Let’s see… what did we do this Father’s Day?  We ate a great little breakfast at home (bacon, onion, cheese omelettes) took a nap, then I decided that maybe going to Monkey Joes wasn’t the best idea today since I have a broken pinky toe.  But I didn’t want to rule it out completely, so I let Domnic pick between Monkey Joe’s and putt-putt.  He picked Monkey Joes. 

We pulled up to Monkey Joes, used our $2.00 off coupon to get in and were in the door for less than $3.00 and for a grand total of 5 minutes.  Then what happened?

Level 2 sprain on my right ankle.  :(  I was riding down the slide with Dominic and then jumped off the bounce house - no more than 2 feet off the ground and landed with a *crack* sound. 

No breaking 80 this year for me.

Continuation of this post (part 2) which outlines my goal to break 80.  Today I went out for an afternoon round and had a good chance to break 80 again.  I shot 40 on the front with 4 GIRs and 17 putts, but flubbed the back with a 44 - giving me a total of 84.  Breakdown of the day:

1st 9:

1 Birdie, 3 pars, 5 bogeys = 40        …….     4 GIRs and 17 putts with (1) 3-putt 

At this point I would have to shoot 39 on the back to break it.  Would require me to putt only 15 times and hit 4 more GIRs.  I’m thinking I can definitely do it (because in the last 5 holes I had only gone +1)

2nd 9:

0 birdies, 2 pars, 6 bogeys, 1 double-bogey =  44     ……..    1 GIR and 17 putts, (2) 3-putts

I think where I really screwed up today was the GIRs, again, along with 1 more unneccessary 3-putt on the back.  But, it’s the first time in a while I’ve shot 40 on a side so that is definite improvement (in the last few weeks I’ve shot a 41 a few times).

Progress is progress though.  Next week we all go to Kelsey’s high-school graduation in New York and I have 90 holes of golf planned over 3 days.  I’m thinking that I can probably get close towards the end.  I’ll update with progress for sure.

First, see the previous post.

I did some futher analysis using the internet to find one part of my game that, if consistent, would net me a score of 79.   Let’s take a look.

Based on statics, the chart below shows the average score for a golfer who hits a predetermined number of Greens in Regulation (GIR) out of 18 holes.  A GIR is defined as having a chance at putting for birdie (no matter the distance from the hole as long as it is on the green).

This clearly shows that if 8 GIRs are hit in a round, you would most likely shoot 79.  Now, couple that with the average score for putts per round…

This shows that if you putt on average 32 putts per round (or simply 2-putt 15 holes, and 1 putt 3 holes) you will shoot 79.  If you couple the GIR statistic with the Putts-per-round statistic, you get this:

Clearly, I have to hit 8 greens a round, and putt no more than 32 times.  If I do that, I’ll break 80.  If I look at my scorecard from the last rounds, I have a putts-per-round average of 32.  My GIRs are around 6.  This clearly defines that all I have to do is give myself a few extra good approach shots on the par 4’s, and I’ll break 80, as well as get up and down for pars when missing the green. 

I know I talk and play a lot of golf but I just wanted to update myself (and everyone else) on the status of my progress.

August 2008 - shot my best round ever of 84.  This was the peak of my golf in 2008.

Sept. 1st, 2008 - hit my first hole in one

October 2008 - Feb. 2009:  Didn’t play too much on a regular basis, maybe hit the range once every 3 weeks and played golf 1-2 times per month.

March 2009:  Full swing of golf.  Back into playing at least 1 time per week

March 7, 2009:  Shot a 104, first full round of the season

March 7, 2009:  Shot a 98, second full round of the season

March 11, 2009:  Shot a 94

April 6, 2009:  Shot a 91

May 3, 2009:  Shot a 88, first time I’ve broke 90 since 2008.

May 14, 2009:  Shot an 89, losing progress.

June 3rd:  Shot an 86.  I have scored 89 or better in the last month.

June 10th:  Shot an 85.

My goal this season is to break 80.  I really really really want to do this, but I keep blowing up on one or two holes per round that kills my score.  I compared the last two rounds scorecards tonight and my two best nines equal 81.  If I took the best score per hole, I would have shot a 73.  That really explains my “blow-ups” and how I really need to stop hitting a couple triple bogeys per round.

Most of you already probably know, but Caitlin and I bought a house here in Raleigh that we close on July 16th.  Everything seems to be going smoothly so far with no hiccups.  The house is a 3 bed, 2 bath very close to my work and in the perfect spot for schools and downtown if we would want to go there.  We can’t wait to enjoy our new home as well as the 1/2 of acre of yard that comes with it (probably Dominic’s favorite part) - which was difficult to come by in the area that we wanted to move into.

Some of the things that drew us to this house:

-  Very nice large back porch/sunroom

-  1 car garage/shed/shop in the back of the yard

-  1/2 acre of grassy yard

-  Prime location for both my work, Dominic’s school, and the University of North Carolina (where Caitlin will be going)

A story courtesy of Tim, written by Paul Bennett via geeks.pirillo.com

Last week I was in Melbourne attending a conference.

While I was in the airport, returning home, I heard several people behind me beginning to clap and cheer.I immediately turned around and witnessed one of the greatest acts of patriotism I have ever seen.

Moving through the terminal was a group of soldiers in their uniforms, as they began heading to their gate everyone (well almost everyone) was abruptly to their feet with their hands waving and cheering.

When I saw the soldiers, probably 30-40 of them, being applauded and cheered for, it hit me. I’m not alone. I’m not the only red blooded Australian who still loves this country and supports our troops and their families. Of course I immediately stopped and began clapping for these young unsung heroes who are putting their lives on the line everyday for us so we can go to school, work, and enjoy our home without fear or reprisal.

Just when I thought I could not be more proud of my country or of our service men and women a young girl, not more than 6 or 7 years old, ran up to one of the male soldiers. He knelt down and said ‘hi,’ the little girl then asked him if he would give something to her daddy for her. The young soldier didn’t look any older than maybe 22 himself, said he would try and what did she want to give to her daddy.

Suddenly the little girl grabbed the neck of this soldier, gave him the biggest hug she could muster and then kissed him on the cheek. The mother of the little girl, who said her daughters name was Courtney, told the young soldier that her husband was a Corporal and had been in Afghanistan for 5 months now.

As the mum was explaining how much her daughter, Courtney, missed her father, the young soldier began to tear up. When this temporarily single mum was done explaining her situation, all of the soldiers huddled together for a brief second. Then one of the other servicemen pulled out a military looking walkie-talkie. They started playing with the device and talking back and forth on it. After about 10-15 seconds of this, the young soldier walked back over to Courtney, bent down and said this to her, ‘I spoke to your daddy and he told me to give this to you.’

He then hugged this little girl that he had just met and gave her a Kiss on the cheek.

He finished by saying ‘Your daddy told me to tell you that he loves you more than anything and he is coming home very soon. The mum at this point was crying almost uncontrollably and as the young soldier stood to his feet he saluted Courtney and her mum.

I was standing no more than 6 feet away as this entire event unfolded. As the soldiers began to leave, heading towards their gate, people resumed their applause. As I stood there applauding and looked around, there were very few dry eyes, including my own.

That young soldier in one last act of moment turned around and blew a kiss to Courtney with a tear rolling down his cheek.

We need to remember everyday all of our soldiers and their families and thank God for them and their sacrifices.

At the end of the day, it’s good to be an Australian.

Just in case you missed it last night, this is 5 months after D*** in a box.

*edit- NBC keeps pulling the video from youtube, google it.