Second Win in the County Golf Tournament

I have successfully defended my Second Flight Championship! I shot 38 on the front nine yesterday at Quit Qui Oc. That's the best I've ever done on that nine. But the back nine went in the toilet. I could not keep the ball out of the trees off the tee on the last 4 holes. I also wasted 4 shots with pitch shots where I hit two inches behind the ball and it didn't make it to the green. I shot 48 on the back nine to finish with an 86 for the first day. That put me in third place, four shots back of the leader who shot 82. Because there were three guys who shot 86, and because they decided to make the final group a three-some, I was not in the final group. I was in the second to last group. I think I parred the first hole today. That was a good start. But things quickly got ugly. I topped my drive on the second hole and had to hit a recovery shot just to get up to where the other guys had hit their drives. My third shot was good. Right down the middle. But I hooked a five iron on my third. Then I "chunked" a short pitch shot. When I do that, I just want to crawl in a hole. It's such a short swing and to hit two inches behind the ball makes me insane. I did hit a better pitch up to the green and made the putt for a double bogie seven. On the third hole, a 163 yard par 3, things got horrible. I hit behind the ball on my tee shot but the ball still rolled far enough to just make it on to the front of the green. My putt from there ended up about 8 inches past the hole. An 8 inch putt for a par AND I MISSED IT!!!! At this point, I was looking up at the underside of an ant. I was so disgusted with myself that I just though, "Oh, you have no chance anymore. Just play it out and go home." But I did not give up. I managed to play even enough and ended up with 43 on the Berms course. That was the same as the guy I rode with and he was the other one in our group that had scored 86 the day before. Then we met up with the final threesome on the tenth tee. The leader said he had shot 44 and that the other two guys were worse. At that point I'm thinking, "Maybe I'm not out of this after all." I promptly step up to the tenth tee and hit behind the ball en route to a bogey four. Several times, I thought about seeing how many over par I was but I decided not to look at my score and just to play it one shot at a time. We came up to the 17th hole, a par 5 dogleg right with a narrow wooded corridor through which you must hit your teeshot. I was pretty close to the guy I was riding with at this point. His name is Larry. Larry and I were only about a stroke apart I think. But he hit his tee shot deep in the woods. I hit mine on the left side of the corridor with a little bit of a hook but it was safe. I hit a PERFECT three wood from there to about 50 yards from the green. My wedge shot ended up on the front of the green about 16 feet from the hole. The putt was uphill and broke to the right. I should tell you that the two-ball putter is in my trunk. About a week ago, I decided I just wasn't making anything anymore with the two-ball so I switched back to the Ping Anser 2. Well, I stroked that 16 foot putt in the right edge of the hole for a BIRDIE. At that point, I'm thinking, "That could be the putt to win the tournament." As it stands, one could say it was or it wasn't, but read on. The 18th hole is a par 3 and it was playing about 153 yards today and the wind was from left to right. The pin was on the right edge of the green. I hit six iron to the left and it ended up just off the edge of the elevated green. I had lots of room to run my pitch shot up but I left it about 12 feet short. The putt was across the middle of the green with a slight left to right break. I stoked it right in the middle of the cup. We walked off the green and signed our cards. When we had the scores posted, one of the other guys said that I was the leader in the clubhouse at 168 (same total I shot last year.) Finally as the last threesome approached the scorers table, the guy who had been leading asked if 87 was good enough to win. I couldn't believe it!!! I asked if 87 was the best score in his group and he said yes. I HAD DONE IT!!! This year I won a nice trophy plaque and a gift certificate for $175. Last year, I only won a hundred and I thought THAT was a lot. It was so different this year, not having the pressure of playing in the final group on the last day like I did last year. But my emotions went through such a wide range. From being just so totally dejected early in my round to the time during the last six holes or so when I got this easy grin on my face and I felt like "This is my oyster. I CAN DO THIS." I don't know what is more amazing. Me having won or me having not given up. I thank God for giving me the courage to keep playing my game and regaining my self-confidence.