Congo River Adventure Golf (Hoffman Estates, IL) - Congo Rapids Course

July 31, 2011, late afternoon

This was the second and final round of the "bachelor party" mini golf tournament, with Steve and Brigid joining though not officially competing for the trophy.  After the first round, Drew had a three-shot lead which looked pretty good - though in May 2010 I had beaten him by four shots on this very course, usually even when I won our meetings it was only by a couple shots.  But when Drew took a double-bogey 4 at the first hole as I made par, suddenly the deficit was down to one shot with seventeen holes to go.  Stan took a rough 6 at the first hole to drop five shots off the lead, and while he aced #2, Congo Rapids was not kind to him in general.  He made perhaps the shot of the day at #6 when he saved par with a perfect bank shot after ending up with no direct line at the hole behind an obstacle, but he also had the craziest hole I've ever seen at #9 when the ball ground to a halt on the turf three separate times rather than rolling into one of the indented pipes as it was supposed to.  He took a six there as well and limped to a 57, so it was pretty much down to me and Drew (Brian, the fourth member of the group, had a solid round of 45 including a hole in one, but he was eight shots back of Drew coming into this round and never really in serious contention).  After Drew's double-bogey we matched par-2 scores from holes two through seven - then I parred #8 while Drew's ball ricocheted out of bounds en route to a bogey, and like that we were tied.  I then made birdie at #9 while Drew could only par it, and I had grabbed the 27-hole lead thanks to my 19 on the front nine.  It wouldn't last, though.  At #12, Drew's ball trickled into the hole while the rest of us just missed and he tied it up, then retook the lead at #15 when I bogeyed.  He bogeyed #16 to tie it up again, but at #17, just after my drive had come to rest less than a foot from the hole, he rolled in another ace.  We both birdied the long 18th and he officially captured the championship.  In the other foursome, Arlene won her group for the second time with a nine-over 50, with Alma, Steve and Brigid all finishing within a few shots.

July 16, 2011, late afternoon

My eighteen rounds of mini golf (as of the date of this round) in 2011 put it as my second busiest year ever, behind just the 26 in 2006 - and after the Wilderness Falls tournament and my own "bachelor party" tournaments, I'll have set the record.  One thing I have not done a lot this year, however, is record holes-in-one.  In fact, excluding the par-one 18th at Wilderness Falls Eagle, I went 180 holes after carding a pretty miraculous one at the 8th at Novelty Golf 1 on 6/16/11 without making another.  Then I recorded three in five holes at Congo Rapids, tying our record for the most on one course (sadly, I had only four holes left afterwards and never really came close to the solo record).  Drew and I played pretty much evenly for the front nine - aside from splitting par/bogey at the fourth and fifth holes, we duplicated each other's scores on every hole, and hit the turn tied at 22.  And then I started making aces.  At the tenth, I rolled a perfect putt between the two water hazards and into the hole; Drew was close, but had to settle for par 2.  We both parred #11, and then my first shot at #12 rolled down from the river onto the green and trickled into the hole for a second ace.  Drew's following shot also nearly trickled in, but he again had to settle for par.  He picked a shot back up at the 13th when I missed a par putt, but I proceeded to eagle the 14th with a straight uphill shot that bounced off the back wall of the green and rolled directly back into the cup.  Drew made birdie, but still dropped another shot.  We traded pars on the next two holes, but when he bogeyed #17 it was pretty much over, and I won by two shots in spite of making bogey 4 at the 18th, the worst score anyone put on the card all round.  My 41 was also the lowest score of the day on the Congo Rapids course at the time we finished, around 6:30 pm.

