Happy Birthday

April 2. Happy 49th Birthday. Ok, the theme for the day seemed to be just 365 days until you're 50. and that's really old. Is it?

Years ago, I worked with a James Copher. He was a big man, maybe 6'3" and 320 lbs. He wasn't always big, but he was acting stupid on skis and really damaged his knee. I guess these days they might have been able to repair it so he could remain active. But he really couldn't do anything but eat and sit and think. People who knew him a long time called him Jamie, but he created a new personna for himself as James, a Texas Gentleman. He convinced me the your birthday was a special day. And you didn't have to do anything with anybody, you could do whatever you want. He never worked on his birthday, and he let his kids stay home from school on their birthdays ... just because. Well, it seems like a good idea to me. Soooo, I do what I want.

Last year, I hurt my knee on March 29 so I wasn't able to run. This year I could and I did. 8 miles through Springbrook. Actually 8.3. A nice way to start the day. I ran at a nice pace and still averaged under 9 minutes per mile.

The morning was brisk, with a moderate wind from the SW. It was supposed to warm up in the afternoon and the wind was going to diminish. It would be a great day for the White Sox opener. My other objective was to play a round of golf on my birthday, something I've done since I started playing in 1996. When we lived in Fairfield, CA, they offered you a free round of golf at one of the two city courses (I guess you could have played at both courses for free on your birthday).

My plan was to play at the Prairie Landing golf course in West Chicago. It's a very nice course, next t0 the DuPage County airport. The course is wide open and every time I've played there, it has been on a windy day. April 2 would be no exception. I played from the gold tees which provide a 6580 yard challenge, with a course rating of 71.3 and a slope of 130. For non-golfers, that means it plays hard. And with all the rain, there wasn't a lot of roll. Which means the course was playing about 6800 or 6900 yards. Long for me.

But I played pretty well. With the conditions, bogey was a good score. I missed a makeable par putt on 5, but got up-n-down for par on 6. I messed up on 9 for a double bogey and a 45. Not too bad since the front plays harder for me.

I parred 11, but 12 is a difficult par 3. It was playing 210 over water. Actually, in the water. Double bogey. Double bogey on 13 too. Yikes. I had chances for pars on 14 and 15 but couldn't make it happen. 16 was playing 420, and I hit a nice tee shot. I couldn't see where it landed because of mounds but there was a ball right about 150 out. Wow, that doesn't seem right, it must have gotten a good role. Oops, it's a Titleist and I'm playing a Bridgestone. So where is my ball. I do find it -- in the fairway, 225 out, embedded. Wasn't going to roll. I do get an up-n-down on 17 for par and end up with a 45 on the back.

45-45 for a 90. Nice, consistency. It works to a handicap differential of 16.3, which I'll take all year long. My stats - 9/13 fairways, good. Only 3 GIRs. Can do better. 37 putts, must do better.

Watched the last half of the Sox game - very ugly. Hope for a great dinner. Steak. Oreo cheesecake for my birthday cake. Watched 24, my favorite tv show. And some of Florida winning the NCAA basketball championship.

And that was my 49th birthday.