new clubs on sale before the end of the year, but I've decided that I don't deserve a new set until I consistently play between 100 and 105, no matter where I'm playing.

December 7, 2010 - River Ridge Golf Club, Victoria Lakes Course, Oxnard, California

I had never played River Ridge before.  They have two golf courses, the Vineyard Course and the Victoria Lakes Course.  I'd heard that the Lakes course was more difficult than the Vineyard course from several sources.  Stan found a deal on GolfNow.com, and since I wanted to play at River Ridge (and a deal's a deal), he booked three tee times, for Stan (SB), me and Stan Weiner (SW), our good friend and neighbor.  River Ridge Golf Club

The pretty River Ridge clubhouse.

We had pretty high expectations for our play since we had just come off a three-day lesson with Joe at PGA West in La Quinta.  Those expectations were soon dashed to smithereens.  SW was not enthusiastic about playing on this course, and I can now see why.  In his words, the Lakes is a "stupid course."  In the first place, the fairways were pretty much dead grass and it wasn't very pretty.  That could be because they are re-seeding, aerating or preparing the course for spring, but, in any case, in SB's words, "it didn't inspire."  

The Stans on the brown fairways.

Before I go on, all three of us have decided that we will not play this course again, so that will definitely color my description of the day.  

I started out with two 9s on the first two par 4s.  That should give you an indicator of how the day was headed.  I talked to myself, though, and bogeyed the next four holes, doing better on the rest of the front nine, ending with a score of 55.  Not too bad, and I had some decent drives and fairway shots, though I hit only 3 out of 7 fairways.  I had some disappointing putting, though, with two four-putts on the front and back nine each.   

SB's first four holes were not stellar; they went 7, 9, 7 and 10.  He bogeyed the 6th and made par on the 7th, but the last two were 7s, for a score of 60 on the front nine.  He made 5 out of 7 fairways - pretty good, but didn't do well in his putting.  He had a stellar moment, though.  On the 6th hole, he made an up-and-down from a bunker for a bogey.  That little yellow ball just rolled into the cup, like it knew where it was going.  We all whooped and hollered - it was so very exciting!

SW never shot over a 6 on the front nine with a score of 49 on the front.  We didn't keep track of his tee shots to the fairway or putting, but he is a very good golfer.  He made some excellent shots, but still had trouble on this course.  His putting was just OK; he wasn't happy.  The greens were very fast, which he usually likes, but for some reason he just couldn't make it happen today.  


The back nine was gruesome for me.  Although I made one par and one bogey, I did much worse than that on every other hole, including a 9 on the 13th and a 10 on the 18th (losing a ball in the water on both holes didn't help).  I wound up with a 61 on the back, for a total score of 116, making 3 out of 7 fairways, and had a total of 44 putts.  

SB did about the same on the back, with a score of 59.  He got a 9 on the 18th hole (he lost a ball too).  His total score was 119.  He hit 3 out of 7 fairways and had 44 putts as well.  I have never heard him say he wanted to pack it in and leave the course, but he said it on the back nine.  I think he was frustrated and disappointed, which I could certainly relate to.  He did hang in there and finished, but would have loved to have torn up our score card, I'm sure.  (No can do.  We need a record for the blog!)


SW shot a couple of 7s on the back nine and everything else was 6 or under.  He had a score I would have been excited to have, a 99, but he wasn't too thrilled.  

After our game, we drove over to Golfsmith so SB could get more balls and introduce SW to Joe.  Joe was surprised that we did so terribly, but was upbeat about our future with the game.  I feel it is best to put this round of golf under lock and key and just forget about it.