Novelty Golf (Lincolnwood, IL) - Course 2

May 3, 2009, late afternoon

Alma and I decided we needed to get outside on the first really nice weekend of the year and headed over to Novelty Golf, where I opted for Course 2 because it looked less busy (and indeed it was, until our fairly quick play caught us up with a logjam on the last few holes).  I came out flying, parring the first four holes and then acing the fifth, my only hole-in-one at Novelty Golf in recorded history.  I came back to par with bogeys at 6 and 7, but birdied #8 to finish the front nine at one-under.  The back nine was pretty steady; I parred holes ten through fourteen, then bogeyed #15 but birdied #16 to get it back.  Pars on 17 and 18 gave me a first for me - breaking par at Novelty Golf!  (I had once equaled par on Course 1, but that was it in eight previous tries.)  Alma also had a good round - although sixes at #s 5, 11 and 16 pushed her to a total of 60, that score was four shots better than any of her previous recorded scores on either course and eight shots better than her previous best on Course 2.  And on the back nine she was actually two under par on the seven holes at which she didn't make six.  But for those two blowups, she would have beaten me on the back nine.

May 6, 2007, afternoon

Course 1 had left a sour taste in the mouths of Drew and Karen, but unfortunately things didn't start a whole lot better on the second course - Karen made five at the second, and after staying even with me through seven, Drew carded 6 and 5 at the eighth and ninth to fall seven back at the turn.  In three previous attempts, I had played the back nine on this course poorly, and so it was again - I gave back most of the shots Drew had lost with a 6 and 5 of my own at #10 and #11, then handed back another shot at #14 when I double-bogeyed after ending up on the green with the tiny hole, barely wider than the ball, on the windmill hole.  Drew took the final shot back by sinking a long putt for birdie at #16, and we both parred in to end at 4-over 54.  Karen, sadly, had little more luck on this course than she'd had on the first, taking two sixes in a front nine 34, and recording a 6 at the 18th to finish fourteen shots back.

April 15, 2006, afternoon

After a draw on Course 1, Drew and I headed back out onto Course 2, where Drew had flattened me by five shots to very nearly erase a seven-stroke deficit in our tournament last July.  We both played brilliantly through five holes - I was one under and Drew three under.  The remaining four front nine holes were not as kind, as I took six at the sixth, and Drew made five at the eighth while I somehow managed a two (as the ball found the incredibly hard to reach "best shot" hole and headed right for the final green).  A birdie at the ninth put Drew back up two at the turn.  Matching pars on the first three holes of the back nine kept things close, but Drew picked up two shots at thirteen and another at fourteen to lead by five with just four holes left.  I somehow made those three shots back in the next two holes, keeping it close.  Drew still led by two going into 18, where I had taken two strokes from him to win the July tournament; here, however, the obstacle did not stop his ball as it had then, and we both made par 2 to allow Drew to win the course and the day by two shots.

July 1, 2005, afternoon

The final round of Drew's and my 72-hole tournament.  I entered with a seven-shot lead and then tried very hard to lose it, mostly on the back nine - although really, with the exception of double bogeys at 13 and 17, I was right on par, so it was as much Drew playing as well as he needed to.  The front nine was acceptable but mediocre; I played it one shot better than my last round on the course, but one shot worse than Drew, whose birdies at 1 (an ace), 5, and 8 gave him par despite bogey fours at 4, 6, and 7.  It was on the back that things really fell apart for me, as Drew birdied 10 to pull within five strokes for the day, then came within three as I doubled 13.  Another birdie at 15 pulled him to within 2, and I completed the near-unthinkable (at least if your name was Drew) collapse with another double at 17, sending us into our 72nd hole dead even.  I actually had jitters on the 18th, but managed to pull out a par two, while Drew's ball got hung up by the obstacle, taking him out of play (he wound up with a four).  Still, a striking end to a tournament that went from dead-even after 36 to a blowout after 54.

June 18, 2005, afternoon

After the round on the north course, we went right back out onto the west.  This time I came in second, as Alma's sister shot a 53 and I struggled on the back nine, finishing four shots back.  Still no holes-in-one (this time Alma had the foursome's only ace, an eagle at the eighth), but I started off well by making two on each of the first three holes (two pars and a birdie at the third).  The wheels started getting loose with a double bogey 5 at the fifth, and a bogey four at the seventh left me two over, 27, after nine, one shot better than my score on the north course.  Unfortunately, that was as good as things were going to get, as I bogeyed three of the first five holes on the back nine.  Ultimately I did not birdie a single hole on the way in, and the five total bogeys gave me 30 on the back, and a 57 total score.