Drives, Putts, and one Split Thumb

Kanyon decided to play golf this spring rather than do track and field. He excelled at the throwing events during his junior high years, but his knees really hurt him during his Freshman throwing season last year, so he thought he'd change it up and do the spring high school sport that all 3 of his older brothers have participated in! His first season of golf unexpectedly ended up being a really short season, due to weather and a sport-related injury.

Winter was really long in Salmon--it snowed more in March than it had all January and February combined! As a result, golf didn't really begin until after spring break, and then it was still delayed further due to snow on the course. His first golf tournament of the season was on April 10, and it was in Salmon since it was the only course that was open and playable at the time. Josh and I were unable to watch him play due to being in Mexico for our anniversary, but Josh's parents watched him for a bit.

His second tournament was a week later, and again it was in Salmon since other courses in the area still hadn't opened for the season due to snow. I took the day off work and watched Kanyon play the first 9 holes and half of the back 9. Josh came and went a few times during the day to watch Kanyon when he was able to in between his work schedule. On the hole right after I left (hole #7), Kanyon hit his wedge, and when it made contact with the ball, the wedge split in half right below the grip and the bottom portion of the club went flying (further than the ball did!). A few seconds later, he realized his thumb was really hurting and there was blood all over. He dipped it in the nearby ditch to wash it off, and teammate Zane, who was in the group behind him, had some athletic tape in his bag and he wrapped it tightly around Kanyon's thumb. Kan finished the last 3 holes, and actually did really well on #9 and #1! Josh came back on hole 9 and let me know that I needed to take him to the clinic, which I did--but first he wanted to wait for everyone's scores to come in! Craig, the new A.D., grilled up hot dogs for all the finished players, and Kanyon ate 3 while he was waiting! Our boys got 2nd place, which was great! After the results were posted, I took him to the walk-in clinic where he got 4 stitches. 

The broken club

His newly stitched thumb.

The cut was vertical right down the center of his thumb and through the crease, and the Dr. said that in order for him to heal faster, Kanyon needed to try to not bend his thumb, and he recommended that Kan take 2 weeks off of golf because the stitches needed to stay for 2 weeks before being removed. The following day, golf practice was cancelled due to the snowy weather, and for the next week, he just practiced putting and left practice early due to throbbing pain in his thumb. It took a week for the thumb to start really healing, and he started favoring it after that (a natural consequence), so his grip and swing changed. He missed the next 2 meets because of the stitches. I asked him if he was still glad that he switched sports this spring, even despite his new thumb injury, and he said yes. He liked being on the course with the other kids on his team, and they've all been nice to him. His teammates were: Zane Hamilton, Austin Roach, Riley Jones, and Andrew Sessions. 

The next meet the team had after his stitches was removed was the district meet in Challis, but since Kanyon missed the pre-districts meet there, Josh took him golfing the afternoon before Districts, just so he could become more familiar with the course. The weather wasn't ideal--it turned cold and snowed while they played--but it was a good practice round for Kanyon and a fun experience for Josh to take his son golfing one-on-one. 

District golf in Challis was on May 8. I got the day off work, and Josh only worked that morning, then we drove down to Challis together to watch Kanyon play. The weather was beautiful (which was a huge contrast to the practice round Kan & Josh played on the same course the previous day!). Kanyon played so well, especially for not having much practice or tournament play for over 2 weeks! He got a new PR for the season with his score of 115, beating teammate Riley by just one point to get the 3rd place spot for our team! It was a day of one-point differences, as teammate Zane beat Austin by only one point, and our boys team got 3rd place losing by just one point to the 2nd place team of North Fremont. Thankfully, though, since there were 7 complete boys' teams that competed at District, which meant 3 teams qualified for state. That was an exciting surprise! We were so glad Kanyon's shortened season was lengthened by one more week!

The twins called us on their P-day while
we were at Kanyon's golf meet, and Jonah
was on a golf course, too!

State qualifiers from Salmon: Riley, Austin, Zane, Andrew, Kanyon,
and Moriah who qualified individually from the girls' team.

State golf was the 2nd week of May at the Sage Lakes course in Idaho Falls. His team went down on Sunday morning to have a practice session, and then they competed on Monday and Tuesday. Josh and I took the day off work on Monday to follow him around. It was another beautiful day, and he did really well, scoring 116. On the 2nd day, he got a new PR of 110 AND he got his first-ever birdie, which he was SO excited about! It was an awesome way for him to end his first golf season! Unfortunately, the team didn't do so well overall--getting dead last for the 2nd year in a row. It was still just a great experience that he and the team got to go to state, and it was nice for them to not stress about medal contentions so they could just play and try to have fun. 

Ready for another great day spectating on the course!

Leading up to the last hole, there was a wait,
so our group laid down in the shade!

There was a bunch of spectators on the last hole, which was
pretty intimidating!

He was frustrated that his putt didn't go in the hole on 18,
thereby giving him one extra stroke from his District score.

The official scoreboard

After day 1

Although his season was cut in half--starting 2 weeks later due to snow, and not being able to play for 2 weeks in the middle of the season due to injury--it was overall a positive experience for him, and he decided to continue with this sport again next year!