We attended church in the Village Sunday morning, and sat with in a row with friends Bobby and Martha Altom and Pam Williams.  After church, and changing clothes, Kay and Pam were off to Hot Springs to do some shopping and pick up their complimentary $s from Oaklawn Casino.  I remained at the rental house and watched the rain-delayed PGA Championship; it was a real nail biter until the very end.  Kay joined in watching it when she returned, and we watched the conclusion while eating at the Granada Golf Course restaurant where, it seemed, everyone had taken sides.  It was a hoot.

Monday was all about golf, in fact, maybe too much golf!  Kay was off first thing for a chiropractic adjustment—all which appear to be helping.  After returning, we had breakfast and she and Pam drove to Coronado Fitness Center for a workout while I drove to Conway for my next to last lesson with Brannon Watson, Arkansas Golf Center.   Today’s lesson focused on improving “lag” on the swing.  Kay wanted to hit a few balls when I arrived back in the Village, and we drove to Magellan Golf Course where we each hit balls.  I asked pro Rich Ross to help with the “lag” issue and he gave me a short lesson, gratis, despite a strong offer to pay.  After a couple of hours of cooling off in the rental house, I drove back to Magellan for a lesson in chipping from Bobby Altom.  Bobby and his wife, Martha, are longtime friends of Kay, and he is a very good golfer.  The lesson really helped, and will provide a basis from which to practice.  With three lessons, entailing hitting lots of golf balls, I was a tired “puppy” as the evening came to a close.

Yesterday’s activities took a toll on this old body as I didn’t sleep well, getting up at 1:30 AM and staying up for almost 3 hours.  I had a little bit of heart ache (literally, and I understand this may never disappear).  Tuesday was a new day, and Kay was off to exercise at the church.  Without our toys—kayaks and bicycles—we’re limited to indoor activities or golf and fishing, and of course, it’s difficult to beat the fishing in Baxter County.  Consequently, I was back on the golf driving range and short game practice area.  We met Pam, Martha, and Bobby at Jim and Jackie’s for happy hour before going out for dinner at Italian House, a restaurant just across from the west gate.  Good food and lots of laughter resulting in a great evening.

Kay was off to the chiropractor again Wednesday morning, and believes the treatments are greatly helping to resolve the pain in her foot.  I met Jim Morris and Fred Douglas at Balboa Golf Club for an afternoon of golf, hitting a few balls beforehand to warm up.  I played badly, the worst since very early June!  It seemed that my grip was not comfortable and the swing was out of synch—bottom line is that it just didn’t feel right; even the short irons weren’t working.  Every time this happens I question whether or not it is tome to give up this game!

After yesterday’s poor showing at the golf course, we were off to Magellan Golf Course to hit golf balls Thursday morning.  Kay is hitting here “woods” really well, and is vastly improving her short game, but is reluctant to hit the irons.  After hitting a few balls, we practiced chipping, using the technique passed on by Bobby Monday; it works!  Afterwards, I drove to Coronado to walk and play the front nine where my grip and swing returned to some semblance of normality.  I got behind a very slow foursome, but had fun nevertheless, hitting as many as three balls on each hole—good practice.  Kay joined me on the back nine where we both rode and played.  After the first 5 holes, she had parred 3 holes and had bogeys on two others.  We had a blast playing, and really enjoy being together on the course.  As we were both going different directions on the weekend, we left the golf course for dinner El Jimidor, our new favorite Mexican restaurant—it was very good.  On Thursday’s they have a mariachi band which is loud and fun to hear, though not very good.