May 15, 2010, afternoon

Our Congo Falls performances were not necessarily auspicious openers, but perhaps Drew and I were just shaking off the rust, because we tore around Congo Rapids - me in particular.  I opened with three straight pars to lead by two shots as Drew bogeyed two of the first three holes, but he pulled a shot back when I bogeyed #4 and #5, the latter of which saw him make par.  As it happened, the fifth was my last bogey of the round.  I went back up two shots with an ace at #6; Drew proceeded to ace #7 to bring it back within one, but I finished the round with 13 straight holes at par or better, including birdies at #6 (the ace), #8, #9, #11, and #14.  Drew was also playing well, but he only parred #9 when I birdied it, putting me two shots up at the turn, and he bogeyed #11 as I birdied, giving me a four-shot lead.  His ace at #12 brought it back to three, but he went bogey-par on #13 and #14 while I went par-birdie and that was pretty much it.  He did birdie #18 and actually tied our previous course record - which he had set in our last outing (see below) - but I beat it by a mere four shots, my missed birdie putt at #18 costing me a tie for our all-time low score.

June 15, 2008, afternoon

Unlike at Congo Falls, this match was back and forth; Drew and I traded bogeys at #2 and #3, and then again at #5 and #6.  But I bogeyed #7 as well, and missed a putt on #9 to end up with a double-bogey 5, putting me three shots behind at the turn.  Drew bogeyed #11, though, and then had a strange moment at #12 (the first of consecutive water holes) where his ball ricocheted off the rocks and landed in the water past the filter, rolling all the way to the 13th green.  We decided to count it as one stroke with a no-penalty mulligan, but that stuck him with bogey, and I tied the match with an ace at #13.  We matched each other on the next three holes, and then, just after my ball was inches from an ace at #17, Drew's ball dropped in for the hole-in-one.  I had to settle for par at the last, and when Drew pushed his second shot a couple feet past, I thought I'd have a chance at the tie - but he put the third shot in the hole for par, preserving the one-shot win and setting our course record.

May 12, 2007, afternoon

The match at Congo Rapids was more exciting than the one at Congo Falls.   I once again took an early lead, going up two on Drew and three on Karen after two holes, but it didn't stay quite as wide this time; Drew parred #5 while I bogeyed and matched me the rest of the way out to make the turn at one back, while Karen parred #4 as we both bogeyed and then aced #7 with a shot that managed to top her ace from the Congo Falls course, as this shot actually jumped the wall, then hopped back onto the course and rolled into the cup.  We were tied at the turn, but unfortunately, she took the maximum at the tenth again, dropping her four back and three back of Drew.  Drew caught me at #11 as I bogeyed, then passed me when he dropped in an ace at #12.  But when I gagged a short putt on #14, he did the same, scrapping a chance to go up two.   I caught him with a par at #15 and went up one with a par at #17, and we both birdied #18 for a close finish.

July 29, 2006, late afternoon

With Tyler in town for a few days, he and I had been talking about fitting a mini golf trip onto the schedule.  With Drew and I planning to go to Bolingbrook earlier in the day, we planned to meet at Congo River, maybe around 3 or so.  When Drew, Karen and I left later than planned, this was pushed back to 4ish, then 5ish, and finally 5:30.  And then, after picking up Alma, we got stuck in traffic on I-90.  We ended up getting there at 6:15, having left Tyler stranded for 45 minutes, and if you don't think this is the sort of thing I'm going to feel bad about for years, ask Rich about the time I had to make him pack a box for me after freshman year of college.  Anyway.  We actually went out in two groups, Drew and Karen heading out first and then the other three of us following.  Tyler started inauspiciously with a 6 at the first, as the back of the green sloped away from the hole, making the shot tough.  After that, though, he settled down; aside from a hiccup at the fifth, when his drive bounced back awkwardly and he ended up taking a five, he was pretty much on fire.  In fact, over the other 16 holes, he was -2, including the threesome's only ace at the sixth.  But then, that really only makes those blow-up holes more annoying, doesn't it?  I managed to go all 2s and 3s for a steady +2 43, the best score in the group.  Alma started off a little rough but had a strong back nine to finish at 50, tying her previous best score.  In the Drew and Karen group, Drew led by two shots at the turn, but after giving one away at #11, they put up twos each for the next five holes.  Then Drew bogeyed 17 and the match was tied.  At the 18th, a par 3 thanks to its length, Drew made par, but Karen made birdie to reach 44 and win by a stroke; her 19 on the way in was the best back nine of the five by a good two strokes.