Golf Gypsy: Shots of the Day

The Gallery South Course, Marana, AZ

For golfers, nothing beats the beautiful vistas created when a golf course and mother nature combine to show off their shared beauties.  Even more than sharing these shots, I wish I could share the warmth and heat from the winter sun over the desert.  My cold knotted muscles begin to relax, and my body moves with more grace than jerks and groans, when I'm in the desert sun. 

bearded grandfather cactus

Our friends, Jim and Kathy, invited us to play in Los Amantes, a couples golf event, at The Gallery Golf Course in Marana. We explained up front that we'd love to be their guest, but reminded them how erratic our winter golf can be, and sadly, how we might be a little stiff like the grandfather cactus! "Just come out and let's have fun," Kathy replied.  Fun and laughter were certainly the highlight of the event.

On the day we played the best, we also laughed the hardest. I'm sure there's a correlation between our shots of the day, laughter, and shooting the day's low team score. Crucial putts were made early in our

photo by Bert Fredericksen

round boosting our confidence, and then....Jimmy hit an electrifying chip shot on a downhill hole. Truly, when his club hit the soil all forward movement stopped, the club released and flew through the air toward the green like it'd been struck with lightning , Jim's arms and hands stretched outwards in disbelief, and the ball bounded a mere couple of feet forward. Three of us on the green burst into laughter, and with a snort and giggle Jim hit another chip shot onto the green. 

Cactus wren 

My eyes were occasionally averted to the beauties surrounding us, but then Kathy brought everything back into focus when she hit a low flying tee shot barely missing the tops of bushes and cactus until the fiercely struck ball hit the face of a rock and bounded upwards and backwards, over our heads and back toward the men's tee box. In her excitement and awe of the shot she hollered backwards, "Fore on the tee." This time the four of us doubled over in laughter and disbelief. She lost at least twenty yards on her tee shot, and had an unplayable lie in the cactus. Her second tee shot flew down the middle, of course.

jumping cholla cactus 

Jack gave us reason to applaud with awe, first when he even found his ball in the ravine off to the right of the fairway and secondly, when he managed to get a club on a nearly impossible lie; hit the ball squarely up and left over the trees, and land in the center of the fairway short of the water hole.   Applause Applause.  

Our great day gave us bragging rights for low score in the clubhouse on day one, but another story took place behind us that seemed even funnier.  Walking up a long par four the lady in the group experienced numerous penalties. Already laying eight 100 yards

The Gallery North Course

short of the green, she turned to her husband and asked his score.  "I'm only three in the bunker, go ahead and pick up," he replied. His skulled shot out of the bunker landed him in the desert behind the green. With great humility and humor he chipped several directions, adding penalties when needed, and eventually finished the hole with an eleven. The total team score landed them in last place on day one, but gave us reasons to laugh, and admire the ability of couples to remain happily married after couples golf. (Rumor has it that they drank a few beers the next day, relaxed to the music of Maroon 5, and had fun.)

Golf channel may not broadcast our humorous and amazing shots, but then we play for fun and memories, not a paycheck.  They awarded the trophy after day two to another team. Something happened

javelinas with babies up by the green

to our magic from day one, but we did enjoy watching the javelinas grazing on the golf course. 

In the end, perhaps the greatest shot of the day came from Mother Nature's approach shot to the beginning of the day.

Sunrise over Marana by Bert Fredericksen