August was a good month of golf with glorious weather and 14 rounds of golf.  There were a couple of not very satisfying outings but I had three scores in the 70s and averaged 84.2.  And there was a five-round stretch from the 12th to the 22nd where my average score was 80.2

I didn’t think it was possible to improve on 2010’s low mark of 12.0 but today my handicap index is down to 10.7.  I’m delighted with the improvement but it is due in part, I think, to having played Mt. St golf course so often (over 500 times) and having mastered most every problem it can present.  My average score there since April is 84.4; at all other courses it’s 87.5.  Of course, the average slope rating for those “other” courses is 121 significantly more difficult than Mt. SI’s 117.

Since I’ve been playing well this summer I decided to try my hand at the Mt. Si Club Championship, a two-day, 36-hole event.  On day one, Saturday, I struggled mightily eventually salvaging an 87.  I figured that I would need at least an 80 to even have a chance of finishing in the money for the tournament.  Things didn’t look too promising when I three-putted the second hole for a bogey. But I managed par on six straight holes finishing the front nine with another bogey to make the turn at 38.

The tenth hole has been a particular nemesis for me lately including a triple-bogey 7 on Saturday.  A solid four iron left me in perfect position but I yanked a nine iron into a dreaded grass bunker left of the green.  My chip out left a 16-foot side-hill putt that I sank for par.  Following bogey on #12 and birdie on #13 and par on #14 I saved par on #15 with a 18 foot putt from off the green.

I stood on the par-five sixteenth tee just two over par thinking all I needed to do was keep the ball in play for really low score.  Of course, I pulled my tee shot well left but miraculously the ball caromed off the trees and landed back in the fairway.  A second three-wood left me still 177 yards from the green. I stuck a five iron fifteen feet from the hole and two-putted to save another par. A bogey on #17 and par on #18 brought me to the clubhouse with a personal best three over par 75.

My two-day total of 162 left me tied with another competitor and I lost in the second hole of a sudden-death playoff to finish second.  What a fun weekend!