Good, Bad, and Ugly: My First Round of Golf of the Season

The good, the bad and the ugly pretty much sums up my first round of golf of the year.
Never mind that it's nearly the middle of June and I'm just now playing my first round of golf -- that's a discussion for another time. I was happy to get out in the sunshine at Tiara Rado Golf Course and experience the smell of freshly mown grass wafting across my nostrils and pesky the gnats swarming around my face, ahhh, heaven.

Let's cut to the chase, starting with the good. I didn't fare too bad, six pars, four bogies, and just one 3-putt. Overall, my drives were solid, with none of them dribbling off the tree, and I only lost one ball! And, not once did I have to holler, "Fore!"

Now for the bad and the ugly. A score of 53 on the front nine. Trust me, it was not pretty. After managing a par on hole one, it was pretty much a monumental disaster from there on out.

Two trees and two sand traps left me muttering to myself and slamming clubs on the ground. If you were standing near me you could hear the sounds of "dang it!" repeatedly. More than once I wanted to wrap a club around a tree or toss one down the fairway in disgust. But, I didn't.

After a break at the turn for a little nourishment from a granola bar, things went better. A lot better. Four pars and three bogies on the back nine brought me in at 43 for a total of 96. Hard not to be happy with three pars in the last four holes, including a personal nemesis hole 17 (pictured). I would be a happy golfer if I could do that every time out.

For me, not bad for the first time out. However, my expectation is to break 90 in the near future, something that has only happened once before.

With any luck, I might even beat Tiger Woods' recent score of 85. Isn't it funny how 85 is such a terrible score for good golfers, but so many of us would be thrilled to shoot 85?